Why did the Repubs decide not to respond to the President's speech?

[kentuck]

In my opinion, they did not know exactly what he was going to say. They could only guess.

And that is what Boehner and Cantor wanted from the White House, a copy of the President's speech.

They are not very good at improvising in a short amount of time. They needed enough time to prepare their remarks.

Obviously, they were unable to get what they wanted from the White House. Just my opinion.

[rfranklin]

1. they're hoping if they ignore it, it will go away...

They can't have the public thinking about jobs. They must have the public shivering in their boots about the scary, scary DEBT.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

13. DID SOMEONE SAY TREASON ????

[Recovered Repug]

2. It's my understanding the response will be given next week. nt

[kentuck]

5. Well, that would fit their M.O.

:-)

[FSogol]

3. Superstar GOP Respondinator Bobby Jindal is too busy?

:shrug:

[kentuck]

6. Good one!

:-)

[HappyMe]

4. That could very well be.

They needed time to consult the Baggers Guide to The Universe - Sulfur Edition.

[Bragi]

7. I can think of at least three reasons

1. They know the audience will be small because of the football game and other distractions

2. They will have their spin people on all the networks that will cover the speech anyway, without any real need for an "official" statement from the GOP

3. They can attack the speech the next day and thereafter, get a much larger audience, and can adjust their bombast once they know how the wind blows.

[kentuck]

8. That is possible too.

I'm not sure the audience will be smaller, though?

[dembotoz]

9. pre-empt the start of the nfl telecast--first game of the season on tv

packers vs saints.

obama's speech will cut most of the pregame--nbc is ballistic
lots and lots of $$$$$ involved.
our local republican nbc station--wtmj milwaukee
has elected not to carry the obama speech........

republican are not media fools
who wants to drone on about obama this and obama that when a who lot of folks are screaming because they may miss the kick off.

[Broderick]

17. Can't WAIT for the

game.

[ChandlerJr]

10. They might be stupid, but not stupid enough to do it in the middle

of the 1st NFL game of the year.

[kentuck]

11. I don't think the President has any intentions of interferring with the game?

Certainly not in the middle of the game? I had not heard that?

[ChandlerJr]

12. The response would be though.

n/t

[kentuck]

14. Well, that is true.

Unless they waited until the game was over? But then, it might be too late in some parts of the country. Good point!

[Romulox]

15. The economy itself rebuts anything the President could say. nt

[whosinpower]

16. They don' want to interfere with the kickoff

of the football game.

That could be one issue.

Another could be that they are in silent agreement of what Obama will offer - and by the sounds of the pre-release - it is a redux of Christmas - 2010 - extending unemployment, cutting payroll taxes, reducing regulations, signing free trade agreements, etc, etc, etc.

Of course, they can never come out and SAY they agree with him - so silence is the next best thing.

We cannot be sure that the pre-release is trully what he will say - but if it is - it is a huge dissappointment for what was supposed to be a big bold plan.

My main objection to the plan is that it does nothing to fight against the growing malaise and cycnicsm of how America can get out of the hole it finds itself in. It does nothing to address weak confidence. It does nothing.

If Obama came out swinging and said taxes were going up and the ONLY way for American businesses to see their tax rates go down via a tax credit was to hire registered unemployed americans - then we might see some movement. You have to have a stick before offering the carrot. Otherwise - the donkey just sits down and munches carrots all day and does not move an inch.

[Demit]

18. Actually, it's not clear that the donkey in the story ever gets the carrot.

From Wikipedia: Carrot on a stick is an idiom that refers to a policy of offering a reward for making progress towards benchmarks or goals but not necessarily ever actually delivering. The original metaphor referred to a boy sitting on a cart being pulled by a donkey. The boy held a long stick to which a carrot had been tied, and he dangled the carrot in front of the donkey but just out of its reach. As the donkey moved forward to get the carrot, it pulled the cart—and the boy—so that the carrot always remained just out of reach as the cart moved forward.

Sorry, it's just that it drives me crazy that people misuse this terrific metaphor :)

[whosinpower]

20. Yeah - you are right

I was thinking about a stick - as in to beat the donkey with.....not tie the carrot to.

I should have changed the metaphor to whip instead of stick.

[jberryhill]

19. Delay the game? They aren't that crazy

It would go down in history with the "Heidi Bowl" as among the worst programming debacles ever.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidi_Game

The Heidi Game or Heidi Bowl was an American football game played on November 17, 1968. The home team, the Oakland Raiders, defeated the New York Jets, 43–32. The game is remembered for its exciting finish, as Oakland scored two touchdowns in the final minute to overcome a 32–29 New York lead. The Heidi Game obtained its name because the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) controversially broke away from the game with the Jets still winning to air the television film Heidi at 7 p.m. in the Eastern Time Zone.

[razorman]

21. They are trying to make the president appear insignificant by ignoring him.

By not responding, they are making themselves less of a target, while saying to the world, "This speech(and by extension, President Obama) is not worth a response. Unless he tackles them head-on, they will get away with it. Pretty crafty, actually. Nancy Pelosi's reaction is precisely what they want, too.