The Way the World Works: Politics in America

I've been thinking about all the things I've learned lately about people's stated positions on deficit and tax revenue and weighing the possibility that President Obama has a plan. 

This is what I know:

Independents always want an excuse to vote Republican, but hesitate because they find the social agenda completely abhorrent. They are motivated by paying less in taxes. These are people who believe that all you have to do is work hard and when you work hard you should keep the fruits of your labor and not give to people who don't work hard. They are different from elitist Republicans because they don't wholly buy its corporate agenda, and they are different from Tea Party Republicans because they find them overtly racist, homophobic, and trashy.

These are the people both parties are wooing.

Obama cannot win the presidency without independents. Neither can anyone else.

This is why Obama is so willing to cut social spending -- because independents want him to. They do think we spend too much on programs for people who do not genuinely need them. They want Obama to compromise with Republicans. 

They are also very motivated by the less taxes/no taxes mantra, no matter how it is applied. They just hate taxes. They don't understand why they should have to pay for schools when they don't have children, or fund college for other people's children, or pay for birth control or for rent subsidies or for "welfare queens" (who don't exist, FYI). They believe in judicious charity, not a free ride. Every time they hear a story about an urban youth or a stay-at-home who brags about receiving enough government aid to never have to work it burns them up inside and strengthens their resolve. Sometimes the only thing that gets them to the voting booth is this anger. That is why every statement by every Republican is going to include the words "cut spending", "no taxes."

This is why the political rhetoric and behavior looks like it does.

GOP, Inc's corporate masters do not constitute enough people to win an election. So, Republicans pursue a stratagy of hate, because hate is anger and angry people vote. They are always eager to reach out to people who think the world is filled with other and that other is... I dunno, whatever. It's always something. It's gay people, it's uppity women, it's Mexicans, Native Americans, it's African-Americans. It never ends with these ill-educated xenophobic intolerant people. But it's a good strategy exactly for that reason -- because the well is so deep and the hate never ends. If people get used to gays and won't vote against programs and policies that support them, well, here come the Muslims. This is also why Republicans are so eager to slash education and insert religion into schools. Both are superlative methods of keeping people ignorant and feeling persecuted. But even with corporations (who are people, too!) and haters, there are still not enough Republican voters to sweep a victory. They need independents.

Obama does not have to woo Progressives. We have to vote Democratic, we don't have a choice, because every indication from Republicans is that they will usher in a new Medieval era with women as chattel, debtors and gays tossed into jail, tenements teeming with slumlords, poisoned air, food and water; with a very few people owning everything -- all our resources, all our money, and all the fruits of all our labor. Because all that is supremely beneficial to GOP, Inc.

Progressives are angry, because the person they voted for did not keep  key promises he made.

Unfortunately, the only thing Obama can do for us now is keep the White House. I hate to say it. It's painful. But we have to let him do it; it is mad hard, but he is doing it against some monstrous odds.

The reality is we have a country that is only half progressive. The other half is bat-shit hateful crazy or obsessed with taxes, but we have to deal with them because we live in a democracy. And as repugnant as we find their opinions, they are still Americans and they have a voice.