It's The War That Counts, Not Each Battle

Another such victory over the Romans, and we are undone.

                        -Pyrrhus, from Plutarch, Lives

Conservatives who have come down with a serious case of the vapors over Sen. McConnell's supposed cave-in to President Obama should step back for a moment and take a good look at the realities of the situation. The current battle over the debt ceiling is just one in what will be a long series of clashes over fiscal policy the next few years. Conservatives need to fight wisely or they will find themselves losing everything in 2012 instead of helping Republicans to possibly capture(doh!) keep the House and possibly capture the Senate and the Presidency as well. 

It was a good gambit by Republican leaders to try to get spending concessions in return for Republican support to raise the debt ceiling. But just like any battle, the other side gets a say too, and the Democrats have counterattacked with a demand for tax hikes to go along with the spending cuts. With cover from the news media, Obama has been able to maneuver the Republicans into a position where they will get blamed for a default, and even worse, put their fingerprints on what should solely be known by now and for the 2012 elections as the Obama economy. That's not fair to Republicans, but it is what will happen and that would be fatal for them in 2012. It must not come to pass.

I don't like the McConnell plan because it's just more of the usual inside the beltway chicanery over what should be a straightforward process, but whatever really. Republicans should recognize that the gambit has failed for now, offer a straight up debt increase, and fight the spending reductions as part of the budget battle where it really belongs anyway. Make tax hikes and out of control spending the issue in 2012 along with the economy.