Happy Republicans

They shouldn't have much to be happy about, but Byron York tells us that the GOP contingent in Washington and elsewhere is feeling pretty chipper these days:

They took a beating in November, but now, in the stimulus fight, Republicans are smiling again.

You see it all over Capitol Hill, in the hallways, the hearing rooms, the gathering spots. Republicans, coming off a devastating, across-the-board electoral defeat, are … happy. Being in opposition, after eight years of a Republican presidency and 12 years of GOP rule in Congress, suits many of them just fine.

It’s not that they were glad to lose. There are a lot of indignities involved in being the minority, and a pretty small minority at that. But talk to Republican lawmakers and insiders these days, and they speak as if an enormous weight has been lifted from their shoulders. Some of that weight was named George W. Bush, but in a larger sense, Republicans are relieved to be free of the burden of running things.

“We weren’t very happy with the results of the election, and on through the inaugural, but I guarantee you, I’ve never seen the spirit of Republicans as high as it was at the GOP retreat,” Arizona Rep. John Shadegg told me, referring to the House Republican getaway a week ago at the Homestead resort in Hot Springs, Va.

It would be an understatement to say GOP lawmakers were pumped after unanimously opposing the stimulus bill in the House. Although they lost, they were thrilled that not a single Republican voted for what all agreed was a terrible bill; if even one or two among them had broken ranks to join the Democrats, the feeling wouldn’t have been nearly as good.

“When we held our guys together, that had people extremely excited,” Shadegg said. “Then there were the ongoing scandals with Democratic tax cheats, and I think Republicans are beginning to say, ‘Ah, there could be some fun in the minority.’ ”

“I’m much happier,” Sen. Jim DeMint told me between votes on the stimulus. “Our message was so muddled with Bush in the White House, often going the big-spending approach, that we could not define ourselves in any other way.”

Now, unmuddled, Republicans have won the first big message war of the Obama administration — and in the stimulus battle made a better case for spending restraint than they did in the previous eight years.

“We have a focus we did not have before, because we were just trying to hang on to power,” Sen. Lindsey Graham told me. “Instead of hanging our heads, we’re picking good fights. In that regard, there is an energy among Republicans that is counterintuitive to the beating we just took.”

I must admit that it was good to see the GOP united once again after years where they seemed to forget their core principles. The one time in recent history when Republicans were really effective was when they united in 1994 with the "Contract With America" and inspired voters all over the country to turn the Dems out of power.

Unfortunately, once in power they seemed to lose their way and I'm not sure voters are going to be ready to trust them again unless Obama, Pelosi and Reid are complete disasters.

Given the start the Obama Administration has had, no wonder the GOP is feeling happy.