The Wrong Lessons

The Democrats will learn the wrong lessons from the election. The Republicans will learn the wrong lessons from the election.

How can I say that? Because of the truth embodied in the old saw, garbage in, garbage out.

The bulk of the society has decided that what they want to be facts really are facts. People actually believe that Obama is a Muslim. They don’t believe it because it is true. They believe it because they want it to be true.

And besides, the Internet told them so.

One of the memorable moments from election night was Rand Paul, in his victory rant, saying that he had a message he was taking to Washington. Americans are going to take back their government. My question is, “from whom?”

Whatever happened to the melting pot? He gets to claim the mantle of American and brand everyone who differs as unAmerican? I grew up imbued with the sentiment behind the statement, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” That was then. People now will readily stomp your head for daring to disagree with them.

Sharron Angle speaks of 2^nd Amendment remedies if they don’t get their way. Governor Rick Perry, Congressman Zack Wamp and others talk secession if the Republicans don’t get their way. These are the real American patriots? God help us.

And what is it that tops their lists? Tax cuts for the plutocrats. Next? Repeal ObamaCare.

Yeah, I know. Somewhere in there is to impeach or otherwise rid the country of Obama. Is this where they intend the 2^nd Amendment remedy?

Anyway, what did the Republicans think they learned?

They learned that the nation gave them a mandate to implement their agenda. Wrong

What was the public’s top issue? The economy, at 42%. Where did the public rank tax cuts, the Republicans’ top issue? At 4%. They heard what they wanted to hear.

Every mention of job creation is predicated on tax cuts for the top 2%. It had ten years to create jobs but didn’t. What has changed? Nothing. Let me be emphatic. There is not one shred of evidence that those tax cuts have or will create a single job. There is concrete evidence that unemployment insurance creates jobs. I feel better about ensuring a family has food and a roof than about giving a billionaire an extra half million, or even a whole.

An exit poll showed 30% of voters had a family member who is unemployed or has been since the last election. So, do you still remember the campaigns? The 2^nd Amendment. Immigration. Birthers. Gay Rights. Abortion. A Manhattan Mosque. Sure, any wedge issue to divide a country that needs unity to work its way out of a crisis.

Mitch McConnell and John Boehner are telling every camera that the voters repudiated all of the policies of Obama. Pat Buchanan sees a bit more nuance. He says that the people did want Obama’s agenda two years ago but they no longer want what Obama wants.

In this election the Republicans gathered 5 million more votes than the Democrats. In 2008, 23 million voters in the 18 to 29 age group voted for Obama. This year. 9 million of that age group voted for Democrats. Fourteen million didn’t show up. Why? Not because of what Obama did. Because of the promises Obama failed to deliver. They sat on their hands, not because they wanted to give the Republicans a mandate. They sat it out from disappointment with the Democrats.

The overwhelming Republican turnout failed to materialize. What enthusiasm was seen resulted more from anger than love of the GOP. Polls showed higher approval for the Democrats but that didn’t translate into votes. Many of those who voted for Republicans were simply wanting to send the Democrats a message. It just wasn’t the message Rand Paul heard.

What about ObamaCare? Polls showed a little over 50% opposed it. One poll I recall but don’t have in front of me was 51% opposed, 41% favored. Well, that settles that. Just a minute.

The same poll then asked the same people their positions on six major parts of the healthcare reform that became law. You know, no more denial for preexisting conditions, coverage for kids until 26 years old, etc., etc. Surprise, surprise. Those 51% who opposed it supported every one of those six parts by from 59 to 78 percentage majorities.

Okay. Where is McConnell’s and Boehner’s claimed rejection of ObamaCare? They will not tell you that ObamaCare is almost indistinguishable from what Reagan offered Teddy Kennedy. Kennedy turned it down. He later said that was the political mistake he most regretted. Should we rename it RonnyCare? I guess St. Ronny wasn’t really a true conservative.

Do you realize that if half or two-thirds of that 14 million missing youth had voted, it would have been enough to eliminate every Republican from the House of Representatives and every one of the Republican Senators and governors up for reelection? Has anyone heard that message?

Over half of the conservative Democrats are gone from the House. One percent of the progressive Democrats lost. That makes the remaining Democratic caucus more progressive than before. Obama sees only the smaller numbers of Democrats and accepts the Republican interpretation of the results. One of his first post-election comments was that he may be willing to compromise on the tax cut.

The tax cut is a made to order Democratic battering ram. Regardless of what they say, the Republicans cannot reduce the debt by borrowing more than a trillion dollars. Well, you say, there could be spending cuts.

So, why have McConnell, Boehner and the others absolutely refused to identify a single spending cut? They know, as voters seem not to, that debt service, the military, Social Security and Medicare cannot be cut for legal and/or political reasons and total 93% of the budget. If you cut the FBI, the CIA, Homeland security, everything in that 7%, the government would essentially disappear but the deficit would remain.

The Republicans do not, under any circumstances, want to reduce the deficit. They want it increased. Really? Yes. Despite the Republican demands for tax cuts, the the resulting debt would add to the debt accumulated during Obama’s administration. He would get 100% of the blame. If he is stupid enough to concede anything on that issue, he deserves to be a one-term president, and probably will be.

The right has been louder. The left sat on their hands, with some exceptions, such as Nevada, California and a couple of other places.

The public did not make a big right turn between 2008 and 2010. The support for the progressive agenda is there. It will continue to trend that way if the progressives in Washington get their act together. More youth are coming of age. They lean heavily to the left. The older voters, who tend to be more conservative (as me) are dying off. They need leadership. They want to believe.

These are the times that try men’s souls. It will not be civil but it will be war. It will elicit howls of anger from those who claim the Flag as their own personal property. Obama may be too queasy to lead. If he understands that the Oval Office functions differently than a law school classroom, he has the other attributes to lead. Without that, he needs to step aside for the next election cycle.

One last secret from PoliSci 101. Bringing everyone together, were that even possible, can make a temporary majority. However, it is weak. It is soft. To put such a coalition together requires fuzzing the picture, fuzzing the politician’s image. It will take very little for those weak ties to disappear. The fuzziness doesn’t create enthusiasm.

Even a politician with less than majority support can win by dividing the electorate. That’s what the Republicans understand and the Democrats don’t. Making it us against them, creating strong lines of differences, whether they truly exist or not, generates enthusiasm. These people are motivated to get out and vote.

Bipartisanship is a viable option in an emergency such as WWII. It didn’t last long, even after 9/11. The rest of the time bipartisanship is the mark of the amateur, the naive.

The Republicans understand the above but, as for the results of this past election, they just don’t get it. Obama and some other Democrats seem to agree with the Republicans. Wrong.

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Tagged as: 2nd amendment, 9/11, abortion, billionaire, bipartisan, birther, california, causus, cia, democrat, economy, election obama, fbi, gay, gop, government, homeland, house, hrealth care, immigration, impeach, internet, jobs, john boehner, mandate, manhattan, mitch mcconnell, mosque, muslim, nevada, obamacare, pat buchanan, patriot, polisci, poll, preexisting, rand paul, reagan, reform, republican, rick perry, senator, sharron angle, tax cut, teddy kennedy, unemployment insurance, wwII, youth, zack wamp