The Banana Republicans in the House have gotten their wish, shut the government down, hurt America, and brought the GOP one step closer to Democrats regaining control of the House. Let’s be clear about the politics. MSNBC host Chris Matthews made a glaring, false statement when he said on the “Today” show Tuesday morning that 230 Republican House members are safe for reelection.
{mosads}Matthews is out of touch. While many GOP House seats were gerrymandered to safety, there are at least 20 to 25 genuinely competitive House seats now held by Republicans. After this latest Banana Republican government shutdown, that number may rise. But in any event, there are more than 20 House Republicans who face competitive campaigns in 2014 and could be defeated, which would shift control of the House to Democrats.
It will not easy, but it can be done and is more likely today than yesterday. ObamaCare opens for business today. That will not change. The voters have spoken. President Romney will not be able to stop ObamaCare. President Obama won that election. The president and Democrats should not — and will not — compromise with the obsession of the Banana Republicans who have now shut down the government and threaten to drive the U.S. into default in two weeks, which will crash the markets and crash the GOP in 2014.
The shutdown will not last long. Centrist House Republicans, whose reelection is now endangered, will demand the shutdown end and, if necessary, will vote with Democrats to end it. GOP financiers, scared stiff that the Banana Republicans will drive America to default, will demand the shutdown end and the debt-ceiling increase be passed by Oct. 15.
The Tea Party’s ratings are falling like a rock and its 15 minutes of fame will come to an end. The only question is how much destruction they cause to America — and to Republicans.