An Open Letter to All Current and Future Republican Members of Congress

All,

Many signs point to the American people giving you a chance to run things in November. At the very least, the Republican caucus will exercise significantly more power in Washington come January 2011. Republicans will have a larger margin to filibuster far-left agenda in the Senate and may even control the gavel in the House of Representatives.

I don’t need to tell you that this is a huge opportunity to demonstrate what the Republican Party has learned from its time in the wilderness. Americans will be paying attention to your future actions, hoping to see a renewed party dedicated to limited government and fiscal responsibility. After all, that’s what they’re told they’ll be voting for if they vote for Republicans in November.

Here’s what I do feel the need to tell you: Don’t fuck this up. Do not return to your old ways of big spending combined with corporate cronyism and misplaced priorities. Do not abandon the promises you have made to the American electorate. Do not simply redirect excessive appropriations from a Democratic congressman’s pork project to that of a Republican.

Despite American dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party, your margin of error is small here. The Republican Party isn’t suddenly beloved and trusted unconditionally. At the end of the day, there is no significant built-up political capital. You’re simply being given a chance to prove you can do better than the incumbency. Nothing more.

Democrats made the mistake of confusing a chance with a mandate. It’s because of that mistake that you’re now in the position of properly understanding a chance to be a chance. Don’t give Democrats another opportunity to prove themselves to be better than you in two years. Leave no doubt in the minds of voters that they made the right choice by voting for the Republican candidate in November.

I realize this all sounds quite obvious. (Don’t fuck up a rare opportunity? You mean we shouldn’t try to piss off the electorate? You don’t say.) But it’s not obvious in Washington today. We’re about to witness the only other major political party completely blow the chance it was given just two years ago. Understand where we’re coming from here.

Thank you for your time.

Best Regards,

Stephan Tawney