When it comes to message discipline, the Republican Party can’t hold a candle to the Democratic Party.
Democratic lawmakers and their allies are remarkably adept at presenting a united front. Dissent is practically a foreign word. The GOP, in contrast, is home to several lawmakers who thrive on opposing their own party leaders. Public squabbling is the norm for Republicans, not the exception.
On Thursday, the Democrats’ ability to stay on message was on full display as they locked shields against the new GOP healthcare bill.
For the opposition party and its allies, the Senate bill is actually worse than the House’s version, which President Trump himself characterized earlier as “mean.” So, in pushing back on the new healthcare bill, Democrats made the conscious decision Thursday to use the president’s own words against him and the GOP, with a few tweaks here and there.
To be clear, the “mean” and “meaner” comparisons aren’t being touted by just one or two Democratic lawmakers. This is the party line, as noted by Real Clear News’ James Hitchcock.
Former President Obama, for example, released a statement Thursday criticizing the new bill for its “fundamental meanness.”
House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., tweeted several times Thursday that the bill is “mean.”
Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., upgraded his earlier characterization of the bill to “meaner” from “mean.”
Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., has tweeted repeatedly in all-caps that the proposed law is “MEAN.”
Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., tweeted the bill was “mean” for how it affects veterans.
GOP senators “wrote a meaner health care bill, behind closed doors,” said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.
Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., also called the Senate bill “meaner” than the House version.
“If the House Republicans’ healthcare bill was mean, their Senate bill is downright nasty,” said Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J.
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., said the new bill was even more heartless than the other “mean” version.
Sens. Tom Carper, D-Del., Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Tim Kaine, D-Va., Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., also used iterations of the word “mean” Thursday to oppose the bill.
Left-wing media outlets assisted in the effort, and it goes on like this for quite a while. You get the picture. A lot can be said about the Democrats, but no one can say they don’t know how to stay on message.
Before we go, however, it’s worth noting there are exceptions to the rule that Democrats are remarkably disciplined when it comes to keeping infighting and competing messages under control.
Public disputes are common during presidential primaries, and last year was no exception with the war between the Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., wings of the party. Also, this reported whisper campaign against Pelosi seems significant. It’s newsworthy not only because possible leadership changes are big deals, but also because Democrats rarely — if ever — conspire out loud against one another.
Other than these specific (and sometimes recurring) examples, however, the Democratic Party keeps its issues to itself and projects unity, practically living by Don Vito Corleone’s famous scolding to his son: “Never let anyone outside the family know what you’re thinking.”
Now if they could just find a winning message to compliment their discipline …
