Chris Adamo
Obama will not moderate after November
By Chris Adamo
With three weeks yet to go before the 2010 mid-term elections, grassroots energy and polling data already portend a massive sea-change in the political landscape. The conservative base is eager to reassert itself. This is a striking contrast to 2006 when a weary and disenfranchised heartland America abandoned the GOP after a dozen years of Republican compromise and capitulation, leaving the nation in the hands of Harry Reid (D.-NV), Nancy Pelosi (D.-CA), and eventually Barack Obama.
Somehow, the political class misconstrued the real message being sent to Washington. Refusing to acknowledge voter disgust and anger over Republican unwillingness to confront the profligate spending and nanny-state meddling of a bloated federal government, Democrats who were essentially elected by default instead found it more beneficial to claim that the nation had embraced their unfettered liberalism. So in the wake of the 2006 and 2008 elections, leftists presumed that they had cart blanche to recreate the nation in their ultra-liberal image. And America's disastrous economic decline, collapsing societal infrastructure, and evaporating liberties stand as a testament to the vigor with which the Democrats pursued their efforts.
Distressed citizens from across America vainly attempted to communicate their concerns to Washington, only to be ignored, mocked and disparaged in response. Now they are ready to institute the course correction that is so desperately needed. This they intend to accomplish by brooming as many arrogant liberal Democrats as possible from the halls of Congress come Election Day, and replacing them with fresh faces who are not nearly so intellectually and emotionally isolated from the realities of American life as the current crop of dispassionate leftists.
The conservative punditry is already busy sizing up the situation, and offering advice as to how to proceed post-election. Some political analysts are predicting that in the aftermath of an electoral bloodbath Democrats, including Obama, will see the light, recognize the errors of their ways, and sincerely moderate their governing agenda and tactics. However, expecting such a reaction from this governing cabal is not only naive, it increases the effectiveness of artful maneuverings by the leftists, which they will undoubtedly attempt in hopes of better positioning themselves for a rebound in 2012.
A sober look the actions of liberal Democrats, during previous periods when they were out of power should convince astute observers of the necessity to prepare for any contingency except a sudden reversion to civility and reason while legislating and governing. Honor, virtue, and decency were not the means by which these individuals ever achieved political dominance, and they certainly will not resort to such trite conduct as they attempt to rebuild their governing machine. Rather, all former experience attests to the unscrupulous political brutality that was a much more effective and successful means of neutralizing their conservative adversaries. And this is particularly true in light of the burgeoning extremism of the modern Democrat Party.
The last time the nation experienced a profound rightward power shift in Washington was not during the 2000 presidential election, but six years prior in 1994. Then, the nearly unprecedented gain of fifty-four seats in the House, along with eight seats in the Senate, seemed to portend a decisive halt of the Clinton agenda, which had ensued during the previous two years at breakneck speed, threatening the fabric of the nation with Hillarycare, stifling tax increases, and a methodical unraveling of the justice system under the headship of then Attorney General Janet Reno.
With the speakership of the House of Representatives transferred overnight to Republican Newt Gingrich from Democrat Tom Foley (who did not even remain as a member of that chamber, having lost his own congressional race), and the Republican majority in the Senate, it initially appeared that the onslaught of Clintonian liberalism would be supplanted by the inspiring tenets of the "Contract with America." Sadly, this conservative momentum was thoroughly neutralized by the relentless daily attacks from liberals in Congress and on the nightly news.
Worthy plans to abolish bloated federal agencies and curtail the encroaching socialism of recent decades ran abruptly into a propaganda blitz that portrayed such efforts as draconian and heartless. Initially, Republicans responded by retreating from the scope of their grand plan, and offering instead the insipid alternative of federal "block grants" to states, whereby the socialist programs could continue, but ostensibly with greater efficiency. In the end, even this meager effort to stem the hemorrhage of funds to inefficient and wasteful statist programs was abandoned by the Republicans, allowing Bill Clinton to claim the political and moral "high ground," thus ensuring his reelection in 1996.
The pattern was repeated, with increased intensity, after the chaos of the 2000 presidential election debacle. Rather than asserting his constitutional legitimacy as President, George W. Bush refused to wield his authority against those entities that had demeaned and undermined this nation for the previous eight years. Having barely clung to his Electoral College victory, and admittedly losing the popular vote, he embarked on a futile quest to establish a "new tone" in Washington. Through indefensible and unwarranted conciliation and capitulation he ultimately empowered and enabled the forces that coalesced in 2008 as the most radical, anti-American, anti-constitutional government this nation has ever seen.
This, in the end, is the Republican Party that Obama and his minions perceive and recognize as their opposition. The reality of grassroots activism on the right, via the "Tea Party" movement of the past eighteen months, simply does not register among the liberal elitists inside the Beltway, other than as a fleeting squall from a restless but otherwise insignificant peasantry. And unfortunately, Obama's Democrats are not alone in this arrogant view. Many GOP insiders believe likewise.
So it is all but guaranteed that Barack Obama will respond to a sizable shift in the makeup of the House and Senate by forcing his issues, and daring the new Congress to oppose him and face a significant escalation of the attacks from his media accomplices. The ploy has worked extremely well in the past.
However, the energy and commitment of the movement he so casually dismisses derives from a people who understand not only the riches of liberty and heritage with which they were endowed, but more importantly the catastrophic attacks against such things that have occurred in recent years, and the perils to the very future of the nation represented by such. An electoral tidal wave in 2010 will not be the end of this epic struggle, but only the beginning of the battle for America. The people of the heartland are energized and committed to this fight. It is high time that the GOP insiders decide, once and for all, whose side they will take.
© Chris Adamo
October 14, 2010
With three weeks yet to go before the 2010 mid-term elections, grassroots energy and polling data already portend a massive sea-change in the political landscape. The conservative base is eager to reassert itself. This is a striking contrast to 2006 when a weary and disenfranchised heartland America abandoned the GOP after a dozen years of Republican compromise and capitulation, leaving the nation in the hands of Harry Reid (D.-NV), Nancy Pelosi (D.-CA), and eventually Barack Obama.
Somehow, the political class misconstrued the real message being sent to Washington. Refusing to acknowledge voter disgust and anger over Republican unwillingness to confront the profligate spending and nanny-state meddling of a bloated federal government, Democrats who were essentially elected by default instead found it more beneficial to claim that the nation had embraced their unfettered liberalism. So in the wake of the 2006 and 2008 elections, leftists presumed that they had cart blanche to recreate the nation in their ultra-liberal image. And America's disastrous economic decline, collapsing societal infrastructure, and evaporating liberties stand as a testament to the vigor with which the Democrats pursued their efforts.
Distressed citizens from across America vainly attempted to communicate their concerns to Washington, only to be ignored, mocked and disparaged in response. Now they are ready to institute the course correction that is so desperately needed. This they intend to accomplish by brooming as many arrogant liberal Democrats as possible from the halls of Congress come Election Day, and replacing them with fresh faces who are not nearly so intellectually and emotionally isolated from the realities of American life as the current crop of dispassionate leftists.
The conservative punditry is already busy sizing up the situation, and offering advice as to how to proceed post-election. Some political analysts are predicting that in the aftermath of an electoral bloodbath Democrats, including Obama, will see the light, recognize the errors of their ways, and sincerely moderate their governing agenda and tactics. However, expecting such a reaction from this governing cabal is not only naive, it increases the effectiveness of artful maneuverings by the leftists, which they will undoubtedly attempt in hopes of better positioning themselves for a rebound in 2012.
A sober look the actions of liberal Democrats, during previous periods when they were out of power should convince astute observers of the necessity to prepare for any contingency except a sudden reversion to civility and reason while legislating and governing. Honor, virtue, and decency were not the means by which these individuals ever achieved political dominance, and they certainly will not resort to such trite conduct as they attempt to rebuild their governing machine. Rather, all former experience attests to the unscrupulous political brutality that was a much more effective and successful means of neutralizing their conservative adversaries. And this is particularly true in light of the burgeoning extremism of the modern Democrat Party.
The last time the nation experienced a profound rightward power shift in Washington was not during the 2000 presidential election, but six years prior in 1994. Then, the nearly unprecedented gain of fifty-four seats in the House, along with eight seats in the Senate, seemed to portend a decisive halt of the Clinton agenda, which had ensued during the previous two years at breakneck speed, threatening the fabric of the nation with Hillarycare, stifling tax increases, and a methodical unraveling of the justice system under the headship of then Attorney General Janet Reno.
With the speakership of the House of Representatives transferred overnight to Republican Newt Gingrich from Democrat Tom Foley (who did not even remain as a member of that chamber, having lost his own congressional race), and the Republican majority in the Senate, it initially appeared that the onslaught of Clintonian liberalism would be supplanted by the inspiring tenets of the "Contract with America." Sadly, this conservative momentum was thoroughly neutralized by the relentless daily attacks from liberals in Congress and on the nightly news.
Worthy plans to abolish bloated federal agencies and curtail the encroaching socialism of recent decades ran abruptly into a propaganda blitz that portrayed such efforts as draconian and heartless. Initially, Republicans responded by retreating from the scope of their grand plan, and offering instead the insipid alternative of federal "block grants" to states, whereby the socialist programs could continue, but ostensibly with greater efficiency. In the end, even this meager effort to stem the hemorrhage of funds to inefficient and wasteful statist programs was abandoned by the Republicans, allowing Bill Clinton to claim the political and moral "high ground," thus ensuring his reelection in 1996.
The pattern was repeated, with increased intensity, after the chaos of the 2000 presidential election debacle. Rather than asserting his constitutional legitimacy as President, George W. Bush refused to wield his authority against those entities that had demeaned and undermined this nation for the previous eight years. Having barely clung to his Electoral College victory, and admittedly losing the popular vote, he embarked on a futile quest to establish a "new tone" in Washington. Through indefensible and unwarranted conciliation and capitulation he ultimately empowered and enabled the forces that coalesced in 2008 as the most radical, anti-American, anti-constitutional government this nation has ever seen.
This, in the end, is the Republican Party that Obama and his minions perceive and recognize as their opposition. The reality of grassroots activism on the right, via the "Tea Party" movement of the past eighteen months, simply does not register among the liberal elitists inside the Beltway, other than as a fleeting squall from a restless but otherwise insignificant peasantry. And unfortunately, Obama's Democrats are not alone in this arrogant view. Many GOP insiders believe likewise.
So it is all but guaranteed that Barack Obama will respond to a sizable shift in the makeup of the House and Senate by forcing his issues, and daring the new Congress to oppose him and face a significant escalation of the attacks from his media accomplices. The ploy has worked extremely well in the past.
However, the energy and commitment of the movement he so casually dismisses derives from a people who understand not only the riches of liberty and heritage with which they were endowed, but more importantly the catastrophic attacks against such things that have occurred in recent years, and the perils to the very future of the nation represented by such. An electoral tidal wave in 2010 will not be the end of this epic struggle, but only the beginning of the battle for America. The people of the heartland are energized and committed to this fight. It is high time that the GOP insiders decide, once and for all, whose side they will take.
© Chris Adamo
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