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January 21, 2012 in Opinion
GOP playing Obama’s game
“Are you better off today than you were $4 trillion ago?”
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WASHINGTON – It’s the campaign line of the year, and while the author won’t be carrying it into the general election, the eventual nominee will.
The charge is straightforward: President Obama’s reckless spending has dangerously increased the national debt while leaving unemployment high and the economy stagnant. Concurrently, he has vastly increased the scope and reach of government with new entitlements and oppressive regulation, with higher taxes to come (to offset the unprecedented spending).
In 2010, that narrative carried the Republicans to historic electoral success. Through most of 2011, it dominated Washington discourse. The air was filled with debt talk: ceilings, supercommittees, Simpson-Bowles.
What’s the incumbent to do? He admits current conditions are bad. He knows that his major legislative initiatives – Obamacare, the near-trillion-dollar stimulus, (the rejected) cap-and-trade – are unpopular. If you can’t run on stewardship or policy, how do you win re-election?
Create an entirely new narrative. Push an entirely new issue. Change the subject from your record and your ideology, from massive debt and overreaching government, to fairness and inequality. Make the election a referendum on which party really cares about you, which party will stand up to the greedy rich who have pillaged the 99 percent and robbed the middle class of hope.
This charge, too, is straightforward: The Republicans serve as the protectors and enablers of the plutocrats, the exploiters who have profited while America suffers. They put party over nation, fat-cat donors over people, political power over everything.
It’s all rather uncomplicated, capturing nicely the Manichaean core of the Occupy movement: Blame the rich, then soak them. But the real beauty of this strategy is its adaptability. While its first target was the do-nothing protect-the-rich Congress, it is perfectly tailored to fit the liabilities of Republican front-runner Mitt Romney – plutocrat, capitalist, 1 percenter.
Obama rolled out this class-war counter-narrative in his Dec. 6 “Teddy Roosevelt” speech and hasn’t governed a day since. Every action, every proposal, every “we can’t wait” circumvention of the Constitution – such as recess appointments when the Senate is not in recess – is designed to fit this re-election narrative.
Hence: Where does Obama ostentatiously introduce the recess-appointed head of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau? At a rally in swing-state Ohio, a stage prop for Obama to declare himself tribune of the little guy, scourge of the big banks and their soulless Republican guardians.
For the first few weeks, the class-envy gambit had some effect, bumping Obama’s numbers slightly. But the story was still lagging, suffering in part from its association with an Occupy rabble that had widely worn out its welcome.
Then came the twist. Then came the most remarkable political surprise since the 2010 midterm: The struggling Democratic class-war narrative is suddenly given life and legitimacy by … Republicans! Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry make the case that private equity as practiced by Romney’s Bain Capital is nothing more than vulture capitalism looting companies and sucking them dry while casually destroying the lives of workers.
Richard Trumka of the AFL-CIO nods approvingly. Michael Moore wonders aloud whether Gingrich has stolen his staff. The assault on Bain/Romney instantly turns Obama’s class-war campaign from partisan attack into universal complaint.
Suddenly Romney’s wealth, practices and taxes take center stage. And why not? If leading Republicans are denouncing rapacious capitalism that enriches the 1 percent while impoverishing everyone else, should this not be the paramount issue in a campaign occurring at a time of economic distress?
Now, economic inequality is an important issue, but the idea that it is the cause of America’s current economic troubles is absurd. Yet, in a stroke, the Republicans have succeeded in turning a Democratic talking point – a last-ditch attempt to salvage re-election by distracting from their record – into a central focus of the nation’s political discourse.
How quickly has the zeitgeist changed? Wednesday, the Republican House reconvened to reject Obama’s planned $1.2 trillion debt-ceiling increase. (Lacking Senate concurrence, the debt ceiling will be raised nonetheless.) No one noticed. It made page A16 of the New York Times. All eyes are on South Carolina and Romney’s taxes.
This is no mainstream media conspiracy. This is the GOP maneuvering itself right onto Obama terrain.
The president is a very smart man. But if he wins in November, that won’t be the reason. It will be luck. He could not have chosen more self-destructive adversaries.
Charles Krauthammer’s email address is letters@charleskrauthammer.com.
MAC firing begs explanation 
bdr on January 21 at 12:48 p.m.
“Are you better off today than you were $4 trillion ago?”
Actually hell yes im better off, as well as the entire military.
If we had kept the GWB path to nowhere we would all be missing a constitution we all endear along with being flat broke!
Obama broke the endless Republican war cycle and ended the slide of the economy off the cliff!
Some of us are damaged after GWB some are dead but we are all coming “home”. We are better off because we still have a HOME!
alanb4130 on January 21 at 1:36 p.m.
I would just add this. What if anything positive has come from the Republican party of late. What accomplishments do they have to hang their ideology on. Where are the jobs that John Boehner promised when the Republicans took over congress. They spent their capital going after gay marriage, fighting Obama on Dont Ask Dont Tell. Which they lost. They have continued to bring the abortion card that they do every election cycle. They have tried block Obama and the Democrats on absolutely everything while fighting for the tax cuts for the rich to be extended time and time again.
Nahzuul on January 21 at 3:13 p.m.
Obama has a great record to run on. See Time Magazine’s current issue, “Why are Obama’s Critics So Dumb?” for a slam-dunk defense of his actual record, not just made-up populist hyperbole. I can’t list all of his accomplishments here—please take the Time (pun intended) to read the article.
No one should notice a bill that merely allows America to pay it’s legal debts. The focus should be on getting the 1% to pay something closer to their fair share and making government more efficient. Yes, it’s funny that focus suddenly came from Republicans, but since when are you surprised by hypocrisy, coming from Politicians, when their own self interest is at stake?
The auto industry—many jobs were saved and all of the governments investment has been paid back. Future jobs will be created as the industry now shows signs of a comeback.
The banks—It’s terrible that it had to be done. It was a plan signed into law by Bush in 2008. It was a bi-partisan plan that Republicans feel no shame in using to attack Obama. A potential depression was averted, most of the money has been paid back and all of it likely will be. Taxpayers might even make a profit.
The one critical thing needed to prevent a financial meltdown from happening again, naming the head of a consumer protection agency created by congress, was being blocked by Republicans!
Do you think Americans are dumb enough to accept strategically spaced thirty second sessions of congress as anything other than an obstructionist sham? Republicans would not be trying to protect lenders from having to obey those annoying consumer protection laws, would they?
Diana on January 21 at 3:27 p.m.
That’s rich coming from Rick Perry since Texas took $17.4 billion in stimulus cash and then sued the federal government for more access to more federal taxpayer money.
jdspokanewa on January 21 at 4:17 p.m.
Patriot65, I feel I have a right to blame Bush and I’ll tell you why.
Five years ago the company I worked for had to close it’s doors because of the economy which you feel is Obama’s fault, even though Obama was not even the clear front runner for the Democratic nomination. Since then, thankfully I have found another job, even though it took two years and I’m only working part time but you’re absolutely wrong, Obama is not to blame for this, Bush is.
I guess I didn’t know that there is a time machine and Obama went back to around 2007 and gave the green light on tanking the economy.
Rebuilding an economy cannot be done overnight but I see signs of it recovering, provided we stop bowing to corporate interests which I will blame Obama and all Republicans for continuing to allow corporate greed running wild. My chances of attaining full time status with the company I’m at now is not a realistic possibility, even though 5 or more years ago it would have been a slam dunk. It’s simple, with a bad economy, why would a company hire someone full time and give them more benefits when they can simply hire two part timers to fill the position? Also take into consideration that same company might have as many as 100 part time employees.
As a country we are more generous and play far too nice with our capitalist behavior, we would rather burn our own people than admit that some types of greed capitalism is wrong. If you would like examples, see Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital.
stitch on January 21 at 4:36 p.m.
Patriot: I get your pitch..You want those “F***ing, “Stupid people”, who don’t think your think to pack it up and “Leave our remaining great nation”..That would leave you and your Capitalist friends to live independently wealthy forever..Brilliant..
misjustice on January 21 at 8:53 p.m.
Did Patriot’s post get pulled? I read posts referring to her/his post but not the original post…leaving me a little confused.
@ Diana, I KNOW, right?
; )
jdspokanewa on January 21 at 9:09 p.m.
misjustice, if it was pulled it was probably due to having a lot of inferred profanity mixed with a lot of hatred and nothing of substance.
misjustice on January 21 at 9:42 p.m.
Look, Kranky Krauthammer, the Rs violated Ronnie Raygun’s 11th Commandment, in spades, in their burnt earth bid to win in South Carolina. And now those soundbites will be used against them in the general election. They did it to themselves.
Get ready for 4 more years of President Barack Hussein Obama!
; )