'We’re not just the opposition party,' Boehner says. Boehner: GOP the 'alternative party'

CAMBRIDGE, Md. — The midterm elections are 10 months away, and House Republicans want you to know they aren’t only the opposition party, but also the alternative.

In other words, they don’t exist to simply stymie President Barack Obama’s agenda, bur rather present another option.


That’s the theme of the GOP’s legislative retreat on the frigid Maryland Eastern Shore, where Republicans Thursday will talk about rebuilding the American dream, “real health care reform,” connecting with “hardworking Americans” and their plan for an immigration overhaul.

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It’s a new twist on an old GOP message. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) spent 2012 arguing that the Senate was blocking their agenda. Now, they’re further filling out that message in response to Obama’s State of the Union, trying to remind voters that they have an agenda, too.

“In order to maximize our year, it’s important that we show the American people we’re not just the opposition party, we’re actually the alternative party,” a casually dressed Boehner told reporters, who are holed up at a restaurant café away from the closed discussions. “We’ve passed dozens of bills this year to help the economy, to help improve education, improve energy production in America, mostly sitting over in the United States Senate. And I think Republicans have to do more to talk about the better solutions we think we have that will help the American people grow their wages and opportunities at a better job and clearly have a better shot at the American dream.”

The messaging also appears to be a response to the legions of Republicans who have criticized their party’s candidates for running solely to stop the president.

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There’s another layer to the Republicans’ message. They think they can show areas of agreement with the president following his speech Tuesday. For example, the president promoted an overhaul of job training programs, which Republicans passed in 2013. Obama talked about natural gas production, which is also in sync with Republican messaging.

“The president did say the other night, he said, ‘Look, in America, it’s always been if you work hard and you’re responsible, you get ahead.’ We agree,” Cantor said. “We Republicans have been talking about that for years and years. And so, we want the president to work with us to try and solve that. To make sure that that promise — of working hard and getting ahead, so that the next generation has it better than we do — is a reality for all Americans.”

One thing Republicans are not yet committing to is presenting a comprehensive alternative to Obamacare, which has been their main punching bag since its passage in 2010.

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“We had an alternative when they passed Obamacare,” Boehner said. “Consisted of eight or nine points, which we thought would make the health care insurance system much more cost competitive than what we have today. It was rejected. That bill’s still out there. But we’ve got other bills that have been introduced over the last year by various members of our conference. So we’re going to have a conversation today about the way forward on Obamacare.”

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