It’s almost painful to see the Republican Party at this again.
The party members have done it in the past two presidential elections, and the way in which they are placing their chips this fall suggests a continuation of the same old mechanism for attaining victory in November.
What am I talking about? It’s called narrative. Or in the words of John McCain’s campaign manager Rick Davis, “This election is not about issues. This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates.”
This mentality is entirely too indicative of what is wrong with the Republican Party these days. Its approach consistently takes the American people for granted no matter what the circumstances.
Will its members at least have the decency to acknowledge the hardships being faced by the large majority of citizens of this country?
In 2000, was it about the issues? No. It was about restoring “purity” to the White House.
Was it about the issues in 2004? Nope. It was about tarnishing John Kerry’s military service and debating whether he looked too French.
One would expect that the decisive defeat suffered by the Republicans in 2006 would convince them to steer more toward the issues affecting voters rather than the narratives affecting the media.
But unfortunately, the Bush administration’s abysmal performances over the past eight years have forced McCain’s hand in shifting the focus of this election.
And in no issue is this more apparent than in McCain’s economic policy.
The economy has been identified by most pundits, and for good reason, to be the No. 1 issue to voters. Sadly, McCain has not only refused to adopt any drastic economic policy changes, but he has vowed to increase tax cuts. Wow.
Has the fact that America’s current wealth inequality is as bad as it was before the Great Depression even crossed John McCain’s mind?
When he defines middle class to be any person making less than $5 million a year, how in the world are people not taking him to task?
When one of his own economic advisers, former Sen. Phil Gramm, says that Americans are simply suffering from a “mental recession” rather than serious financial woes, why do I see polls still showing this race as a dead heat?
Maybe I too would be less concerned if I owned seven houses and was worth more than $100 million. But that’s just speculation.
Barack Obama said it best when addressing a crowd in Terre Haute, Ind., a couple of weeks ago. Pointing out the hilarity of McCain’s promise to tell lobbyists their days of running Washington are over, seeing as both his campaign chairman and manager are a couple of the biggest corporate lobbyists in Washington, D.C., Obama remarked, “I mean, come on, they must think you’re stupid.”
John McCain and Sarah Palin must think we’re stupid. Considering all of the issues on the table this fall, they would rather play a mudslinging game over the candidates’ image than discuss the finer points of how to get America back to the prosperous state it was in before the current occupant of the White House took office.
This fall continues to send the message that was delivered in 2006. Demand from the Republican Party some semblance of effort in discussing effective policy for the American people.
And to you Rick Davis, it’s not about the narrative of candidates. It’s the issues, stupid.