Portrait, Robert Reich, 08/16/09. (photo: Perian Flaherty)
25 September 12
've
spent the past few days debating right-wingers - among them, Grover
Norquist and Ann Coulter. This isn't my idea of fun. I do it because
apparently many Americans find these people persuasive, and it seems
important to try to show why they're profoundly wrong.
There are two major theories about why Romney is
dropping in the polls. One is Romney is a lousy candidate, unable to
connect with people or make his case.
The second is that Americans are finally beginning to see how radical the GOP has become, and are repudiating it.
Many Republicans - including some of the right-wingers
I've been debating - hold to the first view, for obvious reasons. If
Romney fails to make a comeback this week, I expect even more complaints
from this crowd about Romney's personal failings, as well as the
inadequacies of his campaign staff.
But the second explanation strikes me as more
compelling. The Republican primaries, and then the Republican
convention, have shown America a party far removed from the
"compassionate conservatism" the GOP tried to sell in 2000. Instead, we
have a party that's been taken over by Tea Partiers, nativists, social
Darwinists, homophobes, right-wing evangelicals, and a few rich people
whose only interest is to become even wealthier.
These regressives were there in 2000, to be sure. They
lurked in the GOP in the 1990s, when Newt Gingrich took over the House.
They were there in the 1980s, too, although Ronald Reagan's sunny
disposition gave them cover. In truth, they've been part of the GOP for
more than half a century - but never before have they held so much sway
in the party, never before have they called the shots.
The second view about Romney's decline also explains
the "negative coat-tail" effect - why so many Republicans around the
country in Senate and House races are falling behind. Scott Brown, for
example, is well-liked in Massachusetts. But his polls have been
dropping in recent weeks because he's had to carry the burden of the
public's increasing dislike of the Republican Party. The same is true
with regard to Republican senate races in Florida, Virginia, and every
other battleground state.
Romney's failing isn't that he's a bad candidate. To
the contrary, he's giving this GOP exactly what it wants in a candidate.
And that's exactly the problem for Romney - as it is for every other
Republican candidate - because what the GOP wants is not at all what the
rest of America wants.
Robert B. Reich, Chancellor's Professor of Public
Policy at the University of California at Berkeley, was Secretary of
Labor in the Clinton administration. Time Magazine named him one of the
ten most effective cabinet secretaries of the last century. He has
written thirteen books, including the best sellers "Aftershock" and "The
Work of Nations." His latest is an e-book, "Beyond Outrage." He is also a founding editor of the American Prospect magazine and chairman of Common Cause.
1 comment:
"because what the GOP wants is not at all what the rest of America wants."
And given that Romney and Obama have been running nearly neck and neck in the polls, it must be equally true that what the Democrats want is not at all what the "rest" of America wants.
They're both probably the worst candidates who have run against each other in my lifetime, but Obama is going to bankrupt us if he gets re-elected.
Yes, Romney sticks his foot in his mouth a lot but I trust his accounting ability far more than Obama's credit card approach to solving the nation's social problems.
If Obama stays in office we'll be speaking Chinese within the next 5 years because he's selling us out to every foreign government that wants a piece of us.
THAT is what you want for president?
Post a Comment