PrintSeptember 15, 2010
Will GOP Victories Save Obama?
If the economy recovers due to favorable economic tax and spending legislation pushed by the Republicans should they win majorities, will Obama be able to take credit and get re‐elected?
Way back when McCain won the Republican nomination for President, many of us were hugely disappointed. This was because we have watched McCain single handedly strangle conservative progress with his attack on free speech (McCain-Feingold), his opposition to the Bush tax cuts (McCain is in large part why they are temporary), his gang of 14 - stopping the removal of the filibuster technique that the Dems were using to stop conservative judicial appointees, and... Well I could go on and on. McCain was incoherent, engaged in populist rhetoric (tax cuts for the rich, big business, etc.) and was lax on immigration. All these negatives had me thinking that if McCain won, we still lost.
If McCain had won the election, he would have continued the slow and steady lurch leftward that conservatives wanted to reverse, at best slowing the pace. So before the election, I thought long and hard about voting for Obama because I was certain that if Obama won, he wouldn't slowly continue the leftward trajectory - but instead, he would throttle up, full tilt to the Far Left, which would kill the weak economy, begin pitting one group against another, and redistribute the wealth so fast it would make our head spin. This behavior would surely cause an immediate backlash. The leftism would be out in the open, moving fast enough to witness.
Well, waking up from my daydream I found myself unable to vote for Obama. Instead, I held my nose and voted for McCain. But my premise was correct. Obama and the Democrats have lived down to my expectations. Their abhorrent behavior has happened right before our eyes and on queue. They have slung so far left that the American people have rallied against them and will be tossing many of them out in November. This action on behalf of the Democrats appear to be the catalyst needed for Americans to wake up to Liberalism and push back hard. Americans are now poised to rise up and throw the bums out. And what's even better? A few of the RINOs got tossed in the Primaries. Except of course, John McCain. Oh well.
With all that is going well for conservatives and most Republicans now, unfortunately there are unintended consequences to consider. If the Republicans win majorities in the House and Senate, push tax cuts and business friendly legislation and the economy rebounds because of it, Obama would like to take credit and have this success as a re-election platform to run on. "I saved the economy," will be the siren call of Obama to win re-election.
In order for this scenario to play out, for good or for bad, Obama would have to sign the bills sent to him, and the Republicans would have to avoid taking credit for the turn-around -- which Republicans are very good at. Of course, I am not advocating that we should actually continue to lose majorities until Obama is out of office so that we can take credit. What I want is what is best for my country, even if Obama receives credit for it.
Ideally should they win, the Republicans should push economically sound legislation, spending cuts and tax cuts and they should also embark on a communication blitz to show the American people what is working and why. And above all, as Mark Levin has pointed out, they should work to switch the worn out Democrat premise that starts every argument with the Republican or Conservative on the defensive. And above all, we should gladly accept a robust economy under President Obama even if he had nothing to do with it.
