Rick Santorum has grabbed the President Obama’s war on religion narrative and has choked the life from it.  Santorum may prove to be more adept at scoring points from this talking point than Mitt Romney.  It’s his strength as the principled religious conservative in the race.  But this play will only work with conservative evangelicals, not the broad swath of support he would need in a general election.  One of the reasons Santorum is unelectable.

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Goldberg’s take on Republican strategy:

Black people have lost the desire to perform a day’s work. Black people rely on food stamps provided to them by white taxpayers. Black people, including Barack and Michelle Obama, believe that the U.S. owes them something because they are black. Black children should work as janitors in their high schools as a way to keep them from becoming pimps. And the pathologies afflicting black Americans are caused partly by the Democratic Party, which has created in them a dependency on government not dissimilar to the forced dependency of slaves on their owners.

An exhaustively odorous narrative to be sure– but it plays well in many parts of the electorate.  Aside from its obvious  vitriol, there is an air of patronization and shamelessness that borders on the obscene.

And they wonder why black folks vote Democrat en mass.

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This speaks for itself:

Even needing to ask the question provides the answer. It matters not where he was born; this man is deeply and fiercely alien to the American tradition. He thinks ordinary Americans “cling” to Gods and guns because we are “bitter.” He believes we should “redistribute the wealth.” He thinks cops are “stupid” for politely asking a Harvard professor to show proof of residence when a neighbor reported a burglary in progress. He thinks that if Congress doesn’t immediately do his bidding, he can ignore the Constitution because he supposedly has a superceding need to”act.” He thinks government has a right to tell people when they have made “too much money.”

He is an alien menace.

This what the president is supposed to compromise with? This is what passes as substantive policy debate these days?  These people have no monopoly on understanding what “the core of America stands for.”  The sheer audacity, arrogance, and ignorance of this borders on the obscene.

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Ron Paul is now leading in Iowa.

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This didn’t take long:

Of all the reasons for Herman Cain’s spectacular flame out, being a brother wasn’t one of them.  In fact I submit it helped him far more than it hurt him in his spectacular rise to the top of the polls.

What’s more fascinating is Cain’s persistent calls for black folks to end their reliance on using race as a crutch in American society.  He’s not only adopted the very idea he denounced, he’s proudly flaunting its usage.  I’d say Herman Cain’s character flaws–which include using race when it only suits him– as well as his general ignorance about the world around him did him in.  I suppose you reap what you sow when you play plantation politics.

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It’s one thing to disagree on a particularly divisive issue–it’s entirely something different to engage in haughty, disreputable politics.  Mitt Romney’s shameful display not only reinforced his strained attempts at humanizing his candidacy–it showcased an utter lack of political savvy and genuine compassion.

At an event that was meant to highlight the endorsement of Romney by Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas, veteran Bob Garon of Ebson, N.H., asked the presidential candidate, who stopped by his breakfast table, whether he supports the repeal of the New Hampshire same-sex marriage law. A Republican-controlled legislature has moved toward repealing the law, enacted in 2009 when Democrats controlled the legislature.

A vote could come next month. Romney told Garon, who was chowing down on his everyday staple of scrambled eggs and shaved ham at the restaurant Chez Vachon, that he supports a repeal of the same-sex marriage law, prompting an emotional exchange.

“I believe a marriage is between a man and a woman,” Romney said, joining Garon in the diner booth after shaking hands with several other patrons. Garon responded, clarifying that what that meant was that if Romney is elected he would not support any legislation that would change the law so that gay servicemen would get the same benefits as heterosexual couples.

“I believe marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman,” Romney said. “We apparently disagree on that.”

Romney’s problem here is two-fold:  How legitimate is it to ask people to fight and die for a country that tries to disenfranchise them?  Romney may think he shrouds himself in the cloak of the constitution, but he only weakens his hand by subscribing to a distorted reading of that document.  I wonder how the Constitution views polygamy, a practice often associated with his Mormon faith?

Second is the more concerning human element to this story.  While Romney and Mr. Garon disagree on this subject, a prospective candidate for the highest in the land should offer more than just rote babble about constitutional practices.  Why not salute this man for his service to the nation?  Why not ask him about his tour or how he met his partner?  It may seem trite but for a man like Romney, often portrayed as a generic automaton in a Brook Brothers suit, it may have gone a long way in re-tooling his image.

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This is remarkable.

The quote of the day:

It’s unclear whether Cain’s candidacy is just part of his book tour, part of an effort to land a Fox show, or some sort of mere vanity project. But whatever it is, it is not a serious presidential campaign. Cain hasn’t earned the right to be taken seriously, because he hasn’t approached the task of being a presidential candidate with seriousness.

This sums up what Cain is about.  His lack of clarity and seriousness proves he’s all about selling books and increasing awareness for his radio show.  His focus lies with becoming the next Sean Hannity, not the next president.  He should stop wasting everyone’s time and energy and call Roger Ailes today.

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photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr

Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 economic plan continues to get panned (pizza pun intended) by economists and even conservatives.  On the surface it seems like a blatant hosing of the poor, by shifting the tax burden more heavily upon their shoulders in order to create tax equity.  Cutting beneath the surface, Cain’s plan is simply a nod to campaign-speak– rallying his tea party troops with a dizzying amount of platitudes and talking points.  The idea of eliminating the tax code is a sound one, provided you have a substantive policy to use as its replacement.  Clearly, this is not it.  It’s more of a slogan.

Ezra Klein points out the plan’s potentially damaging effects on a key base of support for the GOP as well:

This plan wouldn’t work. Not as policy and, as I expect Cain will soon find out, not as politics. Moving to an 18 percent consumption tax is, among other things, very bad for older voters, who make up a substantial portion of the Tea Party base.

Jacking up taxes on the poor and the middle class even as you sharply reduce them on the rich and completely eliminate them on overseas income for corporations isn’t popular among anyone in the political system who isn’t specifically paid by the Club for Growth. The 9-9-9 plan is a great slogan. But the more seriously Cain gets taken, the more seriously the plan is going to get taken. And as that happens, it will soon become clear that it’s very poor policy.

Alas, more gimmickry from the only black man in America who hasn’t been brainwashed.  Perhaps a dunk in the tank is in order.

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Image via Wikipedia

Two observations about the first GOP Presidential Debate:

Mitt Romney clearly separated himself from the pack of milquetoast contenders vying for the crown.  Romney showed deftness, quiet strength, and a mature yet effective  argumentative style.   The most stark contrast came between he and Herman Cain, token flamethrower in the race.  Cain while charming, cannot be taken seriously as a candidate because of his vacuous knowledge on pertinent issues.  Leadership–especially during these perilous times–is more than quips about moats and alligators.  Cain also showed his ignorance of civil rights law, by insisting Muslims pass a litmus test to prove their patriotism.  Romney responded with a dignified retelling of what America stands for.  As a member of a persecuted religious minority, Romney is more than qualified to counter the rabid bigotry of his GOP counterparts on this issue.  It was a cool, qualifying moment–and their weren’t very many in this debate.

Point two is the performance of Michele Bachmann, whose surprising showing proves she just may have the chops to play on the big stage–even though she shared that stage with a few lightweights (Gingrich, Pawlenty, Santorum, et al).  Bachmann is as intriguing a figure as she is frightening.  Her appeal to the tea party wing as well as her political acumen is her strength.  Ezra thinks it’s her trump card:

Bachmann is a better politician than Palin, a better policy wonk than Palin, and because she’s a better politician and a better policy wonk than Palin, she’s actually able to be a bit more extreme than Palin, as Palin rarely gets specific enough to do such precise ideological positioning. Put simply, Bachmann is the candidate Palin was supposed to be.

Incidentally, I don’t put Palin and Bachmann into competition because they’re the two women in the Republican field. I put them in competition because they’re the two candidates who can plausibly consolidate the tea party wing of the GOP behind them. The only other obvious contender for that crown is Herman Cain, and I’m not ready to take him seriously yet. My hunch right now is that Palin either won’t run or will seriously underperform expectations, and either way, Bachmann will quickly emerge as the acknowledged leader of Tea Party America.

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Conservatives continue to push narratives outside the mainstream–and in the case of Carmen San Diego Palin–out and out make shit up without regard to fallout, and seemingly without consequence.

Mitt Romney continues to deny a record as governor he built, and programs he initiated quite proudly. How can anyone govern sensibly and with a bi-partisan approach in today’s politically charged climate?  Romney– aside from the ken doll looks, the Mormonism, the family wealth, the spotty business record, and the unvarnished and quite transparent liberal governing style–is quite hollow.  But he seems to be successfully co-opting the conservative talking point about individualism and antipathy toward the individual mandate.

The irony drips here.  For years, conservatives have embraced the mandate as part of a process to insure American citizens.  When did they decide to build an iron wall against the mandate?  When liberals began to embrace it.  And this is the crux of the problem in finding middle ground.

Barack Obama’s style lends itself to reaching for and walking on the middle ground.  He is anything but an avid progressive, despite how he’s painted by his conservative opponents.  The problem he’s encountering is instead of finding commonality when he usurps conservative ideology, conservatives vilify his attempt, and recast it as liberal government machinations.

Romney, in all of his pandering glory, epitomizes this theory perfectly.  Running away from one of his most solid achievements simply because liberals believe in it, is the height of hypocrisy.  Politics is all about the flip-flop, but never has it been so readily accepted or easily achieve without consequence.

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