|
For all the people crying in their orange juice this morning over the election results, a few words. First, we live in a democracy. This is the way it is supposed to work. When voters want change, for any reason, they are entitled to get it. The are even entitled to show their disgust by voting for people who want to destroy the national government.
Unless one comes at this election with some strong proof that the process itself has been so corrupted by money and fake grassroots influence (astroturf, in Washington speak), then it is necessary to accept “the verdict of the people”, learn from it and move forward. The question revolves around the nature of that verdict and how to put it into practice.
The massive Republican victory in the House of Representatives, first and foremost, entitles the Republicans to nothing. By that I mean that there is a legislative process which passes over the desk of the President of the United States, after first going through the Senate. The president may, and should, veto any bill that is manipulated in such a way to make it unacceptable to him and the larger public. He should consider carefully any and all honest legislation, that is, bills that are intended to assist American citizens without added on, poison pill provisions to make them unacceptable.
While voters might have thought they were voting for change, by electing a moderate president two years ago and sending right and far right new members into Congress, they are actually voting for more conflict, more infighting and more noise in general. It doesn’t matter how it is sliced up, Republicans, Tea Party inspired or otherwise, are not going to cooperate and compromise with this president, unless it is mainly for show. Why should they? The Republicans believe they have found a winning formula and they will want to ride it straight through to 2012 and take the White House itself.
The formula used in this election began back in the 1990s with the rise of Newt Gingrich. It is a long story, too long to be detailed here, but the main idea is making loud noise trumpeting opposition, coupled with tough, angry campaigns that disgust nearly everyone involved. The innovations of this election cycle revolve around the creation of a movement that is both real and generated by fakery by big money, the Tea Party groups. To the mix, also, has been added outside money to create and air negative campaign ads with no direct tie to a candidate, but a very direct interest in the outcome.
Let’s be clear, shall we? Obama and his staff were hit with shock and awe. They thought a new day had dawned in America when, in fact, it was merely a new recession. The Republicans and Tea Party groups came at Obama full blast while he was still enjoying how cool it was to be president. Obama has been shooting a cap pistol while the Republicans have been going full blast with 50 caliber machine guns.
Looking back a bit, remember that Clinton in 1995 started his reelection campaign a year early, hitting television with warm and friendly images of greatness. Obama has been campaigning by making television appearances and giving interviews and it has been far too little. The Dems, in short, look like they don’t know what hit them.
The hidden, uncovered story of this election cycle, in addition to the massive influence of the recession, is income inequality in America. For thirty or forty years, most Americans have been falling behind inflation in terms of their annual earnings. Getting hit with a recession on top of sagging buying power was like getting hit in the gut with a well placed bowling ball. Then, while the country sank into a deeper recession, we were ‘treated” to months and months of partisan bickering about health care. It was too much.
Here’s another thing to consider: the Republicans want victory more than the Democrats. They seem to be willing to go to any length to get it. The Dems are still wandering around in half a daze from losing the grand coalition that had kept them in power for decades until the rise of Reagan in 1980. They have never fully recovered, never have been able to successfully articulate and sell what is they want to do.
As the attacks on the Obama programs mounted over the last two years, the Dems stood on the sidelines, almost mute. Obama couldn’t even work up a sweat or a bit of anger when interviewers asked him about the persistent rumors that he is not a Christian and not born in the United States. The underground and above ground rumor campaign against Obama has had an affect and certainly influenced many uninformed voters.
So, now, the Republicans are on the upswing, just two years after Obama and the Democrats swept into power in a vote for change of historic proportions. There will be a lot of dancing around with the idea that compromise and cooperation are now the order of the day. I don’t believe that for ten seconds. The Republicans, as Senator Mitch McConnell has stated, are out to see that Obama is a one term president and that, as he said, is their main goal. (What about providing good government and solutions to problems? Naaa.) We are about to see what kind of president, and what kind of man, Obama really is.
Doug Terry, 11.3.10
|
