Looking Past the Candidate

Romney has come under criticism from conservatives as the campaign tries to get past the damage done by his leaked comments at a May fundraiser, where he said that 47 percent of Americans are "dependent on government" and see themselves as "victims" because they don't pay income tax.  The reaction from Romney’s own mates is what one would expect when things go bad.  The danger for all of us is to avoid falling into the trap of thinking that everything negative that is happening is Romney’s fault.  In other words, don’t blame the person, but understand that the real issue here, for everyone including Republicans, is that the GOP is in trouble with respect to its vision for the country.   Yes, I do realize that most Republicans do think exactly what Romney said at that fundraiser was true. Democrats, according to the average Republican, are a bunch of nit-wits who expect the government to keep on bailing them out of situations which they are too lazy to do themselves, all at the expense of the 53% of those who pay taxes.   But in the eyes of this staunchly independent neutral (this one’s for you, Jack) I submit to you that there is more to it than that.  The average person does understand the arithmetic, to paraphrase President Clinton.  The math problem is a little different from just considering the deficit; The real  question is ‘what is nothing multiplied by nothing?’   Michael Gerson of the Washington Post says the Republican ideology of the "makers" versus "takers" -- a phrase Ryan coined -- "offers nothing."  The electorate, Democrats and independents alike, are smart enough to realize that a party that offers a candidate who claims that “if we win on November 6, there will be a great deal of optimism about the future of this country. We’ll see capital come back, and we’ll see — without actually doing anything — we’ll actually get a boost in the economy,”  while at the same time offering nary a hint about why  lowering taxes for people like himself, will accomplish this, is in trouble on the math.   It’s not Just Romney, folks. 

Just saying . . .