Posted on 11/10/2008 5:21:41 AM PST by Zakeet
Barack Obama won the White House by campaigning against an unpopular incumbent in a time of economic anxiety and lingering foreign policy concerns. He offered voters an upbeat message, praised the nation as a land of opportunity, promised tax cuts to just about everyone, and overcame doubts about his experience with a strong performance in the presidential debates.
Does this sound familiar? It should. Mr. Obama followed the approach that worked for Ronald Reagan. His victory confirmed that voters still embrace the guiding beliefs of the Reagan era.
During Reagan's campaign, the nation suffered from high unemployment and high inflation. This time around, data from the Rasmussen Reports Daily Presidential Tracking Poll showed that Mr. Obama took command of the race during the 10 days following the collapse of Lehman Brothers -- when the Wall Street meltdown hit Main Street. Before that event John McCain was leading nationally by three percentage points. Ten days later Mr. Obama was up by five and never relinquished his lead.
Mr. Obama's tax-cutting message played a key role in this period of economic anxiety. Tax cuts are well-received at such times: 55% of voters believe they are good for the economy. Only 19% disagree and see them as bad policy.
Down the campaign homestretch, Mr. Obama's tax-cutting promise became his clearest policy position. Eventually he stole the tax issue from the Republicans. Heading into the election, 31% of voters thought that a President Obama would cut their taxes. Only 11% expected a tax cut from a McCain administration.
The last Democratic candidate to win the tax issue was also the last Democratic president -- Bill Clinton. In fact, the candidate who most credibly promises the lowest level of taxes has won every presidential election in at least the last 40 years.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
The problem is people are too dumb to know the difference.
The willingness of GOP Politicans to campaign on and govern in a Reagan like fashion is what is dead.
And I wonder how many conservatives voted for Obama to “teach the RINO RNC a lesson”?
AMEN...AMEN...AMEN! The people are TOO STUPID to KNOW the DIFFERENCE!! Our country is dead.
“31% of voters thought that a President Obama would cut their taxes. Only 11% expected a tax cut from a McCain administration.”
This speaks volumes. Obama has basically promised billions of dollars of new spending, but people somehow fell for this. John McCain hates spending, and probably would have cut taxes, but he was not able to articulate it - or perhaps the media delibrately smothered the message.
The stock market did not seem so easily fooled.
This was the media’s election. They went all out to protect Obama and treated McCain like they did Bush. When I spoke to people at church this weekend, the Obama voters were not leftists. They were the ignorant types who really hadn’t tuned in more than to buy the happy enthusiasm from the media.
Most had no idea what the man really stood for at all.
Well, I wouldn’t consider “tax cuts as a cover for class warfare” to be Reaganism, per se.
Nevertheless, when the economy continues to tank, and Obama raises taxes on everybody to cover the shortfall, and when the jobs continue to fly to China and Indonesia because of the massive business taxes he will continue to impose, we will see Obama join Carter on the Habitat for Humanity circuit, come 15 January 2013.
Reaganism can still sell because it provides relevant issues to life and government. But we have an emerging culture which elected Obama, who seems to not care about facts or logic. They are PostModern in worldview. They “feel” their way to the voting booth. If they don’t “feel” it, they don’t vote. They want to be inspired, feel good. They do NOT respond to factual, logical life relevancy. They respond to cultural relevancy. We must convey Reaganism in culturally relevant terms to capture this crowd - or we can be satisfied with the results that we have gotten thuse far. Palin represents someone who is “cool” because she shatters all stereotypes. She seems authentic. Once they see how authentic Obama really is, his show will be over.
As each day moves forward, I am stronger in the belief that Obama will be the best recruiting tool the GOP has ever had. RFK Jr. as head of the EPA??? Please let it be!! The mid-term elections in 2010 will be SWEET for us. Fear not, folks!!
Yes 59 Million of them.....
Actually, bubba xlinton campaigned in 92 for tax cuts. However, after entering office he “discovered” he was not able to despite the “hard work he did” and we received the largest tax increae in history.
You are foolishly optimistic.
Your premise depends on an informed electorate. We do not have one.
The Sheep are too concerned with “Celebrity Dancing with the American Idols who Want To Be Millionaires with a better View of Regis and Kelley on the next Oprah”.
The Sheep couldn’t care less about issues.
If the public was supportive of his conservative policies why in hell did they saddle him with a left wing congress that did nothing but harass him for 8 years
American voters for the most part don't even know how the government operates —just look how many more vote in presidential than congressional elections —what do these additional voters think congress is for
The last 3 weeks before the election, when the most ignorant of the sheeple were watching, Obozo campaigned as a conservative, “95% of Americans will get a tax cut, yada yada ... “
Too bad the Republicans didn’t have a conservative at the top of their ticket.
That is exactly what I have been experiencing at church -- the politically uninformed bought the con man's schtick, "hope, change, whatever ... " They were all spouting medjia-repeated Dem talking points. I told them all that they are going to have buyer's remorse at some point, but that unfortunately, the whole country has to suffer with their mistake. I told them that Obama is going to plunge the US into a depression and asked them to remember this conversation.
Pure Blasphemy. 0be speaks with forked tongue.
Funny, I remember feeling the same way after the Democrats elected Nancy Pelosi as House minority leader in 2004. I thought it was great. I figured she'd be so outrageously leftist that it would destroy the Democrats' credibility with the electorate forever.
I remember feeling the same way when Obama won the nomination -- he's UNELECTABLE, I thought.
I felt the same way when Duval Patrick won the Dem nomination for governor in Massachusetts. I figured he was to ridiculous a candidate to ever get elected.
I have given up cheering when the Democrats select the most patently unqualified rabid leftists for positions of power. I have learned my lesson the hard way.
We've got a winner. You can pick your prize from the top row. His conservatism may have guided his outlook and personality, but it was because he healed a nation deeply hurting from Vietnam, Watergate, Iran Hostage Crisis, fuel shortages, inflation, stagflation, Resignation and Pardon. Actually things got worse under his administration than they were under Carter the first few years in office. That optimistic personality got us through.
Obama offered several vacuous platitudes and the MSM never questioned him on it. A large number of Americans have no clue what they voted for.
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