GOP Gets It Right... In Alternate Universe

Try to imagine another reality: one where conservatives emphasize fiscal and personal responsibility, thoughtful rhetoric and sober policy analysis.

This dispatch has just come in from an alternative universe:

Following the recent GOP primary victories, the Responsibility Movement appears poised for further gains in the November elections. The grassroots movement has unified Republicans by emphasizing fiscal responsibility, personal responsibility, thoughtful rhetoric and sober policy analysis.

Meanwhile, Democrats are dismayed at public perceptions that they are the party of irresponsibility. The Obama administration is on the defensive against charges that its expansions of government spending and debt are reckless. Moderate Democratic voters increasingly are crossing party lines to join the Responsibles, as the movement’s activists are known.

Some liberals have sought to portray the Responsibility Movement as a lunatic-fringe or even racist phenomenon. This has been difficult given the Responsibles’ neat attire, careful avoidance of extreme signs and statements, and affinity for PowerPoint presentations on budgetary and other policy matters.

Early in the Obama administration, before the Responsibility Movement coalesced, some activists organized so-called Tea Parties in opposition to expansive government. These Tea Parties, however, soon fell by the wayside as “Responsibility, Not Revolution” and “Let’s Get Serious” became rallying cries for the unified conservatives and moderates of the Responsibility Movement.