Opinion: Amazing 'Stupid Things'
The former House Republican Leader Dick Armey, a longtime foot soldier in radical right wing politics, had some harsh criticism for Republicans in 2012.
Armey served as the head of the Republican outside money group called FreedomWorks during the election. His organization spent many millions of dollars with nothing to show for it.
He has since been relieved of his duties with FreedomWorks -- with an $8 million golden parachute retirement package from the "grassroots" Tea Party organization.
The huge pay day, however, did not put Dick Armey in a good mood. He shared some strong criticism with reporters on his way out the door.
He did not blame himself for the horrible performance of his organization in 2012. His blame was not directed at his poor strategy or the incompetence that he and his staff showed in spending many millions of dollars in a losing effort.
Instead Armey blamed the candidates and the party his group was there to support. Among other things, Armey criticized these candidates for saying stupid things.
There is one problem, the "dumb things" Armey complained about: Candidates were talking about Republican policy.
All the talk of rape and abortion? That is GOP policy. The House voted on a bill that banned abortion for rape victims.
The talk of the 47 percent and the takers versus the makers? That is GOP policy, too.
Armey said that party leaders should have taught them to avoid saying these dumb things. But it is hard to avoid talking about dumb policy during an election.
The Republicans problems are not grounded merely in the brain dead things that they say. The problem for Republicans is that their policies are stupid as well.
Brain dead politicians supporting stupid policies are no doubt going to say dumb things.
But instead of looking for policy that Americans actually want, Republicans are focusing on statements instead of where they stand.
About Bill Buck
Bill Buck is a Democratic strategist, President of the Buck Communications Group, a media relations and new media strategies consulting business based in Washington, DC, and Managing Director of the online ad firm Influence DSP. He has over twenty years of international and national communications experience. The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of CBS Local.
