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History repeats itself: This time will it be Carter or Clinton?
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This discussion is partially one left to the ponderings of the Romney 2012 crowd, but it can also be relevant to the Republican crowd in general with the added Clinton element. With Obama’s election victory and all the hoopla surrounding it, the only ones who seemed particularly concerned over his lack of well…anything besides a short but definite radical left voting record…was the opposition. Of course they’re supposed to be concerned with basically anything he does – being the opposition, he could have had a clean nose, but his overall political philosophy would have been the main point of objection. Therefore, any points – no matter how well justified – were swept under the rug along with most anything GOP leadership had to say at the time. We got a tad more of an earful once Ms. Palin hit the town. And what has happened since? We told you so. Everything we screamed and warned about is essentially manifesting – his disdain for the country shown in his apologetic attitude during foreign visits, his leftist sympathies with his speaking out on behalf of leaders who disrespect their people and their constitution while remaining silent when a true uprising is swelling in one of the terrorist hot spots in the world, his racial philosophies and immature decision making when jumping to conclusions about an arrest involving a black man and a white police officer while admittedly not knowing the facts of the case, his socialist economic beliefs in using government ownership whenever possible for problem solving, spending the country towards bankruptcy, and shoving social medicine on voters despite their vigorous opposition to it, and perhaps the biggest shame in all of his shortcomings is his lack of experience. It’s proving to be the most damaging of all for both sides, and for the country. For the Democrats, he just can’t get anything done. For the Republicans, the blame game is being used to try and cover up the current majority impotence and resources are having to be spent to counter it. For the country…it’s just embarrassing. After all, what does it take to run the most powerful country in the world? Who will take our interests seriously when our own president neither seems to understand them nor lack the political capital to push for any of those that he does grasp as necessary. What’s still holding up alright? The policies carried over from the Bush Administration. Not for long of course. All that being said, since the opposition has been so good at predicting what the future will bring providing a set of circumstances, how will this play out in 2010 and 2012? Most are on board with the expectation that Democrats will lose their majority in Congress. The optimism is for John Boehner to be the next Speaker of the House, and the Senate? Well, we can assume Mitch McConnell would take the place as leader, but one can only wish that the GOP could foster a better conservative for the job. Now, the Romney crowd found the Carter-Reagan analogy with Barry’s new election. "Hey, it took a Carter to get a Reagan." Indeed, circumstances seem to fit – a charismatic guy swoops in after a fallout in the GOP, promising the world, and turns out to be totally incompetent. Best of intentions, but just couldn’t get anything done. Economy gets worse, bringing in the next party with their hero-in-chief who had lost the primary in the previous election. Romney’s resemblance to Reagan in his rhetoric and policies set the stage for a perfect analogy and expectation. On the other hand, yes Obama has played up to the Carter expectations, but he’s now borrowed a move that throws the discussion in another direction: 1994. His push for Obamacare looks a whole lot like the Clinton push for HillaryCare – some of the Clinton mistakes have been corrected, but alas the resolve of the American people to fight for what they see as a threat to their liberty has been greatly underestimated. History shows that this could still be a good thing for the GOP. Newt Gingrich came in with his "Contract with America" and managed to balance the budget and pass welfare reform. But…who got the credit for any Republican successes in Congress? You betcha – the man at the top. His reelection sealed the deal. Will the same thing happen here? A couple of thoughts. First, if we want to go by history, it’s not quite as straight cut as it was seen to be at the onset. After all, Reagan lost more than once. Further, Jimmy Carter made the mistake of blaming Americans for their problems – that’s more than apologizing outside the country for our past. That’s finger pointing, and the people that have built and contributed to their nation do not want to hear their leader saying, "shame on you!" Of course, Romney did lose in his senate race against Ted Kennedy in the 90s (R.I.P. Ted), so perhaps he’s met the "third charm" qualification. Obama might have also made the mistake of being so disconnected from the people he supposed to be leading, that he doesn’t need a "shame on you" speech. His lies and control of the press might be enough to make voters distrust his goodwill to bring in the Carter effect. Plus, the majorities that Republicans could even possibly gain in congress with even the most favorable results, may not be enough to get as much done as Gingrich & Crew did. The American public may just very well see enough of the damage that Democrats are truly causing and toss the rest of them out along with their president come 2012. We shall see.
