An Idol, All in White

Romney’s deputy, the Republican hardliner Paul Ryan, has galvanized the Republican base, but will not find much favor with Latino and people of color voters.

To call Paul Ryan a shining star of the Tea Party movement is at least not far from the truth. Since the Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney chose the ultraconservative from Wisconsin as his vice presidential running mate, all the commentaries have directly illustrated the polarization of U.S. politics. But this is also true: the media lives on this polarization and the story of the “historic” confrontation in the election campaign. And Ryan eagerly delivers fresh fodder, as he dresses up his U.S. version of Geiz ist Geil* in a flimsy intellectual and moral cloak; for example, he likes listening to Rage Against the Machine and Grateful Dead, according to his Facebook page.

A Passion for Ayn Rand

It is bewildering that the response to Romney’s staff often gives the impression that American voters would actually want to vote for a Ryanesque economic plan. As chair of the budget committee in the House of Representatives, Ryan, a fan of the late philosopher Ayn Rand and her ‘”rational egoism,” advocated privatization of the state health insurance for seniors and a drastic cutback of the corresponding insurance for those with low incomes. What’s more, Ryan doubts the tenability of state retirement insurance and social security, and promises further tax cuts to the wealthiest people.

Indeed, U.S. seniors love their retirement and health insurance. Tea Party activists of retirement age grumble, but refer only to social security. Only the conservative Oklahoma calls for aid from Washington when the heat dries out the livestock’s corn and soybeans by the acre. Toward the end of her life, even Ayn Rand collected a social security pension. It is confounding that for decades workers and those earning a low income in the U.S. have frequently gone against their societal interests and voted Republican. Apparently one prefers to be free of government intervention. On the other hand, Democrats, with their dependence on the spending of the upper crust, also don’t believably play to the gallery as the “people’s advocate.”

Warriors Against the Juggernaut

Romney and Ryan: the robber baron and his water bearer? The team is apparently aware of the double-sided nature of Ryan’s well-documented past; He has galvanized the Republican base and Republican donors, but his economic plan makes many citizens nervous. So, recently in Florida, that sunny retreat of America’s pensioners, Romney assured them that he has his own budget.

Ryan could be problematic for the Republican Party, writes economic expert Mark Schmitt of the Roosevelt Institute. Usually the political game in the U.S. goes like this: the Republicans condemn an overly large interfering government. On one side, they demand cutbacks, and on the other, tax incentives. In regard to the cutbacks, the Republicans often remain abstract while tax rebates are pushed through, forcing the deficit up even more. Republicans can style themselves as warriors against the Washington juggernaut without really dipping into the wallets of voters. But therein lies Ryan’s problem, according to Schmitt: his plan is too specific.

In 1976 Ronald Reagan wanted to become president but was beaten in the primary elections by the incumbent Gerald Ford. Yet an episode from Reagan’s campaign remains in the national memory: Reagan’s story of the ‘welfare queen’ from inner city Chicago, who received $150,000 per year in government assistance using falsified documents. The candidate never disclosed the name of the so called ‘welfare queen,’ but even today she is the prototype of the myth cultivated by the conservative media that social welfare recipients don’t really deserve the benefits. These days these mythical welfare kings and queens are black or even Latino.

The popularity of many Tea Party activists is due to this very topic. One must step away from welfare and go back to work, Romney said as he presented his vice president. Romney and Ryan have only one chance in November, which is to win virtually every type of white voter possible, writes Columbia University political scientist Rodolfo de La Garza in The Huffington Post. They need white voters from the working class and poor whites. That is the true polarization emerging. It often returns to race in this election campaign, even when the topic is not addressed directly. One understands the “codes” attempted by Sarah Palin as vice presidential candidate in 2008, with her praise of “real America.” Demographically, the upsurge of conservative whites against the loss of white privileges and the majority will be harder. In contrast, Obama only needs a good 40 percent of the white vote.

And as for the anti-establishment musicians Rage Against the Machine? Ryan falls in the category of Republicans who ignore the song lyrics, much like George W. Bush playing the critical song “Born in the U.S.A” at voter meetings in 2004, until Bruce Springsteen pulled the plug.

*Translator’s Note: Former Saturn slogan, meaning that thriftiness and economizing is cool or trendy.