Has the GOP Lost the Will to Fight Back?

Now that Republicans have won four special elections, maybe Congressional Republicans and the Republican National Committee (RNC) will learn how to play hardball, quit letting Democrats steal bases, slide home, and score unanswered political points. Maybe they'll also stop acting like the proverbial dog being wagged by the tail.

As we have seen through recent events, Democrats and their overt and covert allies on the left, including the major media, are united like a fist in an effort to — as we see in third world countries — overturn the November election and knock out Trump by any means necessary.

Instead of fighting such an American-style leftist attempted coup, Republicans on the other hand, are disjointed, disorganized, and otherwise discombobulated.

For example, Republicans should have been embarrassed when Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., beat them to the punch calling for an investigation of former Attorney General General Loretta Lynch’s possible interference in the FBI’s Clinton e-mail investigation.

If not, they should have been.

You would think that Senate Republicans and the RNC would have been all over fired FBI Director James Comey’s remarks regarding Lynch during and after his Intelligence Committee testimony.

Although Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, did inquire into Comey’s handling of the Clinton e-mail investigation there should have been a coordinated GOP response within hours — or at least the next day — asking for Lynch to appear. That’s how Democrats most likely would have played it.

Where is the GOP’s rapid response team to fight back? Is the RNC asleep at the attack switch?

It took several days after Comey’s remarks and two days after Feinstein’s comments for Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, to send a letter to Feinstein, the committee’s ranking Democrat, saying the Committee should look into any attempts to influence the FBI’s investigations under the Obama Justice Department.

Committee members Cornyn, Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, also called for Lynch to testify — separately.

If the shoe had been on the other foot, you can bet that Democrats would have been all over the issue in a matter of hours — not days. They probably would have called a press conference urging an immediate investigation into possible illegal acts by a former Republican attorney general.

But Republicans appear to have no clue on how to play power politics and fight back. Instead of being aggressive attack dogs they act more like meek service dogs!

The Lynch matter is just one example of GOP service dog timidity. On Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s staff conflicts there was virtual silence. On Hillary’s Russian uranium deal, and her top aide John Podesta’s Russian connection there was virtual silence. On former National Security Council Susan Rice’s role in unmasking there was virtual silence. And on the torrential leaks from the White House and so-called "deep state" — virtual silence.

Senate Democrats want to obstruct Senate business like spoiled and pouting children. Their goal is to stop any chance for the Senate to act on the GOP healthcare proposal or any part of the Trump agenda.

Why not fight back and cancel the July 4 recess if Democrats continue their obstinacy?

Another glaring example of GOP shyness is the failure by most to condemn and attribute the toxic political climate of hateful rhetoric and vitriol by some Democrats and their allies as contributing factors in the recent attempted assassination of Republican congressmen and senators. The result — Democrats just continue the mean rhetoric.

For example, not even a week after the attempted assassinations, Vermont Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders and far left Massachusetts Democrat Sen. Elizabeth (Donald You Ain’t Seen Nasty Yet) Warren hosted a Facebook Forum where they called their Republican colleagues "cowardly" and "frightful." Sanders even told one questioner to fight back "anyway you can." So much for unity and non-violence.

I have not heard any Republicans condemn Sanders and Warren for their comments. They should be asked why so few of them, and their RNC, have not condemned this and similar rhetoric. Their silence, and that of much of the Democratic leadership, just encourages future violence and assassination attempts.

For some reason, Republicans have a difficult time linking evil rhetoric, radical speech and actions of their opponents to violent acts. Democrats and the media have no such qualms:

• Bill Clinton blamed conservative talk show hosts for intolerance that led to the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995.

• The left blamed the tea party for fostering a climate of hate when Congresswoman Gabrielle (Gabby) Giffords, D-Ariz., was shot in 2011.

• The New York Times was quick to blame the Pulse night-club shootings in Orlando on " . . . the state of American politics, driven too often by Republican politicians who see prejudice as something to exploit, not extinguish."

It is time for Republicans to stop laying back and letting Democrats and their cohorts, including organized protesters, kick sand in their face.

It would be a good beginning if, regarding the Senate healthcare proposal, Republican senators would fight back with strong messaging, tear down Democratic and media attacks on their proposal — which they haven’t even read — and stop acting like a "circular firing squad" on their own healthcare bill.

Clarence V. McKee is president of McKee Communications, Inc., a government, political, and media relations consulting firm in Florida. He held several positions in the Reagan administration as well as in the Reagan presidential campaigns. He is a former co-owner of WTVT-TV in Tampa and former president of the Florida Association of Broadcasters. Read more of his reports — Go Here Now.