WASHINGTON — Along with a refurbished branding, Republicans have needed something to bring the party together after losing the presidential election and falling farther behind in Senate seats.
At present, the glue is the four-day old sequester, which represents an opportunity to rein in government spending in a string of failed efforts dating back two years.
After a period of indecision, Republicans in Congress united behind the automatic budget cuts that took effect on Friday, using the moment to stress the imperative of controlling debt.
"While there is talk of furloughs and other such cuts, how do you cut a budget without some reduction in services?" asked Rep. John Shimkus, R-Collinsville. "Most cities and states went through this process a few years ago. The federal government is finally catching up."
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Unity is a feat in the GOP-run House, where the Republican caucus often seems on the verge of open warfare. Saying "under no way will we accept higher taxes for anybody" revives a crystal clear message that may resonate with people trying to survive tax season.
On Monday, House Republicans introduced legislation to keep the government operating through September along with proposals to limit the sequester's impacts on defense and cuts they especially don't like.
For instance, the GOP bill would prevent the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency from reducing capacity in detention facilities for illegal immigrants.
The bill likely will pass the House on Thursday but die in the Democratic-run Senate, which has no intention of approving most of the cuts being roundly criticized.
It's still early in this political game. The federal employee furloughs, the linchpin in the Obama administration's litany of sequester horrors, won't begin for weeks. Until then, people will be subject to unremitting warnings about loss of services, unbearable airport lines and money cutoff for low-income families and their children.
And that could test the resolve of Republicans like Shimkus, a relatively moderate congressman who lives in a defense-heavy region that stands to bear a disproportionate burden from the sequester.
Republicans hope that Obama badly miscalculated in believing that Republicans would fold and the public will rebel.
They're hoping, too, that a Washington axiom is true — that a president who is not winning is losing.
Bill Lambrecht is Washington bureau chief for the Post-Dispatch and STLtoday.com. He covers politics, Congress and Missourians and Illinoisans in Washington.
