Turning the tables on Obama, Pelosi, and Reid.

• Author: Emord, Jonathan W.
• Position: Political Landscape

THE FAILURE of Congress to derail ObamaCare and to cut government spending is due to a lack of principled leadership. A political party without a clear vision and the courage to achieve its objectives is a party in disarray and decline. Republicans find themselves in that very situation. The cure is to cleave to the principles of individual liberty, free enterprise, and limited government--and to make every action taken consistent with those principles.

Neither House Speaker John Boehner (R.-Ohio) nor Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R.-Ky.) has wed themselves to principle and neither has voted consistent with principle. Their actions reveal a willingness to compromise basic defenses of liberty, free markets, and limited government to achieve momentary political gains, and that alienates the public, which rightly views such inconsistency as dishonest and destructive. Wedding themselves to principle and voting in strict accordance with it should be their constant vigil. Only then can they hope to gain the respect and confidence of the American people. Only then will Americans trust them.

Rep. Boehner and Sen. McConnell may not believe in their heart of hearts in America's founding principles. I do not know, but I do know that they fail to act consistent with those principles. They are in those hypocritical ways far different from Pres. Ronald Reagan. He was, as they said then, a "true believer." He never abandoned his principles, constantly fought for them in the court of public opinion, and rallied the American people to overcome opposition in a Democrat-controlled House of Representatives. Time and again he won. He won not because he was a clever dodger but because he was transparently sincere. Americans knew where Reagan stood. They knew he loved the U.S. as well as what his principles were. Even if they did not agree with all of them, they trusted him to act consistent with his principles. That is why he was able to lead and overcome Democratic opposition, and that is why he remains so beloved, even to this day, by Republicans and Democrats alike.

Why be in elected office if you are not a true believer? The only other reasons are petty and crass, but those reasons predominate in politics today: personal ambition and an opportunity to turn public service into personal financial gain, as well as to flee private sector employment because it requires marketable talent that the politician lacks.

Every effort should be made to put House and Senate Republican leadership under the direction of true believers--which unquestionalbly includes members of the Tea Party--people whose beliefs and actions mirror one another and who are committed to individual liberty, free enterprise, and limited government. They should be articulate, intelligent, witty, charming, and...