Let’s seduce and destroy us a Congresswoman

I generally don’t comment on National politics, especially “inside baseball” stuff like this, but on the basis that all politics is local, I want to discuss this article.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers sits on a couch in her Capitol Hill office, her bare foot propped on a coffee table, methodically peeling the paper off Band-Aids and wrapping them around four injured toes.

She is headed down to the floor of the House of Representatives for a series of votes, but traipsing marble and tile floors in high heels has wreaked havoc on her feet.

"I've had to have surgery on my toes," she says, laughing. "But I'm not giving up my heels."

I want you to take the time to read this whole article. Then come back and I’ll make some points. This is important to do even if you aren’t a constituent of Renee, because the media will be doing the same thing to your Congresscritter.

Back? Ok, let’s hit it. This article is designed to do two things. #1, it’s designed to seduce the Congresswoman into being more “moderate.” And #2, it’s designed to alienate the Congresswoman’s more conservative base. These are the two things that media has always done to conservatives, pull them to the left and make their conservative constituents angry. It’s always easier to maintain Democrat dominance of government if you can convince the Republicans to be Democrat Lite. Let’s get to some specifics in this case.

The compromises have come up repeatedly, most prominently on a series of stopgap spending bills that Ellmers supported despite opposition from her tea party base. Another tough decision looms in the controversial vote on raising the nation's debt ceiling, which President Barack Obama insists must be done this month.

Ellmers came to Congress riding the message that politicians here are out of touch with everyday Americans. Now that she's inside the Beltway, she has learned how complicated legislating can be.

"It appears we're not working very hard. But in all honesty we are working very hard, and that was something that even I back home didn't realize," she said.

Conservatives hate the word “compromise” because it has always meant that we get screwed half as hard as the Democrats want. By tarring her with the epithet “compromiser” they have alienated her base. But it’s the great elite buzzword. With the same words that they are slapping her more hard-line colleagues, they are praising her. They are saying to her “we like the fact that you are being ‘reasonable’ and ‘compromising.’ Too many politicians confuse media praise with being right about something. They hope that by treating her to a bit of praise, she will look to them instead of to her constituents.

Her first big compromise votes were on a series of continuing resolutions earlier in the year, the stopgap spending bills passed to stave off government shutdowns. Many Republican freshmen voted no, backing up their demands that their party's leaders cut $100 billion.

Each time, Ellmers voted yes.

"The CR vote I took may have put some folks who are tea party-connected at odds with me," Ellmers said.

These were not compromise votes. These were votes specifically to keep the government from shutting down. A government shutdown would have pleased me. I’m not opposed to shutting it down and sending most of them home permanently. But the Media was hoping for another replay of the Newt Gingrich shutdown so that they could attack Republicans. Never mind that the Dems wouldn’t have been in this position had they bothered to pass a budget. Calling these votes a compromise it confusing tactics with strategy.

Randy Dye, a former trauma nurse and conservative activist from Pittsboro in Ellmers' 2nd District, is among those disappointed in her.

"I think she's just another Republican RINO," said Dye, who writes a political blog, referring to the nickname "Republican in name only." "As far as what she's done so far, I still think we should have let the government shut down."

Oh, Randy. He’s a reliable indicator of the great middle of opinion of the Republican faithful (Not). Having seen some of Randy’s speeches, I’m convinced that the only person Randy would vote for is Randy. Luckily for us, no one else would vote for Randy.

In just a few short months, Boehner and the rest of the leadership team have tapped Ellmers repeatedly to help carry their message.

She is a public face of YouCut, a GOP online initiative started by Majority Leader Eric Cantor that allows voters to cast ballots for the federal program they want to cut. She sponsored the first related bill, which would eliminate a United Nations population control program. It remains in committee.

"I see eye-to-eye with them (the GOP leadership) on many issues," Ellmers said. "I'm on board with everything we've done."

She appeared with GOP leaders at a news conference in June to talk about the economy. On June 25, she gave the official Republican response to President Barack Obama's radio address. Standing in the House Small Business Committee room for the video response, Ellmers described Republicans' plan to turn to business owners for ideas on cutting regulations.

"That speaks volumes, I think, about how she is held in high regard," said U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, a Banner Elk Republican who has become one of Ellmers' mentors.

Let me translate this for you. “She has been captured by the elite power brokers in the Republican Party.” This is a double edged attack. To the reliable Dems, it means “She’s a tool of all that’s evil in the Republican Party, vote against Renee and you vote against the Republican leadership!” And to the Conservative faithful, generally suspicious of anyone who spends too much time in Washington, it says “She’s been captured by the system! She’s just another in a long line of representatives who doesn’t represent you!” In reality all it says is that she lives in a relatively difficult district to defend, and the House leadership is trying to raise her stature so that she can get re-elected. They need her to return to Congress next session and are trying to get her some good publicity in order to make that more likely.

'She fits in nicely'

Foxx advised Ellmers before the latter decided to run, offering a network of contacts. Theirs is the kind of relationship more Republican women are developing in the House.

"The face is changing, isn't it?" said political scientist Andrew Taylor of N.C. State University. "There's a sense some of the new energy (in the GOP) is coming from younger Republicans, and many of them are women. In that sense she fits in nicely."

Here’s some fancy editorializing in the middle of an ostensibly straight news story. I deliberately left in the Bolded bit to show you how insidious it all is. Read the bolded bit again. What does that say? It is intended to tell you that she is now an insider, a creature of the Inside the Beltway crowd. It’s intended to get you to form a mental image of her working the Beltway cocktail party circuit. Now read the actual statement from the Poli Sci prof from NC State. It says that the GOP is changing, it’s getting younger and more female, and she “fits in nicely” with that trend. Wasn’t that some sweet editorializing? They made the words of an outside expert form a picture in your head that’s exactly the opposite of what he actually said!

The article continues in this vein for the rest of the piece. Read it all again and see if you see what I do. They intend to push her to the “middle” while alienating her conservative base. She will be the subject of a lot more of this type of “journalism” in the next year and a half. If the currently proposed Republican  gerrymander stands (and since what goes around comes around, why shouldn’t it?) Renee is defending one of only two NC Congressional District that is in play in the whole state (PDF). All the other Districts are pretty safe. The only hope of getting one extra Congressman for the Democrat party is for them to take Renee out.

The News and Observer is doing their part. Are you going to fall for it?

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