Outgoing Senator: "The public doesn't understand how it works"

Interesting interview with retiring GOP Senator Bob Bennett of Utah. He's the guy who was defeated in a Tea Party takeover at the nominating convention. His recollections of horsetrading in the past are revealing and worth a read but these are the best quotes:

I learned very, very firmly [then that] you don’t approach things around here the way you do other places.

The personal relationships of the egos in this place are such that you better be a whole lot more sensitive to them than I was on that occasion, or you pay a huge price.

Elections are won on slogans — or as Bob Woodward says, the symbols. Governing is very different. And governing goes forward on ideas. The Republican Party is short on ideas. They’re very long on slogans right now, but they’re short on ideas.

So I think the party is on the threshold of what everybody in the press will call a historic victory and we’re on the threshold of real problems if we don’t have a governing philosophy.

I remain unconvinced that the GOP is going to get as big a win as the polls are currently predicting but the point on sloganery is well taken. The GOP has consistently won on better slogans. For some reason liberals haven't been able to come up with bumpersticker length monikers that stick to the cons. Which reminds me of this piece I picked up at Avedon's place a while ago asking for new slogans. There's a liberal faction that's pushing "cheap labor conservatives," but while I don't hate it, it just doesn't quite do the trick I think. Thinking it's a little too long and requires a bit too much inside knowledge to resonate with the low info voter.