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Why I’m in a surly mood right now

Let’s sum up the state of the GOP, shall we? The initial Treasury plan for the financial crisis was so absurdly short and vague that it was a no-go from the start; The House GOP proposals to deal with the mess are, according to sympathetic conservatives, not realistic. According to other observers, they’re f#$king ridiculous. ...

By Daniel W. Drezner, a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

September 26, 2008, 8:09 PM

Let's sum up the state of the GOP, shall we? The initial Treasury plan for the financial crisis was so absurdly short and vague that it was a no-go from the start; The House GOP proposals to deal with the mess are, according to sympathetic conservatives, not realistic. According to other observers, they're f#$king ridiculous. Ed Rollins thinks they're putting party over country. As Hugh Hewitt points out, "intransigence in the minority during a crisis is nothing except a suicidal indifference to both the economic emergency and the reality of the possibility of panic." The former House Speaker is urging the current GOP caucus in the House to stand firm on the ridiculous proposal. The current GOP nominee has careened every which way on the financial mess in the past two weeks. He then "suspends" his campaign to help solve the problem in DC, urging his Democratic counterpart to postpone the debates. After doing nothing of substance, he then reverses his position and agrees to debate tonight. The current VP candidate is so incoherent in her press interviews that the most sympathetic explanation for her behavior is that she knows she's out of her league. There's plenty I could say about Democrats -- to quote Kevin Drum, "will you just pass the fucking thing?" But I'm more concerned about the party I called home for twenty years. Has the behavior of any Republican other than Ben Bernanke and Bob Bennett inspired confidence in the GOP's leadership and governance abilities?

Let’s sum up the state of the GOP, shall we?

The initial Treasury plan for the financial crisis was so absurdly short and vague that it was a no-go from the start;
The House GOP proposals to deal with the mess are, according to sympathetic conservatives, not realistic. According to other observers, they’re f#$king ridiculous. Ed Rollins thinks they’re putting party over country. As Hugh Hewitt points out, “intransigence in the minority during a crisis is nothing except a suicidal indifference to both the economic emergency and the reality of the possibility of panic.”
The former House Speaker is urging the current GOP caucus in the House to stand firm on the ridiculous proposal.
The current GOP nominee has careened every which way on the financial mess in the past two weeks. He then “suspends” his campaign to help solve the problem in DC, urging his Democratic counterpart to postpone the debates. After doing nothing of substance, he then reverses his position and agrees to debate tonight.
The current VP candidate is so incoherent in her press interviews that the most sympathetic explanation for her behavior is that she knows she’s out of her league.

There’s plenty I could say about Democrats — to quote Kevin Drum, “will you just pass the fucking thing?” But I’m more concerned about the party I called home for twenty years. Has the behavior of any Republican other than Ben Bernanke and Bob Bennett inspired confidence in the GOP’s leadership and governance abilities?

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner