Should the U.S. Fear?

“What should the White House do now? One word came to mind: Panic,” said Democratic strategist and CNN Political Contributor James Carville. If Obama cannot correct course, the country could soon have a “crazy person” in the White House. “As I watch the Republican debates, I realize that we are on the brink of a crazy person running our nation. I sit in front of the television and shudder at the thought of one of these creationism-loving, global-warming-denying, immigration-bashing, Social-Security-cutting, clean-air-hating, mortality-fascinated, Wall-Street-protecting Republicans running my country.”

What alarmed Carville was the special election in New York’s 9th congressional district, which encompasses Queens and Brooklyn. The election had to be held last Tuesday because former Congressman Anthony Weiner had been caught sending photos of his penis via the Internet to women he did not know, and resigned from Congress. Democrats have always won in the 9th district, inhabited by many Jewish-Americans for 80 years.

This time, however, something extraordinary happened — a Republican political novice, Bob Turner, defeated the Democratic candidate, David Weprin, 54 percent to 46 percent. Party activists are in shock, as is the loser himself, who one day after his defeat said it was all President Obama’s fault. “The media, my opponent somewhat successfully made it a referendum on Obama,” said Weprin in an interview for The Jewish Week. “Whether real or perceived, there’s no question that the president has some major issues in New York. I certainly suffered from the effects of that.”*

Some Democratic Party strategists have consoled themselves that the defeat did not reflect the tendencies across the United States, that it was just the New York Jewish community punishing Obama for his policy on Israel. “My support for Mr. Turner is intended to send a message to President Obama that he cannot throw Israel under a bus with impunity,” commented former New York Mayor Ed Koch. He added that it was about time the president abandoned a hostile attitude toward Israel and restore the special relationship that has existed between the U.S. and Israel, beginning with Harry Truman and continuing through the administration of George W. Bush.

This spring, Obama announced that the 1967 borders, which existed before the Six-Day War, should be the starting point of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. This was not a shift in U.S. policy, as former presidents had the same views on this issue. The situation changed rather in Israel: While former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had been of a similar opinion, the current prime minister was outraged over Obama’s declaration. “While Israel is prepared to make generous compromises for peace, it cannot go back to the 1967 lines, because these lines are indefensible,” said Benjamin Netanyahu, right-wing Israeli PM. The media reported that both leaders really dislike each other, and the atmosphere is cold during their face-to-face talks.

The Israelis have also been displeased with Obama’s claim that both sides of the conflict were to blame, not just the Palestinians. As a result, only 55 percent of American Jews support the president now (according to a recent Gallup poll), whereas three years ago, 80 percent of the Jewish community voted for him.

Republicans interpret the sensational result of the election in Brooklyn in a completely different way. According to them, Turner’s victory came as a result of the unemployment rate remaining over nine percent and the economy’s stagnation, which Obama’s people could not manage to enliven.

Texas Governor Rick Perry, who for several weeks has been the front-runner for the Republican nomination for president in 2012, said that it was obvious that Barack Obama would be a one-term president.

Perry is one of the “crazies” Carville was talking about. During last week’s TV debate, Perry said that there is no sufficient evidence that the greenhouse effect results from human activity and that scientists constantly argue on that issue.

It is nothing, however, compared to his statement that the U.S. Social Security system is one big hoax. Perry compared it to a Ponzi scheme — an investment fraud from which only the early participants benefit (but the scheme promises all investors a gain; it is also called a pyramid scheme). In the case of Social Security, the losing party will be the generations of young Americans, who now finance the retired population while there will be no money left for their own pensions.

Perry frightened even his party colleagues. Although all Americans know that the Social Security system has to undergo reform in the future, according to Republican strategists, calling it a Ponzi scheme is not the best way to win the presidential election.

Perry’s main rival, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, said: “Our nominee has to be someone who isn’t committed to abolishing Social Security but is committed to saving Social Security.” In his book, published 6 months ago, Perry wrote that the fraudulent Social Security system should be abolished as a federal program and handed over to individual states.

Despite the “crazy” label attached to Perry by his rivals, he is a clear front-runner in the polls. Among Republican voters, 26 percent see him as their candidate (Romney is supported by 22 percent, and other presidential hopefuls by less than 10 percent, so they have a rather small chance of winning). Perry’s main asset is that he has a record of effectively battling unemployment. Out of all the jobs created in the U.S. since mid-2009, almost half were in Texas.

Many Democrats believe that radical steps need to be taken to save the country from “crazies.” First of all, Obama should quickly and thoroughly refresh his administration. “For God’s sake, why are we still looking at the same political and economic advisers that got us into this mess? It’s not working. Furthermore, it’s not going to work with the same team, the same strategy and the same excuses,” said Carville on CNN. “There are certain people in American finance who haven’t been held responsible for utterly ruining the economic fabric of our country. Demand from the attorney general a clear status of the state of investigation concerning these extraordinary injustices imposed upon the American people,” he added.

For the time being, Obama is keeping his cool and aggressively raising money for next year’s campaign, in which he has no equal. “Over the last couple of months there have been Democrats who voiced concerns and nervousness about, well, in this kind of economy, isn’t this just — aren’t these just huge headwinds in terms of your reelection? And I just have to remind people that — here’s one thing I know for certain: The odds of me being reelected are much higher than the odds of me being elected in the first place,” he said at a campaign fundraiser held on Thursday.

There is a lot of sense in what the president said because, despite all the adversities, Obama still beats his potential Republican rivals in some election simulations. According to the Bloomberg poll from Sept. 12, he would defeat Romney 48 to 43 percent and win 49 to 40 percent against Perry.

*Editor’s Note: Quote could not be verified.