AHC: Keep the GOP House from shifting further right after 2010

TinyTartar

Banned
Basically, how do we see the GOP in Congress taking a more centrist and accomodationist path after the 2010 elections?

I personally think that the loss in the '06 midterms gutted the establishment GOP in Congress to an irrelevant degree, creating a vacuum for Conservatives dissatisfied with party leadership to ride the Tea Party wave.

What I am getting at here is that the GOP Congress under Hastert and DeLay was one that I think was probably more willing to compromise with Obama if they got the opportunity. However, it was a Congress with significantly more moral issues. George W. Bush, despite working with that Congress for 6 years, in interviews has been known to say that he mistrusted the "culture of sleaze" allowed to develop under Hastert and he blamed that, in addition to the failed Social Security reform of '05, for the midterm loss of 2006 (the Iraq War actually was not nearly as unpopular as some have said; support was still along party lines in 2006).

Do you see it possible that the cadre of GOP leadership from the Hastert era can still be around today? Would they be more likely to cooperate with Obama or would they shut down the government?
 
Basically, how do we see the GOP in Congress taking a more centrist and accomodationist path after the 2010 elections?

I personally think that the loss in the '06 midterms gutted the establishment GOP in Congress to an irrelevant degree, creating a vacuum for Conservatives dissatisfied with party leadership to ride the Tea Party wave.

What I am getting at here is that the GOP Congress under Hastert and DeLay was one that I think was probably more willing to compromise with Obama if they got the opportunity. However, it was a Congress with significantly more moral issues. George W. Bush, despite working with that Congress for 6 years, in interviews has been known to say that he mistrusted the "culture of sleaze" allowed to develop under Hastert and he blamed that, in addition to the failed Social Security reform of '05, for the midterm loss of 2006 (the Iraq War actually was not nearly as unpopular as some have said; support was still along party lines in 2006).

Do you see it possible that the cadre of GOP leadership from the Hastert era can still be around today? Would they be more likely to cooperate with Obama or would they shut down the government?

Simple. Have Kerry beat Bush in 2004, the Republicans gain seats in '06 and gain more seats and the white house in 2008. Then, with them responding worse to the economic crisis than Bush and Obama did OTL, the Democrats sweep in 2010, redraw the districts after the 2010 census and the Democrats win in 2012. I doubt a Tea Party will develop under President Kerry, worst case the right wing revolt is equivalent to the Gingrich Congress of the '90s (which while nuts, is sane compared to the Tea Party).
 

Germaniac

Donor
Unless Obama doesn't focus on health care in his first term there's no way out happens. If his focus is on breaking up the banks and prosecution of the people culprits then your looking at democratic support.
 
I know it's a well-established pattern for the other party to win mid-terms. Examples include Democrats winning during Reagan in '86, Republicans winning during Clinton in '94, etc.

The question is, Why?

It seems like going ahead and winning would be a lot more motivational, than some heroic effort at damage control.
 
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