Why Obama?
How could an extremely liberal relatively unknown black man like Barrack Obama with the odds stacked against him have overwhelmed the Republican machine and won the office of President of The United States of America? There is not just one answer and the answers cannot be simple, but they are far less complicated than one you might think. They break down into just a few causes including, the Bush-Cheney legacy, Sarah Palin, silly proposals, talk radio and the departure from conservative values and ethic.
The Bush-Cheney Legacy
We can’t deny that the Bush-Cheney legacy played an important role in the defeat of John McCain. The very act of Republicans distancing themselves from the Bush Administration cast a dark shadow on Bush presidency and those who had supported him so absolutely through all his shameful deeds. The fact that Republicans abandoned Bush-Cheney is curious in that the Administration did everything the Republicans wanted and the Administration never changed its ways. So, it is the Republican Party and the Bush Administration that we have to thank for the legacy and it is largely that legacy that we have to thank for Obama’s presidency. Let’s look at what the Bush-Cheney legacy looks like:
- The biggest debt (some of it borrowed to provide a tax cut to the wealthiest Americans) of all time anywhere in the world.
- Ten million plus people without jobs.
- Failure to catch America’s most obvious and biggest enemy, Osama Bin Laden.
- A major attack on individual freedoms while growing government to the largest it has ever been.
- Launching a major war based on lies that were known to the Bush-Cheney administration.
- The number of Americans living below the poverty level has risen to more than 36 million.
- The cost of college tuition has risen by 34 percent while schools are failing.
- Median household income has shrunk by more than $1,500 while corporate profits have soared.
- The United States has lost face and lost the support of allies all over the world due to Bush-Cheney attitudes that make it clear we can’t be trusted to live up to our promises.
- And, much more…
Sarah Palin
At best, Sarah Palin ranked as a preposterous choice for a vice-presidential candidate. Her arrival on the national political scene marked the certain demise of McCain’s chances to be President. With her views failing to correspond to any reality and barely able talk about subjects such as the deregulation of the financial markets or the devolution of the war in Afghanistan, she embarrassed us, whether we recognized it or not. Her handlers (by their own words) have judged her incapable of speaking on a fairly wide range of subjects, and so have smartly instructed to her to ignore questions for which she had not memorized lines while they hid her from the press. We saw that her air-head act was not an act. She played a major role in losing this election by driving away moderates, thinkers and real conservatives. If she continues on the Republican scene, she will continue to do damage to the Republican Party.
Campaigning on A Silly Platform
Essentially, McCain agreed with Obama that the economy was in trouble, people needed health insurance and that the middle class needed help. What was different is that McCain didn’t offer sensible solutions. His tax cut plan was just more Bush and came across as giving welfare to the big corporations. His health insurance plan was unworkable, only helping those who didn’t need help. His fix for the economy was, well, not a fix at all. It really wasn’t his fault. Though he struggled with it, he was attempting to talk the talk of the extreme right wing and letting the moderate voters go. We paid the price of catering to the extreme neocons.
Where Were The Conservative Issues?
All during the campaign for President, we never went back to basic conservative issues. We never heard serious talk about fiscal conservatism, we only heard about getting the economy back on track. Nothing was mentioned about individual freedoms. In fact, we heard John McCain say he didn’t believe a woman had a right to choose her own destiny. There was no talk of a right to bear arms, although we know that Obama wants to ban the majority of guns owned by Americans. The Republicans chose to avoid the subject and the Democrats understood that being quiet about it was to their advantage. No one mentioned freedom from government interference in private lives of families and individuals and most of all, all were silent on protecting our borders.
Where We Failed
As conservatives and as not-so-conservative Republicans we failed to be honest. We failed to be honest with our supporters and the world, but most of all, we failed to be honest with ourselves. The McCain campaign followed the Republican Party line, a line that tried unsuccessfully to thread its way without offending anyone. It rightfully rejected the Bush Administration's many serious mistakes, but it never explained why that rejection came so very late. There was no explanation of why Republicans fully supported the Bush-Cheney policies for 7 ½ years and finally wholly rejected them just in time for the campaign. The campaign stooped too low in selecting a running mate who knew nothing about America and who was obviously short on integrity. And, that is it, integrity. It wasn’t the few obvious and stupid lies of Sarah Palin, it was Republicans in general failing to have the integrity to stand up boldly for conservative values. Of course, if Republicans were conservatives, it would have been easy.
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The man who brags that he is an idiot is a man in touch with himself . - Jenny Jerrome
