The nation’ s future is in the hands of White America. The novelty of the first black presidential nominee is well behind us, now, and Black America harbors muffled discontent at the administration’s seeming indifference to their disproportionate economic suffering. Which isn’t to say we won’t support the president, but the house-on-fire urgency of 2008 is long gone. The Republicans are unlikely to nominate anyone who will be in any way attractive to Black America, so the only real question is how offensive an Uncle Fester the GOP will pick. They simply don’t have anybody yet who would beat Obama in the general if the economy wasn’ t in the tank. And these nutty cartoon characters the GOP keeps rolling out consistently put their feet, both of them, in their mouths. They are offensive not only to black people but to thinking people, many of whom will simply hold their nose and choose the devil they know rather than roll the dice with one of these buffoonish ideologues.
This is, perhaps, the only campaign strategy left to the president: hope the GOP nominates a nut.
I always saw politics now as a reflection of how well anyone was doing – but how poorly we feel we are. If we feel like the economy is crummy – we vote for the new guy. We vote for the other guy if we feel bad. If we don’t – we vote for the guy who’s in there. 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2004, and 2008 are all examples of that. Not sure how I’d categorize 2000. Probably in that category, but…
A friend of mine summed it up for me in a way that made my outlook of 2012 a little less bleak. In order for a GOP candidate win the general, they’ll have to believe in something and be able to articulate it. They can’t just say Obama’s wrong. They can’t just say that the Fed is wrong. They’ll have to actually make people believe something.
And since the GOP is a group of crusty nihilists, I don’t see that happening.
The problem the GOP has is that a generation ago they decided it would be a good idea to cultivate certain parts of the fringe and make them strong enough to swing the mainstream to the right. Even if the actual center had stayed the same, it would be harder and harder to maintain left-leaning positions with the constant worry of vocal wingnuts on your flank.
Unfortunately, cultivating the wingnut right has turned out to be a lot like cultivating zucchini. It doesn’t matter how much you think you like zucchini, once you plant it you’re in for WAY more than you’ll ever want. The GOP has spent the last few years with grocery bags full of zucchini they’re desperately trying to fob off on neighbors and relatives, and they can no longer justify having any meal that doesn’t include zucchini, lest more pile up.
The problem with the GOP is that all they want to do is to make President Obama appear like a loser and are willing to grab Ned the Wino or whoever to push their agenda.