The recent political posturing going on in Washington DC is analogous to a game of High Stakes No Limit Texas Hold 'em. Each big debate is a hand of poker.  At the beginning of the game each party is dealt two cards. These cards are the policy positions of each political party, the democrats and republicans. Each round the players take their bets based on their policy positions and create the stakes in which the game is to be played. As each street, card, comes the stakes get higher and the strength of each player's hand does so accordingly. This happens numerous times until either they compromise and flip over their cards, or one side blinks and folds to the opposing side.

To be successful at poker, as well as politics, you need to not only understand the strengths and weaknesses of your own hand, or policies. You also need to place your opponent on their cards, or policies, as well as what their tendencies are, including your own. If you do not understand any one of these variables you are likely to fold a possible winning hand. The better poker player will get more policies passed and their agenda implemented into law. The GOP has by far been the better poker player of the two political parties. They have constantly and consistently bullied the table and made the democrats fold time after time. The strategy of the Republican party is a very common move when you are short stacked, or the minority party. The theory is to go hard and either double your bet each street, or go all in from the get go and force your opponent to call your bluff or fold. Each time the democrats have called more and more, giving into GOP demands until they fold on the river, the last card before showing the hand.

The last hand that was dealt the GOP had the worst hand in poker, a 72. Yet they were able to bluff and bully well enough to get the President and the democrats to fold. There was no way that the GOP could afford to let the country default on it's debt. This had never been attempted before in US history. If the GOP were called on their bluff they would have had to fold due to the fact that they had the worst hand in poker, they would have caused and been blamed for the default of the US economy. Their political party would have been done for; they would have had to leave the game, unable to rebuy. The democrats and the President did not have the stomach to see it out to the end, thus giving the GOP another victory on a bluff, giving them more political capital.

In order for the democrats to come back and take back the chips they have lost from these successive losses, putting into jeopardy their majority come 2012, the democrats need to make a play. They need to take an issue that the GOP cannot afford to hold the line on. An issue that they cannot afford to give in at all, and go big. No matter what the hand the democrats need to show some spine, they need to grow a pair to be coarse. They have constantly been bullied into folding time and time again. This has given the GOP a lot of confidence in their play which means that they are going to go hard as well. They will call every single street that the democrats bet. The democrats cannot show weakness. They need to keep doubling and tripling their previous bet each card that falls. Take them to the ringer, all the way to the river and go all in. The democrats can have a 7-2 and still pull this move off; because in the end, the GOP will have to fold. They do not have the numbers and a loss will devastate them to the point of impotency. There was a glimpse of this with the election of Barack Obama. The GOP had extreme losses giving a super majority to the democrats leaving the GOP extremely vulnerable. That is when the Republicans played the strategy of going hard and heavy and making the democrats use their majority and put pressure on the democrats leaving any cracks vulnerable to GOP gain.

The most effective way to take out the minority is to overwhelm them, to bully them right back. The democrats need to bluff and bluff big for a few hands and not give in at all. The small stack is always less likely to call big bets due to the massive loss to their capital. Meanwhile the big stack's losses will be minimal. The Democrats need to stop playing cautious and playing as if there are 5 or 6 players, evening out the odds. The odds are stacked in their favor, there are only two players, and it is time to put the GOP away. Their ideas have caused the market to flutter the last few days even after a default was averted. Jobs are fleeting faster now that the GOP is in control of the House than when the democrats had a super majority. There is merit to bipartisanship, but when the ideas of the other side are harming our economy and are solely aimed at partisanship, taking out the President, then it is time to bluff and bluff big, and make sure they know why they are the small stack.