Republicans: From Lying to Not Remembering
Published in La Cronica de Hoy
(Mexico) on 2 September 2012
by Manuel Gómez Granados (link to
original)
Today, unless something serious happens, will be the first day that the Republican candidates for president and vice president of the United States officially run a campaign. Last week, despite the effects of Hurricane Isaac, they held a convention that left us some interesting facts.
The most important of all is that the Republicans are not very interested in speaking the truth. The skirmishes before the campaign, which starts formally in September, and the messages delivered during the convention held in Tampa, show that the Republicans insist on excluding the legacy of President George W. Bush from their analyses.
Another revealing fact was that the convention featured an electronic counter that showed how this country's debt grew while Mitt Romney was being confirmed as a presidential candidate.
The electronic counter is a great example of amnesia, if it is considered that much of that debt was created by Bush, Jr.’s decision to combine tax cuts for higher income earners with two wars. One of them, the one in Iraq was, frankly, useless.
But that was not the only lie. According to American political tradition, while Romney will be devoted to presenting proposals for the Republican formula, vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan will be devoted to attacking the weaknesses of their opponents.
On the night of August 29, we had the first example of the way Ryan will assume his responsibilities as the candidate in charge of attacking. That day, after being anointed as candidate, Ryan launched a series of attacks on Barack Obama, including accusing Obama of not fulfilling his campaign promises.
In 2008, in Janesville, Wisconsin, Obama said that the government and companies needed to make every effort to prevent the closure of a General Motors’ plant settled there. The plant closed in December of that year, 50 days before Obama's inauguration. Despite this, and despite that Obama would not commit to anything, Ryan put the blame for the closure on him. And that was just one of the many different attacks spread across wide areas to show how far Republicans will go in their strategy to groundlessly accuse Obama.
This strategy makes some sense. Although Obama did well on some aspects of his management, the reality is that during the four years of his administration, unemployment has not abandoned the border of 10 percent, and Romney has a slight edge over Obama when voters are asked whom they trust more to handle the U.S. economy.
That is one of the reasons why Obama had to create, in July, an amnesty program for those who were brought to the U.S. when they were under 16, have studied there and are under 31. The measure is not a solution to the problem of immigration, but has given hope to hundreds of thousands of divided families, who fear that some members will suddenly be deported.
However, recovering the sympathy of Latinos will not be enough for Obama. One of the most serious dilemmas he faces is how to convince those who supported him in 2008 but who have not found jobs after four years.
The only advantage that Obama has, besides being more lighthearted and friendly than Romney or Ryan, is the fact that there is a third presidential aspirant to Romney’s right, Gary Johnson. He is a former governor of New Mexico. As a candidate of the Libertarian Party, he could detract enough voters from Romney, helping Obama win in five key states (North Carolina, Colorado, Florida, Nevada and Virginia) which together account for 74 electoral votes.
Although Johnson cannot win the elections, he has some viability as a candidate — expressed in the contributions he has received from supporters, now totaling over a million dollars — because, despite the ferocity of Ryan’s attacks, many U.S. citizens know that the economic chaos in their country these days is not entirely Obama’s fault.
The most important of all is that the Republicans are not very interested in speaking the truth. The skirmishes before the campaign, which starts formally in September, and the messages delivered during the convention held in Tampa, show that the Republicans insist on excluding the legacy of President George W. Bush from their analyses.
Another revealing fact was that the convention featured an electronic counter that showed how this country's debt grew while Mitt Romney was being confirmed as a presidential candidate.
The electronic counter is a great example of amnesia, if it is considered that much of that debt was created by Bush, Jr.’s decision to combine tax cuts for higher income earners with two wars. One of them, the one in Iraq was, frankly, useless.
But that was not the only lie. According to American political tradition, while Romney will be devoted to presenting proposals for the Republican formula, vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan will be devoted to attacking the weaknesses of their opponents.
On the night of August 29, we had the first example of the way Ryan will assume his responsibilities as the candidate in charge of attacking. That day, after being anointed as candidate, Ryan launched a series of attacks on Barack Obama, including accusing Obama of not fulfilling his campaign promises.
In 2008, in Janesville, Wisconsin, Obama said that the government and companies needed to make every effort to prevent the closure of a General Motors’ plant settled there. The plant closed in December of that year, 50 days before Obama's inauguration. Despite this, and despite that Obama would not commit to anything, Ryan put the blame for the closure on him. And that was just one of the many different attacks spread across wide areas to show how far Republicans will go in their strategy to groundlessly accuse Obama.
This strategy makes some sense. Although Obama did well on some aspects of his management, the reality is that during the four years of his administration, unemployment has not abandoned the border of 10 percent, and Romney has a slight edge over Obama when voters are asked whom they trust more to handle the U.S. economy.
That is one of the reasons why Obama had to create, in July, an amnesty program for those who were brought to the U.S. when they were under 16, have studied there and are under 31. The measure is not a solution to the problem of immigration, but has given hope to hundreds of thousands of divided families, who fear that some members will suddenly be deported.
However, recovering the sympathy of Latinos will not be enough for Obama. One of the most serious dilemmas he faces is how to convince those who supported him in 2008 but who have not found jobs after four years.
The only advantage that Obama has, besides being more lighthearted and friendly than Romney or Ryan, is the fact that there is a third presidential aspirant to Romney’s right, Gary Johnson. He is a former governor of New Mexico. As a candidate of the Libertarian Party, he could detract enough voters from Romney, helping Obama win in five key states (North Carolina, Colorado, Florida, Nevada and Virginia) which together account for 74 electoral votes.
Although Johnson cannot win the elections, he has some viability as a candidate — expressed in the contributions he has received from supporters, now totaling over a million dollars — because, despite the ferocity of Ryan’s attacks, many U.S. citizens know that the economic chaos in their country these days is not entirely Obama’s fault.