The Republicans Are Disconnected from American Society

Faced with a national debt of $16 trillion and a country where the number of people receiving food stamps has jumped from 17 million in 2000 to 46 million, it is easy for Republicans to denounce the wandering of the Obama administration. Gathered at a conference in Tampa, they hammered their message in a vein that showcases one of America’s founding myths, optimism. They will create 12 million jobs in four years and restore the American dream and exceptionalism, which have been threatened. Their method: radical cuts to the federal budget of $6 trillion over 10 years. The candidate for vice president, Paul Ryan, explains that austerity will be the priority and growth will be sacrificed. The party’s program seems to be the starting point for the conservative revolution that remained unfinished under Ronald Reagan: reducing state spending and deeply challenging the Great Society of Lyndon Johnson.

Economists agree that Washington has lived beyond its means. But they believe that the Ryan Plan is not credible. It is even less so as candidate Mitt Romney promises to make America the world’s policeman again by increasing the defense budget. In a country outraged by Washington’s procrastination and disappointed by the Democratic administration, the chances of a Romney-Ryan tandem on November 6 are real.

But will their voluntarism be enough? The ultra-conservatives and the Tea Party have pushed the Republicans to up the ante on their moral values. The United States is seeing unprecedented demographic and societal changes. From now until 2040, the white majority that now represents 63 percent of the population will be caught up to by the minorities. Women wishing to have children on their own are becoming almost commonplace. Only 51 percent of adults are married. By forbidding abortion under all circumstances and ignoring the issue of homosexual rights, the Republicans, of which white people form the overwhelming majority, seem disconnected from the social realities of the country. Their slogan is evocative: “I want my country back.” It’s almost like America is escaping their control.