The triumvirate of Obama, Pelosi, and Reid are still two months away from completely ruling Washington and already their party is finding new and creative ways to do what they do best: shoot themselves in the foot. Already there is infighting, drama, and outrageous proposals coming from the Democratic Party. Republicans looking for an opening would be wise to take advantage of the following.

First, President-Elect Obama named hyper-partisan Rahm Emmanuel to be the Chief-of-Staff in what was supposed to be a post-partisan White House. Emmanuel isn’t anyone’s idea of bi-partisan so current Minority Leader Jim Boehner was right to call the pick “ironic.” Any lack of communication or miscommunication with the Obama White House should be blamed on Emmanuel, especially since instead of speaking clear English, Emmanuel speaks what his own friends call “Rahmbonics.” It’s going to be entertaining to see the same people who laughed at President Bush’s use of the English language try to explain why Emmanuel’s quotes make Yogi Berra sound like a great orator.

Then came the Lieberman melodrama. An independent-minded Democrat votes his conscience and campaigns for his friend and Democrats on the far left scream “off with his head.” With the Democrats so close to 60 Senate seats, no one in their right mind thinks Lieberman will be kicked out of his caucus, but if they strip him of his prized chairmanship, Republicans should offer him every carrot they can to try to get him to switch sides. Many irrational Democrats demand that Lieberman be punished somehow, but to their credit, a handful of sensible Democrats are coming to his defense. Let’s hope the Democrats do push Lieberman away.

Now anti-war activists are demanding that Obama not keep Robert Gates as Defense Secretary despite every indication that this is what Obama wants to do and he has the public approval of Reid to do it. This is a lose-lose situation for Obama, meaning it’s a win-win for Republicans. If he keeps Gates, his old attacks on Bush policy will ring hollow and anti-war activists will throw fits. If he replaces Gates with Republican Chuck Hagel like many are suggesting, he is giving credence to the idea that Democrats are weak on defense and therefore cannot be trusted to run the DOD. If he picks a Democrat, his promises of a truly bipartisan cabinet with people not afraid to disagree with him goes out the window.

But the appointment that might make Republicans look best is one that will certainly not go to a Republican. The fight pick the head of the Treasury Department is between those who support former Clinton Treasury Secretary Larry Summers and those who do not want to embarrass themselves. Remember, this is the guy who pushed through deregulation bill in 1999 that helped get us into our current mess. This is also the guy who lost his job as Harvard President for saying the reason there are less women than men in math and science jobs is because of “innate differences.” I would pay to see him try to explain that comment in a Senate confirmation hearing, especially if a female Republican Senator is there to grill him for it.

Whether Obama hires Summers or not, he has already broken a campaign promise by allowing his transition team to hire former lobbyists and Republicans should call him out on every one he hires. That would be truly open politics.

But one campaign promise Obama is committed to keeping is backing the Orwellian “Employee Free Choice Act.” The bill would make it legal for labor union bosses to do away with the secret ballot and force members to vote publicly for their leadership, pressuring them to keep the status-quo. No Democrat has given a logical reason for why this bill is a positive step for union workers and not just a way for Democrats to give the labor bosses that support them more power. Even George McGovern has come out against it. If Republicans want an issue to connect with the working class, this is it. “Obama, Reid, and Pelosi want to take away your right to a secret ballot,” Congressional Republicans should say, “and we will do whatever it takes to stop them.”

It’s heartening to know that while Republicans are starting the long road to recovery, Democrats are still awfully prone to screwing up. That’s certainly something to be thankful for.

Last 5 posts by Abel S. Delgado

• Let’s Support the Cantwell-McCain Bill - January 6th, 2010
• Deeds Gets Dirty, Doesn’t Win Anyway - November 2nd, 2009
• Obama & The Berlin Wall - October 25th, 2009
• The Nobel Prom King - October 11th, 2009
• Bureaucratizing Interrogations a Horrible Idea - August 28th, 2009