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01/19/2012 Today, Rick Perry, who never had the cognitive capacity to be president, is finally dropping out, and the disaster that was Michele Bachmann mercifully left a week ago. Though they were good with sound bites, they never had the gravitas to be president, which became obvious after only a few weeks on the campaign trail. Ron Paul remains Ron Paul, someone who says what he truly believes (though he has been trying to run away from his racist newsletters) and who will always appeal to a segment of the population fed up with politics as usual and willing to go for radical change. He will never be president, either. What remains are three candidates, each representing one aspect of the Republican base. Mitt Romney represents the monied interests, the fat cats, the 1 percent, the business lobby desperate to overturn and prevent any more regulation of Wall Street and other greedy and irresponsible corporations. Mitt readily admits he probably only pays 15 percent income tax (or less if you consider his holdings in the Cayman Islands) and his tax plan would reduce his taxes even further, while increasing taxes on the poor and middle class. The rich and powerful love Romney, and don't care how often he sticks his foot in his mouth or changes his positions. They've bought him and he'll do their bidding. He's a complete weenie with no core convictions other than the acquisition of money and power. Rick Santorum represents the religious wing of the base. It would be a misnomer to say he represents the evangelical community because Santorum is a Catholic, and even though conservative Catholics and evangelicals are getting along better these days, we all know evangelical protestants have a long history of anti-Catholic sentiment. But Santorum is rabidly anti-abortion and anti-gay, is a religious supporter of Israel and the "war on terror," opposes the teaching of evolution, and has home-schooled his children (which is odd, considering the vast networks of excellent Catholic schools in Pennsylvania.) He's so conservative, apparently, that even the Catholic schools aren't doctrinally good enough for his children (the Catholic Church, after all, does not oppose the teaching of evolution). As much as I disagree with Santorum's views on most things, I will admit that he's for real. I do think he believes everything he says, unlike his fellow candidates Romney and Gingrich, and though I would never want him to sit in the Oval Office, I have a certain degree of respect for him because of that. And then there's Gingrich, the hypocrite to beat all hypocrites, the opportunist par excellence, the nasty, mean bomb-throwing SOB who appeals to the wing of the party that simply hates. They hate liberals, they hate democrats, they hate immigrants, they hate gays, they hate liberated women, but mostly they hate Barack Obama, and although they would deny it, much of that hatred is rooted in their feelings about his race. If anyone doubts that, all you have to do is look at the tapes of the most recent debates in South Carolina, where Gingrich spoke condescendingly to the African American moderator, Juan Williams, while the crowd cheered. The crowd cheered even more when he completely dismissed the moderator's question about whether his references to blacks needing jobs not food stamps and poor black children needing to develop a work ethic were "intended to belittle the poor and racial minorities." Gingrich then doubled down on his claim that Barack Obama is the "food stamp president." Even though most people on food stamps are poor whites and the elderly, and even though the levels of poverty have risen because of the recession caused by the Bush administration (and not Obama), the obvious racial overtones to Gingrich's comments were applauded by the crowd – with a standing ovation. Gingrich appeals to a certain segment of white conservatives, mostly centered in the South, who see their white privilege dying. With the possibility of whites being in the minority in just a few years, with the Hispanic population growing, with evangelicalism on the wane, with gay rights on the ascendancy, with women's freedom here to stay, the formerly white privileged (male) class is losing power, and they know it. They are terrified and that is why they not only feel this election is the most crucial of their lifetime, they are doing everything they can in the states to destroy the traditional democratic funding source – the labor unions – while they pass laws to disenfranchise (permanently if possible) traditional democratic voters: college students, the poor, and minorities. If they can shrink the democratic electorate by passing voter ID laws, and reducing the time frame for voting, which disproportionately hurts the poor who can't always vote on a work day, and if they can defund and destroy the unions, they may be able to hold onto white privilege for a little longer. It's working for them, for now, but there are strong signs the public is on to them. Scott Walker is liable to be recalled, as nearly as many people who voted for him in the last election have now signed recall petitions to oust him. Maine voted to keep their same-day voter registration after the legislature eliminated it. And Michigan is attempting to change the reprehensible law their Republican governor is now implementing that gives him the authority to fire the city councils of certain cities and appoint an overseer, thus disenfranchising city residents. This year's Republican field is not a complete aberration, however. There may be better politicians who could run – like Jeb Bush or Chris Christie – but the policies and fears they promote are the same. They want to favor the wealthy and ignore the poor. They want to destroy public education and start a war with Iran. They want to eliminate privacy laws, prevent entire groups of people from voting, destroy collective bargaining, and unite church with state. They want to turn the clock back to the 19th century, and while they may have temporary victories, they will not succeed in the long run, because a majority of Americans are stronger and smarter than that. Progress can only be stopped at great cost, and if the Republicans were ever to succeed in stopping the progress demanded by educators, students, women, minorities, immigrants, and lovers of peace, they would destroy this democracy in the process, and Americans who love this country will not let them do that. The Republicans are trying mightily, but the people are starting to wake up. The party leaders know that, in the long run, they will not succeed, and this is what both terrifies them and motivates them to enact horrific anti-democratic laws. They want to keep the party going for themselves for as long as they can, but some of us have other plans. Just look at Wisconsin. All content © 2005 outragedcitizen.com |