Our biggest problem - the Left's - is that we're stupid. Or rather, we're naive. So naive, we never learn from our mistakes.
And we listen too much to the Professional Left.
No sooner had Barack Obama won the 2008 Election, than we were lapping up every liquid word Chris Matthews or Bill Maher or Uncle Tom Cobbley told us about the Republicans being dead in the water - how they'd never come back from this, how they'd be the party in the wilderness for a long time.
Then, the Tea Party arose, and the Democrats lost the House in the 2010 Midterms.
OMIGOD! HOW DID THAT HAPPEN? I KNOW ... IT'S OBAMA'S FAULT.
Well, that was the refrain of the Professional Left, as well. After all, it was the Professional Left who told us not to vote, just so we could show Obama. Show him what, I've still to ascertain. How stupidly sheeple-like certain tranches of the Left are?
Anyway, the Professional Left have a new message: After three Republican Primaries in three states with three winners, the Party is splintering. Gingrich is attacking Romney, Romney's being cagey, Ron Paul sounds increasingly weirder (although Rick Santorum's approaching those depths, himself). They're all fighting with each other. They're destroying themselves from within.
Of course, there's a method to this meme on behalf of the Professional Left. Most would like to lull their sheeple into a daze where the prospective voter thinks the Republicans are so damned batshit that there's no way the President could lose ... so they won't need to vote, will they? That way, they could continue with their Obama-criticism well into his second term and feel even more purist in their critique because, after all, they didn't vote for him.
But unlike the Left, who have made snatching defeat from the jaws of victory an art form, the Right always seem to find a second wind; and if you really look at and listen to what the GOP candidates are saying, you'll find most of their policies mirror each other's, even Ron Paul's.
Mary Cate Cary explains in the most recent U S News and World Report:
There are a growing number of disaffected Progressives about, who plan on voting for a third party, knowing that this would give the election to the Republicans, in hopes that in four years a real Progressive revolution would take hold and, just like the Tea Party, prevail within four years.
Don't bank on that, and above all, don't give them the ammunition to achieve it.
And we listen too much to the Professional Left.
No sooner had Barack Obama won the 2008 Election, than we were lapping up every liquid word Chris Matthews or Bill Maher or Uncle Tom Cobbley told us about the Republicans being dead in the water - how they'd never come back from this, how they'd be the party in the wilderness for a long time.
Then, the Tea Party arose, and the Democrats lost the House in the 2010 Midterms.
OMIGOD! HOW DID THAT HAPPEN? I KNOW ... IT'S OBAMA'S FAULT.
Well, that was the refrain of the Professional Left, as well. After all, it was the Professional Left who told us not to vote, just so we could show Obama. Show him what, I've still to ascertain. How stupidly sheeple-like certain tranches of the Left are?
Anyway, the Professional Left have a new message: After three Republican Primaries in three states with three winners, the Party is splintering. Gingrich is attacking Romney, Romney's being cagey, Ron Paul sounds increasingly weirder (although Rick Santorum's approaching those depths, himself). They're all fighting with each other. They're destroying themselves from within.
Of course, there's a method to this meme on behalf of the Professional Left. Most would like to lull their sheeple into a daze where the prospective voter thinks the Republicans are so damned batshit that there's no way the President could lose ... so they won't need to vote, will they? That way, they could continue with their Obama-criticism well into his second term and feel even more purist in their critique because, after all, they didn't vote for him.
But unlike the Left, who have made snatching defeat from the jaws of victory an art form, the Right always seem to find a second wind; and if you really look at and listen to what the GOP candidates are saying, you'll find most of their policies mirror each other's, even Ron Paul's.
Mary Cate Cary explains in the most recent U S News and World Report:
A cursory review of the GOP candidates' positions on the issues is surprisingly repetitive, especially on the issues of most importance to voters, namely, the economy and the budget deficit. All of the Republican candidates are fiscal conservatives, all want lower federal income taxes, and when it comes to lowering corporate taxes, it's simply a question of who wants to cut by how much. Most support a balanced budget and raising the retirement age. All want to reform Social Security and Medicare. Most favor repealing Dodd-Frank's restrictions on the financial industry, and all want to reduce federal regulations on businesses.
All are pro-life, and all want tougher border security. All are opposed to Obamacare, with most calling for an outright repeal. All except Ron Paul support a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. The biggest areas of disagreement seem to be defense and foreign policy, with stances ranging from cutting the defense budget (Paul) to no reductions in the Pentagon budget except for waste (Newt Gingrich) to keeping all U.S. bases open (Rick Santorum) and increasing overseas troop levels and warships (Romney). They have a variety of positions on how to handle Libya, and while the field is split on whether waterboarding is torture, most support keeping the Guantánamo Bay prison open.
Overall, that doesn't sound like "deep ideological divisions" to me. On domestic issues, Republicans are surprisingly unified. Republicans agree on most economic issues, as well as on the other issues most important to voters: the federal deficit and healthcare.
There are a growing number of disaffected Progressives about, who plan on voting for a third party, knowing that this would give the election to the Republicans, in hopes that in four years a real Progressive revolution would take hold and, just like the Tea Party, prevail within four years.
Don't bank on that, and above all, don't give them the ammunition to achieve it.
Actually, I do believe that the GOP is splintering, but not in the way you would expect. This has nothing to do with the positions on the issues. It has more to do with the GOP base's perception of the candidates' political credibility. It's one thing to state your position on a particular issue - it's another if the party base doesn't think your position is sincere.
ReplyDeleteHowever, if anybody on the left thinks that this means we can take it easy; they are kidding themselves.
And if those disaffected Progressives who think giving the election to Republicans will help create a real Progressive revolution, they really need to be asking themselves why it hasn't already happened. The left has been helping the GOP win for the last 30 years and it hasn't come. Maybe, just maybe, we should trying something else for a change?