All poker players know what a tell is. An opposing player will raise an eyebrow with a good hand. Another will push a sleeve up. It’s just a little thing that lets an opposing player know what kind of hand another player has. Plus, he might know that a player will overplay a good hand.
Here’s my prediction for 2011. The Republicans will take far too much credit for retaking Congress. They will underestimate the role the Tea Party played in this next election. You can see that already with their so-called pledge to America. It’s a business as usual pledge.
Here’s what we need to watch for in January. The, “tell”, if you will. There will several Committee chairmanships open. If you see the “good old boys” named to those jobs, Republicans, like Jerry Lewis of California, named to the House Appropriations Committee job, it’s over.
Right then, the Tea Party has to serve notice. Jerry Lewis and all the rest of the good old boys are on the hit list in two years. They will be taken out in the 2012 primaries. Let the party and the “business as usual” set, like Lewis, know they won’t survive if they don’t get serious.
The people who put you in office are going to demand big actions. If you put dolts like Lewis in key jobs we will know right away, it’s the Bush platform extended. It’s John McCain, or Obama lite. It won’t do.
If the Republicans overplay their hand thinking they got the votes, there will be a third party in America. It’s the last chance for the Republicans to show they can be conservative. There won’t be another try. So, watch the appointments to the key chairman jobs. If it goes the wrong way, so will the rest of the next two years for the Republicans. It will be the end of the brand, replaced by the Tea Party brand.
If you think the Republicans are too smart to overplay a weak hand, just look what Obama has done.
