Why the GOP Shows Up!

In Congress, I’d have to say the most obvious answer to the role of the minority party is to keep the majority party in check. We have a “miniature” version of checks & balances for Congress in the two chambers. While the majority party still may be able to pass questionable legislation, you can bet that the American people will hear about it (whether it be from the party leaders pointing fingers at the other party or talking heads on the Cable News channels such as Sean Hannity or Keith Olbermann) if one side doesn't like it. And if after hearing about it, the American people don’t like it, that party will face repercussions at the polls next time out. These checks and balances hopefully make politicians think twice about making questionable calls if they know it may hurt them at the polls, because w/ these career politicians, their loyalties often lie w/ thier constituents in order to get reelected, and not the party.

In addition, the biggest, most daunting and of course MOST important objective of the minority party has to be how they are going to switch and become the majority party. To do this they need to retain active leadership, build coalitions, practice bipartisanship, and keep a stable positive image of the party. As our text points out, whether or not the minority party is actually successful depends on both inside and outside Congressional forces. The main external forces are as follows:
o Temper of the times, such as the presence of a domestic or international crisis
o The relative political strength of the minority party in the electorate
o The degree of unity w/in the parties outside Congress
o The power of the president and his willingness to use the advantages inherent to his office
Conditions w/in Congress that are most likely to affect Congress are:
o Legislative procedures
o The majority party’s margin over the minority
o The relative effectiveness of majority and minority party leadership
o The time the party has been in a minority status (mentality)
o Relative strength of the party in the other house

More often than not, the above mentioned external forces will play the largest role in affect behavior and strategy while the internal forces will affect the size of vote margins and the effectiveness of both party leaders.

The question of why even bother to call for bipartisanship is a very good one. If the democrats have a mandate, shouldn’t they just do what they want, because that’s obviously what the voters want…right?! And that is basically what is happening right now w/ their massive spending bills. To their defense however, the same happens when the GOP is in the majority, as the call for bipartisanship I feel is more symbolic and “feel-good” than anything. One side will claim they are trying to be the good guy and offer out their hand, while the other side will argue that they just aren’t being reasonable.

As to why the 214 Republicans even show up, it’s a simple answer; to prevent the Democrats from pushing through too radical of an agenda. They were elected by people who want conservative (most of the time) values on Capitol Hill, so it their duty to the people to represent them. It’s similar to that of our legal system. In the US there is a Judge who acts as a referee, and two sides (Prosecution and Defense) that battle it out to find all the facts, prove/disprove all the theories, and come to the best conclusion possible. This is an adversarial system w/ a goal of obtaining the most information possible to make the best possible decision in the end. The same holds true w/ Congress…the minority will bring ideas, values, etc. that the majority won’t often bring, so in order for the best decision to be made, these must be heard. Because I’m sure both sides can agree that you need to analyze each side’s ideas and consequences first before making a decision…..or maybe they just always think their ideas are best?!?!