Hugh Hewitt ignores the polls and argues that John McCain will close and win. It is a post worth reading to better understand why not only John McCain but the Republican Party is losing across the board, with similar arguments coming from McCain and Palin. Hewitt’s argument comes down to arguing that electing Obama is too great a risk, not only because of his inexperience but because of what Hewitt sees as far left policies. What the Republicans fail to understand is that they are losing because they have moved too far to the right for the American people, and what they see as far left is far closer to the middle of American opinion.
Obama is winning because he embodies common sense ideas which transcend the left-right divisions and which are in tune with those of the American people. On the economy, Obama offers pragmatism rather than ideological extremism. While Hewitt tries to portray Republicans as the defenders of “growth and capitalism’s essential genius” the reality is that their polices represent a stark break with our capitalist system, attempting to use government to transfer the wealth to a small oligarchy. Their economic principles, like their political principles, represent those of a banana republic, not the United States of American which most Americans remember. Obama, who receives much of his economic advice from the University of Chicago, hardly a bastion of socialism, is our best hope of restoring the economic system which has made American great, not for just a few but for entrepreneurs and all Americans who desire to work hard to get ahead.
Hewitt describes the foreign policy crises we face, but it is Republican policies which have weakened us and have seriously undermined American influence throughout the world. Americans know, as five previous secretaries of state recently stated, that we must talk with our enemies, as well as work with our friends.One of the most important decisions any president must make is over whether to go to war, and John McCain has showed that he lacks to judgment to be trusted on this. John McCain’s greater experience is worthless when his decisions are so flawed.
While Hewitt tries to paint Obama as a radical, his liberal values represent traditional American values. The use of torture is a violation of our values, and John McCain’s halfhearted opposition is not enough. Americans desire to restore the separation of powers which protect us from oppressive government, and do not want someone such as Sarah Palin who desires even more power than Dick Cheney and has a history of attempting to ban books to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.
Americans recognize the importance of the fourth estate and understand the danger of political leaders who repeatedly attack the free press. Claims that those in the media who expose them are biased only works for so long. If the media which fails to repeat their distorted view of the world appears to conservatives to be biased, this is only because, as Stephen Colbert put it, “reality has a well-known liberal bias.” Conservatives regularly ignore reality in their defense of the Iraq war, their Voodoo economics and claims that tax cuts always pay for themselves, their denial of evolution as the basis of modern biology, and in their denial of the scientific consensus on the human role in climate change. Hewitt’s reasons for why McCain will win are similarly a denial of reality.
Hewitt attempts to repeat the tired Republican claims of liberals being hostile to religion, confusing support for separation of church and state which our founding fathers wisely supported for hostility to religion. As Obama has pointed out, traditionally it has often been religious leaders who were the strongest defenders of separation of church and state, recognizing that this is essential to guarantee the right for everyone to worship as they choose. Americans are especially wary of a political party which panders to religious extremists to increase the power of government in their lives. Following the extremism of Republican rule, Obama’s experience in teaching Constitutional law is far more important in restoring the greatness of our nation than John McCain’s years of experience in failed Republican government.
The voters have been fooled by Hewitt’s arguments in the past. The loss of Congress by the Republicans in 2006 and Obama’s strong lead in the polls today show that they are catching on. These same old arguments are no longer fooling them. Smears based upon Wright, Ayers, and Rezko no longer work as voters want to hear about the real issues and are increasingly realizing that Republicans only know how to smear and have no idea how to govern. Besides, the same type of attacks tend to apply far more to Republicans than Democrats. Americans realize that voting for Obama doesn’t represent a “lurch to the left” but a return to normalcy after a period of having government in the hands of extremists.
This reminds me of the Congressional elections in 2006. Rove and other Republicans continually ignored polls showing Republican seats were in serious trouble. Instead they kept spewing forth with soundbites about how the votes were there for the Republicans, they just weren’t being counted right. All the way up to election day, I remember reading about these far-right lunatics who were so divorced from reality that they couldn’t see the freight train barrelling down on them. I’m hopeful that this remains the case today as well.
We see plenty of signs of this in how they attack Obama. John McCain was the Republican’s best chance to win this year. McCain had a reputation for being far more moderate than he really was, but he was well positioned to capitalize on that and really compete for the center. Instead he both moved to the far right and adopted the Rove-style politics which Americans are sick of.
I wonder how much of this is because of McCain being divorced from reality, and how much it is because McCain found he could not receive support from members of his own party if he didn’t adopt their worldview and tactics.
I really love the articles by Ron Chusid, they are to the point and damaging to the right, but never really nasty or full of propaganda, just a sharp point of view with well informed facts & the truth. I’ve quoted some excerpts from your Sarah Palin articles because they are so spot on as to why she will be a danger to the environment & animal rights if elected. I hope you don’t mind, I always include your name with the link.
“I hope you don’t mind, I always include your name with the link.”
That is how the blogosphere works. Quoting other blogs is both allowed and appreciated.
I like the way you frame this election as republican values vs the alternative.
Why doesn’tt the Obama capaign use this theme?
one more thing, in the future could you refer to the government of Iraq as a “liberal government” It will help in taking back the meaning of the word Liberal.
Everybody in this country knows what a conservative government would look like in a middle eastern country.
America is atempting to establish a “liberal” government in Iraq, not a conservative government.
thanks
Nick,
While I am largely a values voter (although not in the way the term is usually used) I fear this wouldn’t be the best strategy for the Obama campaign. They are right on concentrating on the economy at the moment, but it would make sense to all defend liberal values.
I am a Dem. but you must see the big really big elephant sitting in the shadowed corner of the room. If you don’t your really really kidding yourself. People has and will go against they own economic welfare and children future wellbeing about race!!!!!!
Why is McCain losing to Obama? Because he is a Republican candidate who refuses to acknowledge that the Republican administration of George W. Bush has ruined this country over the past eight years, not the least of which is the current economic mess. Not because Mr. McCain does not know in his best judgment that what is the truth is the truth, but because he cares more about winning the White House than anything else at this time. To think of him hugging George W. Bush after losing his 2000 bid for the presidency in North Carolina because of the Bush people’s creative use of rumors about his having fathered a black illegitimate child, I feel a disgust for such a show of poor character in a politician running for the Whitle House. For that reasons alone, I won’t VOTE for Mr. McCain because I have lived long enough to know that poor character of this nature is no good sign for any candidate running for the White House. People who argue against alleged lack of experience in Mr. Obama, listen: JFK and LBJ are two presidents who have raised America’s standing considerable in the world. Neither president had much administrative experience at the national level before running for the White House. No such experience would automatically qualify anyone for the White House. Both JFK and LBJ achieved what they did because of their fundamental values that cherish this country more than their personal political fortunes. History is gaining more appreciation of these two presidents as times goes by.