Garry Kasparov, former World Chess Champion, understands strategy better than most. Conservatives have come to admire his thoughtful, analytical approach to politics.
Today, he suggested that in drawing so much attention to the Obamacare website problems, the GOP has lost its focus:
Quick pivot from attacking the principles of Obamacare to sniping about website problems shows the lack of GOP strategy & coordination.
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) October 24, 2013
And he shared some advice:
If your arguments are good ones, stick with them or you discredit both your arguments and yourself.
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) October 24, 2013
If you weaken your own core strengths to score quick tactical points you are inevitably losing the war. Shows a lack of seriousness.
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) October 24, 2013
Criticizing a lousy website is valid, but it should not be substituted for what matters. It will be fixed, and then what do they say?
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) October 24, 2013
Kasparov underestimates the significance of the Obamacare “glitches” here.
It's a tactical error to draw attention to an opponent's flaw when that flaw is easy to fix. It's a favor. Distracts from the big issues.
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) October 24, 2013
Based on what we’ve seen and heard over the past several weeks, the website problems are definitely not “easy to fix”:
@Kasparov63 the site isn't easy to fix which is why they picked on it.
— Rupert (@rupertbe) October 24, 2013
@Kasparov63 It's NOT easy to fix.
— Arthur Kimes (@ComradeArthur) October 24, 2013
@Kasparov63 You confuse complaining with pointing out incompetence.
— Arthur Kimes (@ComradeArthur) October 24, 2013
The staggering number of flaws with Healthcare.gov and state exchange sites deserve our attention and scrutiny. As this tweeter points out, they’re indicative of a system that is doomed to fail.
https://twitter.com/cryengine1007/status/393462657883185152
https://twitter.com/cryengine1007/status/393462885092847616
Bingo. If the government can’t even figure out how to properly run a website, how can we trust it to run our health care system? Kasparov stresses the importance of keeping sight of the big picture:
Complaining about the Obamacare website is like complaining about the color of paint on a time-bomb.
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) October 24, 2013
Stay focused on real weaknesses, think a few moves ahead. How to highlight & address consequences of the law, not a dumb website.
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) October 24, 2013
But we cannot forget that the devil is in the details.
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