GOP should take the longer view

In the past few decades there has been a general conception that Republicans, rather than Democrats, have strategic plans that stretch further into the future. Their emphasis on local elections to elect grass-roots conservatives, the nomination and appointment of judges in district and circuit courts, and their success in securing the House of Representatives in 2010 is evidence of this stratagem.

If this is so, why shouldn’t the Republican Party overwhelmingly approve of Obamacare, since it has declared it would be a catastrophic failure? With their long-range vision in place, with its claim that it’s already an incontrovertible rejection by the American public, won’t it guarantee them the ultimate prize in 2016, the presidency as well as Congress? After all, since conservatives are longer-range thinkers and it’s only three years until the next general election, is it not a microcosm considering their traditional 5-, 10-, 15-year planning stages?

Rather than being embroiled in a contestable debate that challenges the ethos of democracy, wouldn’t this be the right strategy?

James D. Cook

Schaumburg