Posted on 09/21/2012 8:43:12 AM PDT by xzins
Mitt Romney's comments about 47 percent of Americans being dependent on government and locked in to vote for President Obama highlight a fundamental reality in American politics today: The gap between the American people and the political class is bigger than the gap between Republicans and Democrats in Washington, D.C.
Romney's remarks are the GOP equivalent of Obama's notorious comments about small-town Pennsylvania voters bitterly clinging to their guns and religion.
Both Romney and Obama highlighted the condescending attitude that political elites hold of the people they want to rule over. A National Journal survey found that 59 percent of political insiders don't think voters know enough to have meaningful opinions on the important issues of the day. That's a handy rationalization for those who want to ignore the voters and impose their own agenda.
In the nation's capital, this gap creates bigger problems for Republicans than Democrats. Democratic voters tend to think that their representatives in Congress do a decent job representing them. That's because Democrats are a bit more comfortable with the idea of government playing a leading role in American society. However, 63 percent of Republican voters believe their representatives in Washington are out of touch with the party base.
Establishment Republicans in Washington broadly share the Democrats' view that the government should manage the economy. They may favor a somewhat more pro-business set of policies than their Democratic colleagues, but they still act as if government policy is the starting point for all economic activity.
Republican voters reject this view. They are more interested in promoting free market competition rather than handing out favors to big business. They detest corporate welfare and government bailouts, even though their party leaders support them.
The GOP base sees government as a burden that weighs the private sector down rather than a tool that can generate growth if used properly. Ninety-six percent of Republican voters believe that the best thing the government can do to help the economy is to cut spending and free up more money for the private sector.
The Republican base is looking for someone like a 21st century Ronald Reagan, who will display his faith in the American people. The Washington Republicans are more comfortable with politicians like George W. Bush, Bob Dole, John McCain and Mitt Romney. Though the establishment has dominated the party since Reagan left the White House, the 2012 election could well be the end of the line.
If Romney loses in November, the Republican base will no longer buy the electability argument for an establishment candidate. From the view of the base, the elites will have given away an eminently winnable election. Someone new, from outside of Washington, will be the party's nominee in 2016.
If Romney wins and does nothing to change the status quo, the economy will falter. He will end up as the second straight one-term president, and the nation will desperately be searching for an authentic outsider in 2016.
If he wins the White House, the only way for Romney to succeed will be to side with the nation's voters and throw out the club in Washington. That will be great news for the country but bad news for political insiders on both sides of the partisan aisle.
I always had trouble with derivatives. Too many functions, too many formulas (formulae?)
Seriously, though, might as well go to the race track.
“If Romney loses, he will be the most hated man among conservative voters.
He’s already running a close second. :>)”
I listen to Romney daily. I listen to whatever the media will allow the public to hear. The rest has to be searched for. He’s saying everything that needs to be said to appeal to reasonable people in both parties. He’s speaking in gentlemanly tones enhanced with heart-felt passion. He’s convinced me he’ll put this country back on the right track. If his mission, in four to eight years, is ONLY the economy, praise the Lord. A thriving economy will change the direction of the country and re-build families and belief in God. If Romney never mentions the words Abortion and Immigration in his two terms, and only concentrates on the economy, people will turn back to the origins of their moral beliefs and pay more attention to local politics. IMHO
Main Street is America, not the multinationals.
Republicans should be about the individual, not the collective.
” Obama May Be the End of the Line for the US.”
All anyone needs to know.
great article!
Obama May Be the End of the Line for the Democrat Establishment.
Obama&Co the new low.
There is no moral equivalency (Kirkpatrick) between:
- the stated observation by Romney that a constituency exists which, in this election, may have been convinced by Obama and the Dems that "government" exists to "redistribute" the earnings of some in order to "help" others, and that that constituency may not readily respond to his (Romney's) message,
and,
- the Obama statement claiming that in tough times, people tend to "cling" to their Bibles and their guns. That was an off-the-cuff personal opinion intended to demean an imagined constituency which, in that candidate's biased opinion, might embrace the First and Second Amendments to their own Constitution, rather than his "collectivist/redistributionist" ideology.
First of all, we must remember this is a "battle of ideas and principles ."
With that said, then, if we are fighting for liberty, which is the complete antithesis of the 'counterfeit' ideas of tyranny by coercive government takeover of the lives, liberty, and property of individuals being undertaken by the so-called "progressives," then we must act like liberty-loving persons.
These are our fellow citizens who must be convinced--by our adherence to principle--that the policies and methods of this Administration and Congress violate their most basic rights as American citizens.
That means they need a quick lesson in the principles of liberty so well understood by America's Founders, but so censored out of our schools and public discourse in recent decades.
Taxed Enough Already leaders' in 2010 were successful because of their ability to quickly and precisely pinpoint the motives of those who buy votes by promising "goodies," and then relating those violations to the Founders' ideas, as stated in the Declaration of Independence, the Preamble to the Constitution, and the limited government structured by the Constitution.
Our most effective weapon is the truth, and the ability to summarize and articulate the several principles upon which our liberty as a people was founded. We must read, use the web (search quotations by Jefferson and others by topic), use those ideas and talk about them--our politicians in either Party don't seem to be able to do so.
Read Mark Levin's "Liberty and Tyranny." Check out this web site. In that publication, there are easy-to-read, illustrated, one-page summaries of 25 principles, using the Founders' own powerful words. There is much, much more in its 292 pages, but these 25 ideas, if understood and articulated could make a huge difference today. Copy the pages most related to the current assault on liberty, and pass them out to friends, teachers, legislators, Tea Partiers.
So-called "progressives" ("regressives") have no weapon that can defeat truth, once it is understood by ordinary citizens.
Don't advocate violating principles. That is counterproductive.
Just as Divine Providence was claimed by the Founders to have overseen their "experiment in liberty," so may today's efforts be consistent with "the Blessing of Liberty" they sought to protect.
“If Romney loses, we might not see 2016”
You should... it’s a good movie.
“Obama is an accelerant. The fuel is idiotic federal policies going back decades.”
EXACTLY! And it doesn’t have an “R” or a “D” next to it. Both parties are guilty as charged. The problem is that people don’t want to look at policy records when it comes to Mitt Romney because they hate Obama so bad. What we’ll end up doing is trading one out-of-touch leader for another.
“It figured your peddling this rubbish !
Another divide and conquer and it’s over post from YOU !
Who do you work for ????
Ras is a DC insider moron and his polls are now worthless
After this pathetic hit piece was cooked up to help
Scotty win favor with the Obama media !
Now I know his POlls mysterious switched from
+1 R to +1 Dem last month !”
If you don’t like it, don’t read it. Calling people morons behind the anonymity of your keyboard is hardly doing anyone any good.
lol
“If Romney loses, we might not see 2016”
Please explain how the future will disappear if we don’t vote for this (apparently Godlike) Romney fellow?
This meme seems to be gaining purchase: please let the collapse/CW2/R2 be as peaceful as the demise of the USSR. The key, of course, is which side, people vs state, the military backs. This speech by Stewart Rhodes from Oathkeepers outlines the issues in high relief:
I mis-read your post. You were calling Ras a moron. You were right. I take back my reply :P
As stated before, the problem is the worldview.
The elites of both parties went to the same schools, belong to the same clubs, and live in the same areas. They have more in common with each other than with those who they pretend to represent.
This isn’t good. It means we are heading to the next stage, an emperor. The only real question is if he will be a Blue or a Red.
By then Lord & Master Obama, ALl Hail President for Life, would have renamed or renumbered the years after himself.
duh.
:p
The smartest guys in the room (bankers) seized this opportunity and rode the Ponzi till it inevitably collapsed.
It wasn't just bankers.
Anyone that worked during those 30 years has gotten his piece of that debt through government spending, either directly or indirectly.
The race now is shield that money from the inevitable tax claw-back that will occur, retire, and then let younger workers pay the bill.
Your underwear won't be clean. My Dad used to be an ambulance tech, and would fire that back at my Mom every once in a while. Drove her nuts.
One final thought! Rasmussen should just stick to polling, not political analysis.
“By then Lord & Master Obama, ALl Hail President for Life, would have renamed or renumbered the years after himself.”
he’d only number the good years after himself... the rest he’d name after “his predecessor”
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