Even though the GOP primary field has been essentially whittled down to two terrible candidates, it’s hard to tell who will be leading the charge against Obama in November. But, it’s not hard to tell what rhetoric the Republican's anointed leader will be spouting. When they’re not busy proclaiming that every other candidate eats babies, the presidential hopefuls have been refining their line of attack against our arugula-lover-in-chief. The script has been well rehearsed:
"Obama doesn't believe in work."
"Obama doesn't believe in America."
"Obama wants to foster a culture of dependence."
"Obama thinks America should apologize for itself."
"Obama believes in equal outcomes instead of equal opportunity."
Now, the problem I have with these anti-Obama soundbites is that they aren't true.
I think it's perfectly valid to argue that Obama's policies are bad for economic growth. It's valid to argue that he hasn't created enough jobs. But to say that he doesn't want people to get jobs at all, or doesn't respect the concept of private-sector employment is silly. And silly anti-Obamaisms like this have been at the center of every GOP candidate's stump speech.
In the end, it doesn’t matter what Obama says, or what he does. Republicans will always see an amalgamation of left-wing clichés sitting in the oval office. For example, it doesn’t matter that Obama has followed Dubbya's defense policy to a tee, and aggressively (perhaps even illegally) expanded the war on terror beyond Iraq and Afghanistan. It doesn’t matter that he ordered the death of Bin Laden. Obama’s a liberal, and we all know that liberals are hippie-flower-child-pot-smoking-draft-dodging-America-hating-one-worlders! The man’s obviously too busy eating fancy cheese to keep us safe.
Straw-man arguments like this bother me. They bother me because I think America could be having real political debates right now, over issues like the effects of taxation on growth, the best way to control healthcare costs, and what America's proper role in the global arena should be. Republicans should argue vigorously with Barack Obama. But they should be arguing with the real Barack Obama, not the arbitrary set of liberal stereotypes they've pinned to him.
There are real differences between Obama and his would-be GOP opponents. But with the exception of gadfly Ron Paul, the differences are not as black and white as people would think. The vast majority of Republicans, like Democrats, believe in a social safety net. They believe there's a proper role for government regulation, and that taxes are necessary. Democrats and Republicans both love America, and would like America to remain a powerful global player with a strong military. Republicans and Democrats both believe that capitalism is the best way to generate wealth. The differences often lie in the details of how they would balance competing concerns. And as we all know, details are boring, and sometimes contain the devil.
Once the GOP picks their candidate, and the race starts in earnest, it’s a pretty sure bet that Obama will set up his own set of straw men to knock down. And millions of Americans will accept this as the way politics are, and always have been. We don’t care that politicians are lying, because we expect politicians to lie. We accept a comically shallow level of political discourse, because it’s what we’ve been raised on.
But should we accept it? Will we ever stand up and demand that our leaders say things that are actually connected to reality? Will we collectively reject horserace journalism that treats issues like colorful props in an ongoing soap-opera?
Probably not.
Goodnight, America. If you need me, I’ll be looking at hilarious pictures of cats doing things.
