| Section 1 | Friday, November 7, 2014 25 PERSPECTIVE

Amemo to GOP: Be determined, relentless

Charles Krauthammer

WASHINGTON — Memo to the GOP: You had a great night Tuesday. But remem- ber: You didn’t win it. The Democrats lost it. This is not to say that you didn’t show dis- cipline in making the election a referendum on six years of Barack Obama. You exercised adult supervision over the choice of candidates. You didn’t allow yourself to go down the byways of gender and other identity politics. It showed: a gain of probably nine Senate seats, the largest Republican House majority in more than 80 years and astonishing gubernato- rial victories, including in Massachusetts, Maryland and , the bluest of the blue, BRIAN CASSELLA/TRIBUNE giving lie to the Democrats’ excuse that they As prepares to take over as the next , some tips to keep in mind for ensuring an effective term. lost because the game was played on Repub- lican turf. The defeat — “a massacre,”The Economist called it — marks the final collapse of Oba- maism, a species of left liberalism so intrusive, 10 SUGGESTIONS so incompetently executed and ultimately so unpopular that it will be seen as a parenthesis in American political history. Notwithstanding Obama’s awkward denials at his next-day news from a Democrat who voted for you conference, he himself defined the election when he insisted just last month that “these ( i.e., his) policies are on the ballot — every single By Newton N. Minow 4. Illinois voters decided to elect 8. Be more accessible and open one of them.” a Republican governor and a Demo- to the press. Have frequent news They were, and America spoke. But it was a As a Democrat who voted for Repub- cratic House and Senate. That deci- conferences and level with jour- negative judgment, not an endorsement of the lican Bruce Rauner, I’d like to offer 10 sion does not make you enemies but nalists. Study how Presidents GOP. The prize for winning is nothing but the suggestions to make him an effective gov- rather partners. You, Madigan and Theodore Roosevelt and John F. opportunity for Republicans to show that they ernor. Cullerton want the same legacies: to Kennedy dealt so successfully with can govern — the opportunity to seize the make Illinois a better place than it is the media. national agenda. 1. Send your campaign staff home. now. Working together, you can re- Five weeks ago, I suggested a series of initia- The campaign by both sides was disgrace- store the greatness of Illinois. 9. When I served in the Kennedy tives that would be like the 1994“Contract ful. Too much money, too many commer- administration, Sen. Everett with America,”but this time post facto. It’s not cials, too much nasty negativism. Cam- 5. Successful Republican gover- Dirksen of Illinois invited me for a rocket science. Mitch McConnell, the incom- paigning and governing are two very dif- nors such as Richard Ogilvie,Jim long visit and a drink in his secret ing Senate majority leader, and House Speaker ferent activities. The purpose of a cam- Thompson and Jim Edgar learned hideaway office when he was the John Boehner are already at work producing paign is to defeat the other side. The how to work with Democrats. Study Senate minority leader. He said, such an agenda. purpose of governing is to work with the how they did it. “Newt, always stand on principle, It needs to be urgent, determined and re- other side for all the people. So send your and your first principle should be lentless. Say, a bill a week for the first 10 weeks. campaign staff home. 6. Yo ur business success shows flexibility!” Gov.-elect Rauner, Start with obvious measures with significant you are a problem-solver. The think about this and remember to Democratic support, like the Keystone XL 2. Hire a smart staff and Cabinet of voters made it clear they want to raise keep your sense of humor. pipeline. men and women who are not ideo- the minimum wage and put a 3 per- Like fast-track trade negotiation authority logues. You want people, like yourself, cent tax for education on people 10. Look often at a videotape of that Harry Reid killed and that Obama, like all who are problem-solvers, who are not whose incomes exceed $1 million. Do Chicago’s extraordinary Jackie presidents, wants. Republicans should propose partisans and who know how to compro- not rigidly say “no” to those ideas. Robinson West baseball team and pass it, thereby giving Obama a victory and mise. Get some young people who under- Suggest that if certain incentives for when it won the U.S. champi- demonstrating both bipartisanship and magna- stand the new technologies to bring our small business and incentives to onship in the Little League World nimity (as well as economic good sense). government into the 21st century. create new jobs are parts of a pack- Series last summer and reflect on Then a simple, targeted bill to repatriate the age, you are ready to negotiate. Do why these great kids won: team- $2 trillion of assets being held by U.S. corpora- 3. Some of your supporters booed not begin a sentence with the word work. tions overseas, a bill to authorize and expedite when you said Tuesday night that you had “no.” Say, “Yes, if …” the export of liquid natural gas and crude oil called the Democratic leaders, House Chicago attorney Newton N. Minow (the latter banned by an obsolete 1975 law), Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate 7. Yo ur wife, Diana, has superb was chairman of the Federal and a strong border-security bill. President John Cullerton. Tell those who judgment and can be your best Communications Commission from As for Obamacare, a symbolic abolition that booed to get out of your way. adviser. Listen to her. 1961 to 1963. Obama will immediately veto is less important than multiple rapid-fire measures to kill it with athousand cuts. Repeal of the medical device tax. Repeal of the individual mandate. Repeal of the employer mandate. Repeal of the cov- erage mandate, thereby reinstating Obama’s With elections behind him, Obama broken promise that “If you like your health care plan, you can keep it.” And repeal the federal bailout for insurers on the Obamacare can stop being such a Democrat exchanges. If Obama issues vetoes, fine. Let the Demo- crats defend them for the next two years. By Charles M. Madigan But the first thing to understand is having a nice lunch and gabbing. Then go big and go positive: a sweeping that most people running Tuesday were Iwould send Congress a pizza, wish reform of the tax system, both corporate and Before we Democrats can stop weep- handily re-elected, which is a sign not those people good luck and tell them individual, abolishing loopholes and lowering ing in our herbal teas, we must first much is going to change even though they are too tainted by gobs of special- rates, like the historic Reagan-O’Neill 1986 ponder the question, “Whose fault was everyone in new places promises just interest money to be near me. reform or Obama’s own abandoned Simpson- that?” that. Senate Majority-Leader-in-waiting Bowles commission. And go large: Invite the Imean, of course, the results of Tues- And the second thing to understand Mitch McConnell? A couple of peace other side into immediate negotiations with day’s election. is that we can’t go on hating everyone feelers and some shared bourbons the aim of producing a tax bill by spring. There go and a host of and press forward with the important (Kentucky, get it?) and then a firm How will Obama react? My guess: with the other figures on the bigger stage, The challenges facing the nation. handshake and a note that Idecided to petulance and denial he displayed in his post- Congressional Stage, The Gubernatorial Iam so angry that the Democrats slip into his obstructionist sneakers. See election news conference. Moreover, he will Stage in other states, who thought they rushed away from Obama that I just how he likes that. try to regain control of the national agenda would be re-elected. may not be a Democrat any more, and As for the Democratic Party, I would with executive amnesty for illegal immigrants. Didn’t happen. that will be a big, painful shift for me. call Hillary Clinton very soon and offer Final note to the GOP: That would be naked There are as many reasons as there What a self-serving mob of hypo- her whatever help she needs but not in impeachment bait. Don’t take it. Use the power were races. crites. When trouble shows up, they run “getting out the black vote” in 2016. of the purse to defund it. Pledge immediate This time around I’m not buying the away, like rabbits you spook when you We should just start thinking of repeal if Republicans take the White House in “low turnout kills Democrats” argu- are walking the dog after dark. Democrats as Democrats and abandon 2017. Denounce it as both unconstitutional and ment in all cases. It wasn’t the case in all The smart thing would have been to the racial descriptions. It’s embarrassing bad policy. But don’t let it overwhelm and cases. encircle him, defend him and argue that and diminishing to view people as overtake the GOP agenda. That’s exactly what In some, that was a factor. he has moved the nation into the sun- members of a racial class. Obama wants. It is his only way to regain the But not all. light in a couple of very important areas. In most other contexts, that’s illegal, initiative. Face it, no matter who you are in Instead, the word goes out that the maybe even immoral. Why is it OK in The 2014 election has given the GOP the Congress, indeed, in incumbency, the man has become the chin pimple that politics? rare opportunity to retroactively redeem its people despise you. Sure, you can still wrecks every prom night, the sausage Then I would sit back in the Oval brand. The conventional perception, inces- get the support from the base of the and pepper reflux that spoils evening Office and wait for the next disaster to santly repeated by Democrats and the media, is local organization, but that’s not choir practices, the bad neighbor who is arrive, as it most certainly will. that Washington dysfunction is the work of the enough. not invited to the block party, the char- Might be a war. Might be a disease. Party of No. Expose the real agent of do-noth- There may be an object lesson here in acter with halitosis who always wants Might be a natural disaster. ing. Show that with Harry Reid no longer able the danger of using bile as fuel for an to stand too close. Fortunately for the president, it won’t to consign House-passed legislation to oblivi- election. It sure gets some engines start- Icould go on, but I won’t. be an election. That is behind him now. on, Congress can actually work. ed, but it wrecks many more and leaves Obama was none of these, not even It would be nice to hear from him Pass legislation. When Obama signs, you’ve them sitting in the garage when they metaphorically. He is just a smart, ag- more often now that nothing is on the shown seriousness and the ability to govern. most need to be on the road to voting. gressive guy stuck in a hopeless job line. He can say whatever he wants, When he vetoes, you’ve clarified the differenc- Barack Obama was elected and then surrounded by a ring of ingrates who whatever he believes, tell us whatever es between party philosophies and prepared re-elected because he gave people the only want him for fundraising or cheers he wants to achieve. the ground for 2016. Tuesday’s victory was big. passion and purpose they needed to when things are going well. It’s pretty clear the Democratic Party But it did nothing more than level the playing work hard and vote with good intention. See the good that flowed from dis- isn’t interested. field and give you a shot. Take it. But that feeling is gone now. tancing from the president? Wouldn’t it be surprising if the peo- Never rule out the chance that the If I were the president, I wouldn’t ple still were? Washington Post Writers Group voters, actually getting to know their invite anyone to the White House ex- candidates, made individual decisions, cept typical voters from all over the Charles M. Madigan is presidential Charles Krauthammer is a Washington Post and some people lost by huge margins place, even tea party people. Put it all on writer in residence at Roosevelt columnist. because of that. the Internet without editing. Let people University in Chicago and head of the Ibelieve that. see their president and their friends, all journalism program. [email protected]