In my recent post discussing the Republicans’ odd gambit, I realize I simply went over how illogical the theory is, not the purpose behind it. Yes, we can see why it’s just stupid to keep talking about McCain as the agent of change given not only his record but the fact that his party has been in charge for between six and 14 years, depending on how you see things. The question is why are they doing it this way.
To go back to Rick Davis, yet again, the purpose is to completely strip away “issues” from voters’ minds and turn this entirely into a referendum on the character of the candidates. What the GOP is hoping is that the entire electorate will forget absolutely everything of the past eight years and look at the two candidates not within any sort of scope, but rather as beholden to one party or the other.
So we keep hearing how liberal Obama is, how often he voted with his fellow Democrats. On the flipside, they tout that McCain is a “maverick” and will “reach across the aisle”, and are framing the election in terms of who’s the most willing to do the most reaching. What this completely ignores is which side is right on any of the issues.
You can understand the point. As the narrative is supposed to go: John McCain isn’t beholden to one party or the other and will work with whoever he believes is doing the right thing, while Barack Obama sticks with his side. The problem is, if we’re going to blame any of the problems facing our nation on “Washington” or the “establishment” that is, sad to say, the Republicans.
If we were to make this an election about issues, it’s hard to argue that the Republicans haven’t tanked the country in the past 8 years. They’ve embroiled us in two wars, are looking to open up more, haven’t made any actual progress on protecting us, expanded the government exponentially, shattered our international image, raised energy prices dramatically, failed to raise wages, the list goes on. Republicans have, frankly, screwed up everything. If you wanted actual change, the best idea is to vote for the guy in the other party.
But, instead, the GOP is working to frame the election completely separately from any kind of context, to make it about not which policies are best, but who is the better person. Nevermind that the majority of Americans agree with the Democrats and the politicians “beholden” to them, the point is that McCain will, supposedly, work with both sides (even if that means that at least 50% of the time he’ll be on the opposite side of the American people).
This is why elections become character-based, not issue-based. The Republicans can only win by making the people vote for characters as opposed to voting for what they would like to see done. If they were given a list of issues and then their vote was picked based on their answers, Bush wouldn’t have been elected in the first place and the Congress would have been blue since 1990.
Sad thing of it is, it just might work.
And if it does, then I just give up on America. There is no better time for the Democrats, no time more obvious the shape Republicans have left us in. If the voters can’t make the right choice, the obvious choice, then they deserve what they get, and I really don’t think they’ll ever make the right choice. They’ll always be the gullable boob for the Republicans to exploit.
Besides. I have a little morbid fascination on just how much worse it can get. Like watching a second train approaching the carnage of a train wreck at full speed.
Actually Rechan, the sad thing is that you would be willing to just throw in the towel and give up. Regardless of the outcome of this election we can’t sit back and say, “I voted for Obama , so don’t blame me when shit goes to hell.” As history has proven the attitude of inaction, “passing the buck” onto others, and saying to yourself “the ignorant people in this country made their bed, now they can sleep in it.” only perpetuates the problems of corrupt democratic government and leads to social turmoil and government dissolution (quick examples; Rome, Ancient Greece, and most recently 1930s Germany). That is why framers of our constitution, the fathers of our country, often spoke about the citizen’s responsibility to stay vigil, stay active, always ask questions and try to publicly expose truths that may be hidden within the bureaucracy. The notion of giving up when things don’t go a certain way has become indicative of the attitude of the average person in this country. It saddens me that the overwhelming majority would rather “give up” when the chips are down instead of fight to find a solution. Sure some in gov. want you to give up. But Rechan, when you give up, YOU become the gullible boob being exploited.
Also, there is no such thing as an obvious answer to any problem or election. If that were the case, why would half the country be split? Granted there are many who are being duped into voting for one person over the other. Many don’t even know why they are voting for Obama or McCain. When asked they give an asinine answer based on falsehoods and preconceived notions and opinions. This occurs on both sides almost equally, I almost feel like soon we will be texting our votes to Ryan Seacrest. But, there is no obvious answer to the election. If there was why even have an election?
Remember, don’t sit on the sidelines and deliver deluges. Get out there and make a difference. Like Teddy Roosevelt said; “It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
And for all of you gung ho war hawks, remember “a true patriot discusses dying for his country, never killing for it.”
Cheryl,
Thanks for that reminder. It came the morning after I joined the Obama campaign as a community volunteer.
I’m 51 years old and have never been as passionate and fired up about an election as I am about this one. I cannot sit idly by and watch another election get handed to (or again stolen by) the opposition, not if I can do anything to prevent it.
Folks, get off your duffs: do whatever you can to help your candidate. You’ll feel so much better about yourselves come January 20. Even if your guy loses, you’ll know you did what you could.