I’ve posted before that I think that the conservative message is bankrupt of good ideas for the country. Since the Republican party is pretty much 100% conservative, I think they will lose the Presidential election. I hope that they also lose the Senate.
Three things recently have reinforced this idea. First, the Republican war on women. The howling about Hilary Rosen (a Democrat and a commentator) shows just how out of touch with reality Romney and other prominent conservatives are. Rosen never denigrated motherhood or stay-at-home moms or anything similar. Her comment pertained to how a women who has always had lots of money and could easily afford to stay home could necessarily relate the concerns of moms who also work outside the home to her husband. Immediately, a pack of right-wing commentators trying to tie President Obama to Rosen and her comments; the attempt was so thin and laughable. Mr. Romney claiming that Obama and his policies are really a war on women because 92% of the job losses, which were supposedly caused by Obama, were jobs lost by women (I saw a clip where even Fox News anchors were not believing the number). Romney and the others conveniently ignore the thousand-some laws proposed (with some passed) by the national and state legislatures, by Republicans, that are all directly aimed at restricting womens health care choices. That’s a war.
The economy is a second front. I had a Facebook exchange recently with a couple classmates. The subject was how Obama has to stop blaming Bush for the crappy economy (my opinion on that is that the President should stop blaming Bush when conservatives stop trying to blame Obama for the economy). Most of the deficits and debt run up since 2001 is in fact the result of three things: first, the economic slowdown following 9/11 (for which Bush certainly can not be blamed), and then the huge tax cuts and wars that Bush started (and didn’t pay for; where were the Republican budget hawks then?), followed by deregulation that directly led to the housing and banking busts. Job loss from 2001 and later is 100% a Bush effect. Yes, jobs are still being lost, but after Obama came into office and got the stimulus, the job loss numbers reversed, and have been in a steady increase since then. I could make the argument that even the debt and deficits that Obama has accumulated should largely credited to Bush, since they were in response to the economic issues Bush caused.
Finally, I hope that Obama will win on health insurance reform. Even if the SCOTUS overturns the ACA, he can campaign on the fact that he actually tried to reform insurance. He also needs to be aggressive to respond to attempts to Swift Boat him (Kerry didn’t respond, and I think that’s a large measure of why he lost).
So the campaign will get interesting. Romney is going to have to do better than saying that the Obama Presidency has failed (not true, but he keeps repeating it). Obama needs to show some policy visions (an energy policy would be nice).
Bill Hensley's Random Blog 
13 April 2012 at 14:36 |
A couple of issues here:
1. I have never been able to understand why liberals think Romney is a conservative. At best, he’s a middle-of-the-roader. A conservative would never have supported Romneycare. He only looks conservative compared to Obama. BTW, painting Republicrats as conservative is also problematic. Only a minority of that party is conservative any more. Most of us left the party a LONG time ago and are now what the media calls “independents.”
2. Does anyone REALLY care what a Washington lobbyist (Rosen) has to say? Especially after Obama criticized her and after she herself apologized? (The usual pattern for politicians who shoot first, then think later….)
3. Why do you believe that refusing to pay for something (abortion, contraception) is the same thing as preventing them from having it? I’m sure you would refuse to pay for a new car for me, but I don’t think you’d agree that you’re preventing me from getting it. You’re just not helping me. It’s not the same thing as preventing me (in spite of the left-wing argument that it is).
4. Take a look at the immediate and projected effects on the national debt cause by the passage of ACA as published by the CBO. You might find that a goodly portion of the increase during O’s term came from ACA.
5. Yeah, Bush was very poor as far as fiscal management was concerned, but the budgets are controlled by Congress. All he had to do was VETO them, which he failed to do, therefor taking responsibility for them. Bush also helped to restrict privacy (remember the Patriot Act?). Oh yeah, Obama just signed the extension of the Patriot Act! Obama also signed ridiculous budgets and debt limit raises, just like Bush.
6. SwiftBoating of Kerry: Yes, some of what he was accused of was probably unfair. But, they were right about one thing: his Purple Hearts. Technically speaking, he was entitled to them, and, technically speaking, the 3rd PH entitled him to be shipped home before completing the tour. On the other hand, all of his wounds together didn’t amount to a hill of beans. I never knew an officer or NCO who had so little self respect as to accept a PH under those circumstances. Most of us viewed them as something for those with wounds that are serious, not for scratches. Had I had Kerry’s attitude, I’d have been home early, too. Had I refused the transfer home, I’d have about 6 PHs.
7. The housing debacle. All sides blew it on this one. I don’t see deregulation as the problem so much as I see giving loans to high-risk parties as the problem. Of course, the lenders didn’t care, since the loans were government insured. Perhaps the problem was the laws that went into effect that not only allowed, but encouraged such loans, and, in some cases, went so far as to demand such loans. Government was the problem here, not the solution, as it acted only to exacerbate the greed of some and the envy of others.
You can also toss in the use of ARMs here. We saw a smaller version of this same debacle in the late 80s as interest rates and taxes rose, causing people to default or sell short.
Where we agree: Yep, Romney needs to have something to say besides O is bad.
What I expect: major personal attacks on Romney his family, and his religion by the left-wingers. Some on the far right will attack his religion as well (we saw that during the primaries).
What I’d like to see: an accurate measurement (provable) of campaign statements made by both O and R during previous campaigns compared with what they delivered. This could actually work against candidates as well as for them, for obvious reasons, but it would at least provide FACTS on which to base a decision.
For the record: I’ll be holding my nose as I vote this time, just I I have for several past elections. There are no candidates running that I believe will do a good job for the country. I’ll have to vote for the one I think will do the least damage….