Republicans must go on the offensive over the "Obama shutdown."

The Government has shut down and as of yet most people would hardly notice. If you work for the Government and are non-essential this is a disruption in your routine but more than likely what is really happening is you are getting a paid vacation. When the government does reopen, those who had to take time off will most likely be paid for it.

Someone near and dear to me is a seasonal government worker for the National Parks Service so she probably really will lose income, but in the overall scheme of things, there are few people in that situation. So unless you work for the federal government as a seasonal or temporary worker, about the only people who are impacted by this are those who had planned a vacation to a National Park or those who need a passport. Not many people are being inconvenienced. If it goes on for weeks however, more and more people will be inconvenienced.

 In my view this is clearly the "Obama shutdown." He refused to negotiate. Some compromise could have been reached that allowed both sides to claim victory and kept the government running. Republicans would have probably settled for a repeal of the medical devises tax and a three month delay. They would have settled for almost anything that let them save face. The reason I think the President and Democrats in Congress refused to negotiate is because they see the Republicans loosing support of the American people over this. They think Republicans will get the blame and lose at the polls in 2014. They may be right. While in full agreement with the objective of the House Republicans, I have doubted the wisdom of the strategy. It may have been a better strategy to not take this stand and concentrate instead on taking the Senate in 2014 and then working on repealing and replacing Obamacare. I never did see how this effort to defund Obamacare could work.

So, what to do now? Republicans need to go on the offensive and label the shutdown the "Obama Shutdown." Polls are showing Americans are blaming Republicans. The liberal media and entertainers will do the Democrats heavy lifting for them in labeling it the Republican shutdown. Republicans need to fight back. Polls and opinions can be changed. Republicans need to get on the same page. Some are calling it the "Obama shutdown," some calling it the "Harry Reid shutdown," and some, the "Democrat shutdown." Republicans need to agree on the name for it. I thing it should be the "Obama shutdown." Every time a Republican talks about the shutdown, he should call it the "Obama shutdown."

Republicans need to immediately start spending massive amounts of money on TV, radio, newspaper, and billboards, lamented the "Obama shutdown." The tea party, the think tanks, the Republican Party apparatus, and the conservative advocacy groups needs to launch a social media campaign to label this shut down the "Obama shutdown." Time's a wasting. The result of who gets the blame for the shutdown could determine who wins the 2014 election and the prospects for repeal and replace of Obamacare.

Below is how the left is hard at work to label this the "Republican shut down."

Dear MoveOn member,

For the first time in 17 years, our government is shut down. As a result, 800,000 federal employees are out of work, nearly 9 million mothers and children could soon be denied nutrition assistance, most workers helping rebuild Colorado after last months floods may be eliminated, and hundreds of national parks and monuments are closed to the public.1

The human cost of the government shutdown is why we're organizing protests across the country this Friday. We need to tell tea party Republicans: Tea Time is Over: End the #GOPShutdown. We'll gather at GOP offices to demand that they vote to reopen our government. We'll also be rallying at Democratic offices because we need them to stay strong in the face of Republican extremism. Can you host a "Tea Time is Over: End the #GOPShutdown" Protest on Friday, October 4?

Yes, I can plan a "Tea Time is Over: End the #GOPShutdown" Protest in Nashville! Leading an event like this is really easy to do—we'll gather together, share stories of how the shutdown is affecting each of us and our country, and protest tea party Republicans for their failure to serve the people. All you need to do is locate your representative's office, invite friends to join you for the protest, and tell the local media about it. We'll help you recruit other MoveOn members to attend and give you all the support and guidance you'll need.

Speaker John Boehner has the power to put and end to this shutdown. He can call for an up-or-down vote on the "clean" spending bill the Senate passed and give democracy a chance to work.2

Together, MoveOn members can hold the GOP accountable for sabotaging our economy and trying to subvert our democracy—and get Democrats to keep standing strong. This reckless Republican behavior puts the country in serious economic danger, and we won't stand for it anymore.

If we can continue to shine the light on the tea party's destructive behavior, then we can force the rest of the GOP to abandon partisan politics and work to end the shutdown. It's on us to let every Republican's constituents know their representative is putting a personal agenda ahead of the needs and wants of the people while hurting our economy and middle class families. Can you step up and lead a "Tea Time is Over: End the #GOPShutdown" Protest in Nashville?

Yes! Sign me up to lead a "Tea Time is Over: End the #GOPShutdown" Protest.

Thanks for all you do.

–Mark, Stefanie, Maria, Alejandro, and the rest of the team.

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