Thomasson - Never Underestimate Irrationality of American Electorate
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Dan Thomasson-
Well, it’s the same guy who thinks evolution is just a gap-filled theory, that humans have no responsibility for global warming, that the word treason and the chairmanship of the Federal Reserve should be used in the same breath.
By now if you don’t know that the person is Rick Perry, the hip-shooting Southwest governor who is a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, you probably think Austin is a fuel-efficient little car still manufactured in Britain rather than the capital of Texas. As far as Perry is concerned your perception at least would be focused on the right century.
Is it possible that a man whose views about the world don’t seem to have advanced much beyond 1950 could lead a nation that is struggling to maintain its leadership of a planet beset by environmental and financial problems that seem almost at times as unsolvable?
You bet it is. Just consider that the incumbent opponent is a president weakened by indecision, inexperience and an insufficiency of intestinal fortitude. Add to that the fact one only has to beat a GOP field of political midgets to get to the main event and the odds of success aren’t that long for Perry. At this stage, only Mitt Romney has a competitive edge and that is as ephemeral as he often appears.
Contending that Perry’s cowboy message of self-reliance and independence from central government that carried him to three terms as governor won’t play well outside Texas seems to me like whistling past the grave yard. A wise old political observer once told me never to underestimate the irrationality of the American electorate in bad economic times when straw-grasping becomes all consuming.
Realistically, Barack Obama has about six months to turn around the nation’s financial plight or prepare for the possibility of looking for another job at 51. Sadder for him will be the comparisons in history he would have to suffer the rest of his life if that occurs, Herbert Hoover and Jimmy Carter prominent among them. Hoover had no answer to the financial tidal wave that hit the nation. Carter was a victim of his own inexperience and narrow perspectives about the job.
The president will return from his vacation ready to offer a plan of tax cuts for jobs and other incentives in early September. But it may be too late. Because of his apparent concern for his own re-election, he may have suffered a self-inflicted wound from which he can’t recover. Instead of presenting himself as a tough, fearless leader during the recent debt-ceiling debacle, he gave too much ground to Republican conservatives. The image was one of vacillation and weakness.
The compromise he lauded was derided by both sides and brought about the horrendous decision to lower the nation’s credit rating, itself a disgraceful act with repercussions to the market.
But that has been the problem all along with this young man who offered a new beginning to American politics as the first of his race to assume the office. He squandered two years when he had a solid majority in both houses of Congress on a healthcare plan no one really wanted and for which he supplied no specifics while the economic mess left by his predecessor just got worse. So many of the nation’s obvious needs went unattended in those two years, including a swift disengagement from wars that had never been paid for and that he had promised would end immediately.
Six months ago, I would have bet anyone that Obama’s chances of surviving for another term were solid. Now I think it’s uphill for him even if he should be able to successfully paint congressional Republicans as the real culprits in this drama. His stock has declined as rapidly as the Dow’s. In fact, Perry, who disavows compelling scientific evidence on evolution and weather and runs against federal programs that have padded the Texas job figures he now boasts about, might beat him.
I know you can spell Adam and Eve, governor. But how about Tyrannosaurus?
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Well, it’s the same guy who thinks evolution is just a gap-filled theory, that humans have no responsibility for global warming, that the word treason and the chairmanship of the Federal Reserve should be used in the same breath.
By now if you don’t know that the person is Rick Perry, the hip-shooting Southwest governor who is a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, you probably think Austin is a fuel-efficient little car still manufactured in Britain rather than the capital of Texas. As far as Perry is concerned your perception at least would be focused on the right century.
Is it possible that a man whose views about the world don’t seem to have advanced much beyond 1950 could lead a nation that is struggling to maintain its leadership of a planet beset by environmental and financial problems that seem almost at times as unsolvable?
You bet it is. Just consider that the incumbent opponent is a president weakened by indecision, inexperience and an insufficiency of intestinal fortitude. Add to that the fact one only has to beat a GOP field of political midgets to get to the main event and the odds of success aren’t that long for Perry. At this stage, only Mitt Romney has a competitive edge and that is as ephemeral as he often appears.
Contending that Perry’s cowboy message of self-reliance and independence from central government that carried him to three terms as governor won’t play well outside Texas seems to me like whistling past the grave yard. A wise old political observer once told me never to underestimate the irrationality of the American electorate in bad economic times when straw-grasping becomes all consuming.
Realistically, Barack Obama has about six months to turn around the nation’s financial plight or prepare for the possibility of looking for another job at 51. Sadder for him will be the comparisons in history he would have to suffer the rest of his life if that occurs, Herbert Hoover and Jimmy Carter prominent among them. Hoover had no answer to the financial tidal wave that hit the nation. Carter was a victim of his own inexperience and narrow perspectives about the job.
The president will return from his vacation ready to offer a plan of tax cuts for jobs and other incentives in early September. But it may be too late. Because of his apparent concern for his own re-election, he may have suffered a self-inflicted wound from which he can’t recover. Instead of presenting himself as a tough, fearless leader during the recent debt-ceiling debacle, he gave too much ground to Republican conservatives. The image was one of vacillation and weakness.
The compromise he lauded was derided by both sides and brought about the horrendous decision to lower the nation’s credit rating, itself a disgraceful act with repercussions to the market.
But that has been the problem all along with this young man who offered a new beginning to American politics as the first of his race to assume the office. He squandered two years when he had a solid majority in both houses of Congress on a healthcare plan no one really wanted and for which he supplied no specifics while the economic mess left by his predecessor just got worse. So many of the nation’s obvious needs went unattended in those two years, including a swift disengagement from wars that had never been paid for and that he had promised would end immediately.
Six months ago, I would have bet anyone that Obama’s chances of surviving for another term were solid. Now I think it’s uphill for him even if he should be able to successfully paint congressional Republicans as the real culprits in this drama. His stock has declined as rapidly as the Dow’s. In fact, Perry, who disavows compelling scientific evidence on evolution and weather and runs against federal programs that have padded the Texas job figures he now boasts about, might beat him.
I know you can spell Adam and Eve, governor. But how about Tyrannosaurus?
Email: [email protected][[In-content Ad]]
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