National Review Warns GOP: Governing Is A ‘Trap’!

After soaking up all the glory of the 2014 GOP wave, the editors of the conservative National Review issued a stern warning to Republicans: getting too much done could come back to haunt you.

National Review said the idea that Republicans now need to prove their ability to govern is bad politics. The editors mocked Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the No. 3 Republican in the Senate, for urging the GOP to work on issues like immigration reform, trade, and corporate tax reform.

“With all due respect to the senator and like-minded Republicans, this course of action makes no sense as a political strategy,” National Review wrote.

They argued that people don’t actually care about issues like trade. But mostly National Review said that trying to govern would just make the GOP vulnerable. Democrats will filibuster, Obama will veto, and the party will continue to divide between the Tea Party and the establishment.

Instead, it should be all about 2016.

“That means being a responsible party, to be sure, just as the conventional wisdom has it. But part of that responsibility involves explaining what Republicans stand for — what, that is, they would do if they had the White House. And outlining a governing agenda for the future is a different matter from trying to govern in 2015,” National Review wrote. “[N]ot much progress is possible until we have a better president. Getting one ought to be conservatism’s main political goal over the next two years.”

And don’t forget Obamacare!

“If more Republicans endorse an alternative like the one that Senators Hatch, Coburn, and Burr introduced, the party will simultaneously reassure conservatives that it has a plan for replacing Obamacare and the public at large that life after Obamacare won’t involve taking health insurance away from millions of people,” they wrote.