Have Republicans Lost the Will to Fight?

(Editor's Note: The following opinion column does not constitute an endorsement of any political party, or candidate, on the part of Newsmax.) 

Mark Twain once said that "Truth is stranger than fiction," indeed with House Republicans you couldn’t make this stuff up if you tried.

In the wake of Americans enduring almost four years of perhaps the worst presidential administration in the history of the United States, U.S. House Republicans should be cheerfully calculating how many dozens of congressional seats they're going to pick up on Nov. The coffers of the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee (RCCC) should be so full that they can’t figure out how to spend all of the money.

Back to reality:

• As, Democrats continue to hold a substantial fundraising advantage over the Republicans, many are now justifiably concerned about losing the Republican majority in the House of Representatives.
• The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) more than doubled the contributions of the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee (RCCC) in August.

One the one hand, this is just pure madness. On the other hand, we should expect nothing better from House Republicans seemingly terrified of fighting the Democrats on just about anything,

The Republicans' embarrassing surrender over the SAVE Act encapsulates all that is wrong with the House GOP today. Republican Candidate for President, Donald J Trump urged Republicans to pass the SAVE Act, a bill that would merely prevent states from registering non-citizens to vote in Federal elections, and mandate that states remove non-citizens from their voter rolls.

Recently, 14 Republicans joined almost all the Democrats in destroying a measure that would pass the SAVE Act as a condition to approving a continuing resolution to fund the government.

Rather than be outraged, U.S. House Speaker Rep. Michael Johnson, R-La., sought to give them solace and cover.

Johnson thinks President Trump "understands" why House Republicans don’t have the votes to pass the SAVE Act.

Perhaps that's indeed the case, but President Trump almost certainly "understands" that he doesn’t have any more time to waste prodding nebbish Republicans to get out from under the table, every time the Democrats pound their fists in defiance of common sense.

This issue was a slam dunk for Republicans.

This wouldn’t have been a drawn-out obtuse debate over whether we should cut spending — which threatens jobs and would naturally give any politician the wobbles. Democrats would rightly be blamed for suspending the government because they refuse to enforce the laws of the United States.

Democrats would be forced to publicly explain and defend to the nation why they are once again fighting for the rights of illegal aliens over law-abiding American citizens.

Of course, the radical left is quick to point out that it's illegal to vote if you are not a citizen, but conveniently fail to point out that this only applies to federal elections.

Non-citizens are allowed to vote in local elections in several municipalities across the Country.

Under most circumstances, voters would want to avoid a shut down.

A simple rule that someone should provide identification when registering to vote in federal elections is not controversial, nor is directing states to prevent non-citizens from voting in federal elections be something members of Congress should be reluctant to discuss with their constituents.

Fighting for the SAVE Act while campaigning for office may be great speculative, investigative method for figuring out how much someone will fight for you if elected.

If a candidate thinks that defending democracy isn’t worth their time, that is all you need to know.

There is no enforcement mechanism for making sure illegal aliens can’t register to vote.

Arguing against the need for enforcement is a thinly veiled acknowledgement of the need to stack the deck against Donald Trump and other Republican candidates.

A bar owner can lose their license if they serve a beer to someone without asking for age verification ID.

In New York, a grocery store owner can be shut down if they sell cigarettes to someone of legal age if they don’t ask for ID.

Republicans should dare the Democrats to explain to people that government services are in jeopardy because they think the "non-citizen" vote must be protected. And the idiotic arguments that people don’t know how to get identification (there are even provisions in the SAVE Act for such a scenario), will only make things worse for Democrats.

Chinese General and Strategist Sun Tzu wrote in "The Art of War," "For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill."

This very wise advice thousands of years ago.

The Democrats have used this strategy to devastating effect against the House GOP, and if Republicans refuse to fight, many voters will go to the polls, vote for President Trump, leave the rest blank and go home.

Republicans in Congress need to show some fighting spirit.

Let’s finally admit that there is nothing more "swampy" or politically "impotent" than a Republican who refuses to fight for the logical premise that non-citizens shouldn’t be deciding who will be our next president.

Nicholas Chamberas has advised good government advocacy groups, elected officials and political candidates on public policy matters as well as having served as a senior adviser on several prominent New York City campaigns. He holds a degree in Political Science and a Juris Doctor. Read Nicholas Chamberas' Reports — More Here.