The Question Democrats Should Ask At Their Convention
The Republicans asked a very poignant question at their just ended convention. One it would be dangerous and perhaps fatal for the Democrats to ignore. It was a repeat of a highly successful Reagan mantra: “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?’
What’s the obvious retort Democrats should broadcast at their own convention? Simple. “Will you be better off four years from now under a President Romney?
People don’t much trust Mitt Romney. His vice presidential choice scares a lot of people. Throw out this question and you tap into these fears. And with luck (at least from the Obama perspective), this future fear will outweigh disappointment over Mr. Obama’s own past performance in the Oval Office.
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Hmmm, hindsight is 20/20, so I a fairer question would be under which party would you guess you would be better off for the next four years. Also, same question but for the next eight years and for your kid’s futures.
I think a fairer [?] question would be:
Some think a picture is worth a thousand words… So here’s a picture:
For the others… Here’s a thousand words:
15 Things the GOP Doesn’t Want You to Know About Taxes and the Debt
Where will be in four years is the right question. We could see a lot of the 20th century repealed. Add a couple tea party types to the Supreme Court and we won’t be able to change it back anytime soon. The prospect scares the hell out of me and should scare any thinking person concerned with the future of the country.
Above first sentence should read Where will we be.
Are you better off than you were four years ago? I suppose it depends on who you ask.
If you’d invested in an S&P index fund four years ago, then you’d probably answer in the affirmative. If you’re one of the people who make up that 8.3% unemployment number, then you’d probably say no.
Collectively, though, our memories aren’t so good. By most measures, the country as a whole is better off than it was at the end of 2008, but it is hard to remember what it was like, in no small part because one party has spent the last year or so telling us how terrible things are right now.
They also spent the better part of the last year fighting over which one of them would be the one to take the country back to before Obama took over. And that’s where the Democrats should look for inspiration. Mitt’s rivals spent plenty of time on the campaign trail telling everyone what a terrible choice he would be. It is time those arguments were revisited…complete with quotes from those Republicans, played over and over again.
Regardless of who is at the helm we will still be in a world of hurt. Anyone who is paying attention has to know this. That said, it requires no mental giantude to realize the people who had the most to do with creating this world of hurt should not be allowed to regain the helm. As Willwright mentions, the supreme court makes this election more critical than usual.
Z, that’s one way to look at it, but giantude or not, one can observe the current course and wonder if we are heading towards the light or is that a train coming down the tunnel at us.
You are absolutely right dd. People should be wondering that regardless of the election though. In any case, a lot of people will vote for Romney because they imagine problems which have been building for decades should somehow lend themselves to repair in a matter of a few years. Part of that magical thinking must include forgetting about how we got to this point.
No one is going to fix anything major, especially in four years. Best we can do is try to steer a few degrees away from hitting the iceberg. And, I believe neither party should wield too much control. They both are flawed so the best we can hope for is that they don’t let each other get away with too much.
The question I would ask is “If the Hague indicts administration officials and their attorneys of violating Geneva convention laws on torture, would you allow them to stand trial?” I ask this, because they seem to be free from such trials in America.
Ohio, rhetorical question, no doubt.
Torture AND murder/assassination now.
Might makes right, it always has and probably will always be that way.
It’s not rhetorical everywhere and shouldn’t be here.
[In Britain, a two-year long inquiry examining the buildup to the Iraq war and its conduct is yet to publish its final report. The panel took evidence from political leaders including Blair, military chiefs and intelligence officers. Two previous British studies into aspects of the war cleared Blair's government of wrongdoing.]
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0902/Desmond-Tutu-Bush-and-Blair-should-Answer-for-their-actions
The problem with the theory that divided government works best is the current GOP tactic of obstruct everything and their belief that compromise is evil and must be avoided at all costs. I would think the last debt ceiling crisis, the results of which the GOP is trying to lay at Obama’s feet would have taught people something.
I would like to get rid of the 60 vote requirement to override a filibuster for a starter.
I posted a rather lengthy response that evidently was considered to lengthy or it contained information that wasn’t considered politically correct, even for this forum.
That said, in all the discussions and postings about the president and the presidency one very important and essential point consistently get glossed over or ignored altogether – the president is not elected on the outcome of the popular vote but by the Electoral College vote. In other words, the popular vote for the president doesn’t mean diddly squat! It’s the Electoral College vote that’s cast by the legislators of the States that votes for the president. That’s why our form of government is called a “Constitutional Republic.’
Therefore, all the opinion forming media hype, talking heads hyperbole and pollsters outcomes should be considered insidious, because it’s all done and manipulated by the K-Street bunch, special interests fanatics and political hacks hell bent on forwarding their own ‘righteous’ or ‘more enlightened’ agendas. Enough said on this point.
As for breach of the Constitution by this administration and the former Bush/Cheney administration, no where is this more evident than in the outright breaking of international treaty regarding the ban on interrogation torture, that BOTH administration are guilty of perpetrating. Our Constitution clearly states it cedes American sovereignty to international law where treaties America has signed onto are concerned, so YES! the Hague has the right to bring the leaders of countries up on War Crimes charges, which the ban on interrogation torture comes under. It’s a serious offense both a Republican and Democratic administration are throwing to the wind.
There is no doubt that America has lost its high ground concerning the issue of interrogation torture, now euphemistically referred to as “Enhanced Interrogation.” Sadly again, here a euphemistic term is used to somehow justify and make right an otherwise heinous crime acceptable, which in fact it is not!
But den agin, we ur Merica! Un we Mericans dun’t do noe rong. Merica is the riteus pepol un ull dose udder dunderheds out dere ur da problim, not us Mericans….
C, did you intentionally leave out murder/assassination, ain’t that Merican?
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So, that’s two options we at TMV give for long comments: submit as a post and we’ll take a look (the commenters rules serve as writers’ guidelines as well with a few additions), or link to your own home page after a couple paras (as stated in Commenter’s Rules).
Sorry for the long comment, but the archangel had a lot to cover in response to emails about several matters here.
Thanks.
archangel/ dr.e
Off topic: to add to Dr. E’s post, JG has accepted a number of my posts. His experience in journalism is invaluable to me, as he has helped me edit things that (originally unbeknownst to me) might not go over too well, or might be misinterpreted. The site admins are very helpful in trying to assist those of us who want to submit articles for publication on the site.
Good day Dr. Estes, etal. I apologize for the missteps on my part for evidently breaching the forums rules on submitting comments. This was not intended. So often comments and views are presented that simple few paragraph responses simply don’t do justice to, since things said often need some detail for clarifications. That said, I do understand the reasons for the rules as they are. I’m glad to see the clarification that Reply posters can also have their views, when lengthy, reviewed for publication on the site as an ‘article,’ something I was not aware of, but instead thought that only writers ‘invited’ by MV were privileged to do so. Again, Dr. Estes, thank you for the clarifications. Much appreciated.
thanks. all is well and will be well.
archangel/ dr.e