Build a coalition of the willing

It’s pretty simple. Voters will not so much as vote Republicans in as they’ll
vote Democrats out.

They want to make Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) the Speaker of the House to simply
goad and get even.

On Tuesday they will vote for Republicans to govern, and to govern well. That means
not worrying about what Rep. Steny Hoyer (D) of Maryland or Rep. Henry Waxman (D)
of California says or does in committee, but simply bearing down on important legislation
and getting the job done.

If Democrats stand in the way, then fine, make that case in November 2012. Remember,
this mess wasn’t created in four years (and Republicans certainly contributed to
it during the early 2000s) and it will take far longer to clean it up.

For the better part of the past 16 years, congressional Democrats and Republicans
played a simple yet twisted game of binary politics — if the other side is losing,
we must be winning. Once they realized that equation, both sides sought to undo
the other, more so than to actually govern.

So for 2011, instead of trying to destroy their opponent, Republicans should instead
focus on building a coalition of the willing. Draw in moderates, Blue Dogs, anyone
who is open-minded on the various issues Congress will face.

The Nov. 2 voting aftermath will show one thing: that voters are tired of the bitterness.
Growing a majority in 2012 means growing your base of support with the electorate,
and that means posting early successes no matter how the ayes and nays are counted.

Armstrong Williams is on Sirius/XM Power 169, 7-8 p.m. and 4-5 a.m., Monday through Friday. Become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/arightside, and follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/arightside.