A Damascus Road Experience!
The best Democratic Presidents are those who realize the stupidity of the Democratic Platform towards the end of their first terms and make dramatic shifts to the center where they stand a good chance of getting reelected. This change is usually exhibited during the President’s final State of the Union address. Several Democrats have done this and enjoyed the success of the change. Harry Truman did so when he realized that carrying on the socialist agenda that FDR had put in place would lose him the election to Dewey. It worked for Harry. Bill Clinton did the same. He had tried Hilary care and it had bombed. Then he realized that for a second term he had to be more right oriented, he made the change (thanks to Dick Morris) and got a second term. It was a great second term in which the budget was balanced, welfare was reformed and taxes were cut to create one of the country’s biggest economic booms since the end of WWII. The Democrats who didn’t come to this realization, lost. Jimmy Carter is a prime example.
Last night during the State of the Union address President Obama showed that he has made this discovery and thereby could quite easily win a second term. Listening to the President it was difficult, at times, to distinguish between him and all four GOP candidates for the GOP nomination. He talked about reviving manufacturing jobs in the United States. This is a Rick Santorum talking point. No mention of Right to Work States and the Federal suit against South Carolina. He wants to boost exports so that China is buying more from us than we are buying from China. Does anyone hear Mitt Romney? There was the usual “level the playing field” rhetoric that we hear from every liberal. Why shouldn’t the rich pay their fair share?
The top 25% of the population pay 85% of the tax bill. The bottom 40% do not pay any taxes at all. Someone explain this to me. What don’t I understand about leveling the playing field? How can we improve anyone’s situation by bringing down those who have worked hard and earned a lot of money? Mitt Romney is now living on income from Capital Gains. He is taxed at about 15% on this income. But he paid a great deal more when he was earning the money that he has invested now and that is providing his current income. He did not inherit money. He earned it. What, the hell, is wrong with that?
As would any President, he mentioned all the good stuff he has done. Ending Iraq (never mind that it is a quagmire that is spiraling downward rapidly as we speak) killing Osama Bin Laden and breaking the back of Al Qaeda. But given his penchant for blaming Bush, there is never any mention of the value of the military and intelligence infrastructure put in place by Bush/Cheney, which allowed him to make these gains in the War on Terror. I suppose that is to be expected. He mentioned the auto industry. No mention of trying to tame the Autoworkers Union.
You can read the details of the speech anywhere on the internet. My point is that Barack Obama had a Damascus Road experience last night and that spells bad news for the GOP. Now the candidates running for the GOP nomination will have to work harder than ever to make a distinction between themselves and this politically brilliant incumbent.
Let’s hope and pray that they can, because we all know that Barack Obama does not know how to keep promises, and all the right wing promises he made last night will evaporate on the day after he is inaugurated a second time, next year. Then can you imagine the Western European agenda he will put in place with absolutely no accountability to be had anywhere. God had better spend a lot of time blessing America!
