Oh, So The Real Problem Is That Conservatives Are Both Nihilistic And Have A More Attractive Ideology...

The ever-clueless E.J. Dionne furrows his oft-furrowed brow and can't seem to find all that Republican nihilism that Andrew Sullivan is bitching about. In fact, what ol' E.J. finds instead is the persistence of good old fashioned conservative ideology:

Underlying so much of the political analysis pouring forth over the Massachusetts showdown is a debate about the reasons for the decline of Obama's popularity from the heights of last spring.

Conservatives blame "liberalism" -- big government, big deficits, an overly ambitious health-care plan, a stimulus that spent too much and other supposedly left-leaning sins of the Obama regime.

The right is especially taken with the movement of political independents from guarded sympathy for the Democrats to outright opposition. Much of the analysis of Scott Brown's unexpectedly strong run for Ted Kennedy's Senate seat focuses on the Republican's strength among independent voters said to be alarmed over the ambition and reach of Obamaism.

And, E.J. Dionne - being E.J. Dionne - draws the wrong conclusion:

But the success of the conservative narrative ought to trouble liberals and the Obama administration. The president has had to "own" the economic catastrophe much earlier than he should have. Most Americans understand that the mess we are in started before Obama got to the White House. Yet many, especially political independents, are upset that the government has had to spend so much and that things have not turned around as fast as they had hoped.

These guys just don't get it.

Independents are not driven by ideology or ideological arguments: That's why they're Independents in the first place... Ideology has little appeal to them. Independents are driven by the desire to see specific problems solved, and they vote for the candidate they judge best able to solve those problems. In 2008 Obama promised Independents just that with "Hope and Change".

That those same Independents are deserting him in droves in 2010 should tell anyone with an above room temperature IQ that Bambi hasn't delivered on that promise. This isn't rocket science. What these troubles should be telling morons like E.J. Dionne is that Independents feel Bambi Obama isn't concentrating his energies on the problems they want solved.

Beyond that, it's telling Dionne's view of presidential leadership boils down to this: 

The president has had to "own" the economic catastrophe much earlier than he should have.

No, the fact of the matter is this: When you become President of the United States, you own the country's problems. Period. Voters vote for those they think can lead. Leaders lead by taking responsibility (ownership) for problems and providing solutions. Times are tough right now, and the last thing anyone wants to hear is a president making excuses about how everything is either (a) really hard, or (b) somebody else's fault. Nobody gives a fuck about that. 

Voters are not interested in excuses. Period. They are interested in results. And these same voters are not so naive as to think anyone can fix all our present problems in the space of a single year. What they are now signalling is the fact that they have come to the conclusion that Obama and the Democratic Party are not offering the correct solutions to the problems they see as being the most serious at this time. That has nothing to do with "conservative ideology".

Obama has now spent the better part of his first year in office fucking around with health care reform. What he has not done during that same year is convince Independents that his primary focus is on the economy. Democratic drones and stooges can argue about the merits of the stimulus legislation all they want, but it seems clear voters haven't bought into its efficacy. And to make matters worse, he still seems intent on fighting the Cap-and-Trade fight, which is now widely viewed as a massive job killer. Sorry, but health care reform and the environment are good times issues, and the fundamental problem is that these aren't good times. At some point Bambi Obama has got to realize this or he's going to be a one term president. I believe it was a Democratic strategist who once said, famously:

It's the economy, stupid.

And so it is.

Bottom line? Democrats and progressives blaming everything on conservative ideology, just like blaming everything on Republican nihilism, or George W. Bush, is far too flattering to both Democrats and progressives... And voters know it.

Comments

[DonnieDarko]

I heard this rumor that Barney Frank is really Elmer Fudd.

[richard mcenroe]

If we have a more attractive ideology, howcum Rose McGowan never offered to blow Dick Cheney instead of Bill Clinton?

[just passin by]

"Voters vote for those they think can lead"

I disagree slightly. Intelligent voters vote for leaders. There were other reasons voters chose The Messiah...

1. Republican corruption and incompetence.
2. The American Idol factor; The Messiah is so pretty that some people think he's smart; he is (was?) young and hip as well.
3. Racism; some folk were afraid to vote against the black guy; OTOH, I actually know some..."young and hip"...folk that voted for The Messiah because "it would be cool to have a black president". I was never able to convince them that he was more Red then Black.

I think #1 was key though, although you can never discount the bobblehead factor of #2.

Indeps may do well to Google the Modern Whig party.

[Simon]

Rose McGowan went out with Marilyn Manson so I'm not sure an attractive ideology is the first thing on her mind when it comes to men.

Here is a photo of your ideological bellwether Richard.

[Wm T Sherman]

I don't see any real possiblity of Democrats, Obama, & Co. becoming less stupid about what people want. They have plowed straight ahead, never looking to the side.

[richard mcenroe]

Simon, I noticed 124 heterosexuals answered that poll...

[J West]

1. Nailed it on Cap and Trade and health care being good times issues.
2. The loyal opposition needs to point that out a little more forcefully.
3. Health care has always been a pet cause of Mr. Soros.
4. Suspect Mr. Soros owns a substantial piece of Mr. Obama's soul.
5. Not to say that national health care would not be attractive to a Black politician representing a minority urban constituency.
6. Think he might still be doing that?
V/R JWest

[Ideologician]

I'm an independent and an ideologue. I'm an ideologue who is not happy with either party. Most ideologues I know are independents. Most independents I know are ideologues.

The problem is two-fold. First politics isn't about solving problems. It hasn't ever been. Second, the two parties are all about compromise and pragmatism, or at least the appearance of it, because that's what they think people want. I wish we did have ideological parties, at least then something might actually get done.