The Right Agenda: Don't Support Obama

Recently a troubling meme has been echoed by a number of sources, not just in the mainstream media, but also on the right.

The line being peddled is roughly this: "Now is not the time to be partisan. In these troubled times, we cannot afford for Obama to fail. We must come together and support him and hope that he succeeds."

Thankfully, not all conservatives are buying this.

Pray Obama fails
Not all conservatives are singing O-Kumbaya

It's disappointing that it's even necessary to refute something like this.

Conservatives should support America. That means both supporting good policies and opposing bad ones. In the unlikely event that Obama proposes any good policies, we should support them. But supporting America means opposing bad policies.

What about unity? It might be nice if everyone agreed to support the right policies. Back in the real world, that's never going to happen. People disagree about what goals should be pursued. Even when people agree about goals, they disagree about what means should be used.

"Unity" is the same thing as "no dissent". Put that way, it sounds a lot more ominous.

Not only is supporting bad polices bad for the country, but it is also bad politically. Supporting bad policies makes you culpable for their outcomes. It makes it unfeasible to criticize them later. It makes it much more difficult to call for their repeal.

To win back power, Republicans can't just sit around waiting for democrats to screw up. Democrats are a lot better at holding on to power than Republicans are. Instead, Republicans must offer an alternative. They can do so by opposing bad policies and supporting good ones. If they can turn public sentiments against Obama's policies, they can score defensive political victories even without majorities in Congress.

For conservatives, the case is even more clear. Opposing Obama's bad policies is both a moral and political necessity.