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Wednesday, October 22, 2008

The Absurdity of Rovian Politics

Governor Palin has declared the "small towns" of America that she and her running mate "get to visit" to be "the real America" where the real "patriotic" and "pro-America" citizens of this country live. Almost robotically, their campaign surrogates started falling in line.

One campaign adviser unashamedly declared that Northern Virginia was not “the real Virginia" – suggesting that immigrants and liberals somehow taint the ‘realness’ of this region of the Commonwealth. Another, a Congresswoman nonetheless, asked the news media to do "a penetrating expose" on Congressional Democrats in order to "find out" if "they are pro-America or anti-America?" Another Congressman, speaking at a recent McCain-Palin event, roared that "liberals hate real Americans that work and achieve and believe in God."

This detestable campaign rhetoric is an affirmation of the intellectual deficit that has plagued the GOP and the McCain Campaign for months. They have no new ideas on addressing the country's problems and no awareness of the damage they are inflicting upon their party brand with their 'Rovian' politics. Their stubborn attachment to a "divide-and-conquer" strategy at a time of national crisis is patently absurd.

People in this country need answers to their mortgage problems; they want solutions to health care, retirement pensions, education reform, college affordability, and job creation in an increasingly globalized economy. A case in point: While Barack was moderating a high-octane economic panel in Florida earlier this week, the McCain-Palin campaign was out on the trail playing wedge politics with no substantive contributions to the nation’s current state of affairs.

They say facts are stubborn things. Yet, the GOP operatives are hell-bent on ignoring them.

It is hard to understand the strategic motivation of this masachist posture not just because it harms them down-ticket during this electoral cycle, but also because they are significantly eroding any chance of having a sustainable governing coalition in the future. They are alienating minorities including the country’s fastest-growing demographic group; they have no appeal to a majority of young people and, as it has become clear in recent days, they are pushing away their own moderates. Is anyone—anyone sane that is—in charge at the Elephant Zoo?

They say: If you’re in a hole, stop digging. Yet, the GOP just keeps digging and digging

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