When James Carville gave us the often-used phrase “It’s the economy, stupid,” he didn’t say “it’s only the economy.” To hear many Republicans, though, it seems that they think that it is just the economy. It’s likely true that the campaign hinges on the state of the economy. People do vote their pocketbooks, and things like high unemployment, increased gas prices, inflation at the grocery store, and unaffordable mortgage payments are important and persuasive. But in listening to how Republicans campaign against the Obama/Biden ticket, it would be easy to conclude that Republicans think if they can just win the economics battle, they will have “turned the country around.” That is too shortsighted.
Republicans are not running against the traditional Democrat Party. What we face now is an organization that is bent on “Fundamentally Transforming” the United States. That is not a goal that has ever been so blatantly adopted by Democrats in the past. But it is one of the few promises made by President Obama that has seen substantial success. In my opinion, as it’s being realized, it’s the most threatening promise ever pronounced by a Presidential candidate.
President Obama has steadfastly guarded his background. Few people knew much about him when he was elected and few know much about him now. And he is certainly not running the most transparent administration ever. He has arrogated enough power to the Presidency to challenge the fundamental three-equal-part structure of the federal government. When he can’t get Congress to legislate something, he thinks it’s okay to achieve his objective by making an end run around the Constitution and issuing an executive order. Reportedly, he rarely consults his cabinet secretaries other than, apparently, the Secretary of State. He prefers to have things run by his forty plus “Czars,” administrators whom he appointed without having them vetted and confirmed by Congress. He gives scant recognition to the statement in our Declaration of Independence that governments derive “their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
So it’s not just the economy, as important as that is. It’s the vision of the country that is held by its current President. It’s a vision formed when Obama, as a student, “sought out” left wing faculty members. It’s a vision supported by no less that the Communist Party of the USA whose leader Scott Marshall said of the election of President Obama, “There could not have been a better time to be a communist in the USA than this.”
Even if the economy were to show miraculous improvement in the next few weeks, there would still be ample reason to replace Barack Obama as President. It’s not just the economy, stupid.
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