Erickson pans GOP Pledge to America as “Perhaps the Most Ridiculous Thing to Come Out of Washington Since George McClellan”

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

In a September 22 RedState post, blogger and CNN contributor Erick Erickson referred to the House Republican's recently unveiled legislative agenda for the next Congress -- a “Pledge for America” -- as a series of “compromises and milquetoast rhetorical flourishes in search of unanimity among House Republicans because the House GOP does not have the fortitude to lead boldly in opposition to Barack Obama”:

Perhaps the Most Ridiculous Thing to Come Out of Washington Since George McClellan

A+ Rhetoric. C- Ideas.

Posted by Erick Erickson (Profile)

Wednesday, September 22nd at 6:47PM EDT

121 Comments

The House Republicans' “Pledge to America” is out. A thrill will run up the leg of a few Chris Matthews' types on the right. As Dan noted on Twitter, the Contract with America was 869 words and this is 21 pages. The Contract told you everything you needed to know about how a Republican Congress would be different from a Democrat Congress after 40 years of Democrat control.

These 21 pages tell you lots of things, some contradictory things, but mostly this: it is a serious [sic] of compromises and milquetoast rhetorical flourishes in search of unanimity among House Republicans because the House GOP does not have the fortitude to lead boldly in opposition to Barack Obama.

I have one message for John Boehner, Eric Cantor, and the House GOP Leadership: If they do not want to use the GOP to lead, I would like to borrow it for a time.

[...]

The entirety of this Promise is laughable. Why? It is an illusion that fixates on stuff the GOP already should be doing while not daring to touch on stuff that will have any meaningful longterm effects on the size and scope of the federal government.

This document proves the GOP is more focused on the acquisition of power than the advocacy of long term sound public policy. All the good stuff in it is stuff we expect them to do. What is not in it is more than a little telling that the House GOP has not learned much of anything from 2006.

I will vote Republican in November of 2010. But I will not carry their stagnant water.