Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Smackdown on the House Floor !

I am loving North Carolina Representative Virginia Foxx today. This kindly, grandma-looking Republican Congresswomen lays an absolute beatdown on Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy of Ohio on the issues of the AIG bonuses. Watch poor Mary Joe sweat and squirm as she struggles to avoid answering Foxx's question:




Watch thru to the end, as Mary Jo's hometown news team smirks as they say she was "unavailable for comment"...


Apparently, this is part of Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) strategy to trap Democrats into explaining some of their votes:

Foxx is part of a team of Republican members that House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has put together to create embarrassing, YouTube-worthy moments for vulnerable Democratic freshmen.

Cantor’s floor staff has created a photo album to help identify the 42 most vulnerable Democrats. The aides send daily e-mails to the members of the attack team and alert lawmakers when these targeted members are speaking on the floor. They even draft quick scripts to help focus the questioning.

The tactic seems to be working.

...even if the targeted Democrat doesn’t take the bait, video of the episode inevitably finds its way to the Web as evidence of either ineptitude or cowardice.

Like all tactics used in war, this strategy will eventually become useless - the Democrats are already "hip to the scam" (Politico's phrase, when Republicans have a winning strategy, it's a "scam", when the Democrats have one, it's "innovative") and are pulling members off the floor when they sense the ambush coming.

Kudos to Cantor for thinking like the guerilla leader he needs to be. Let's hope, like any outmanned group involved in asymetrical warfare, he can evolve, adept, and continue to press the attack...

1 comment:

Jim - PRS said...

Sweet, that.