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Loose Canons
Campaign Contexts: The Kitchen Table Issues
We know the mess Obama has made of them. But what about Romney’s understanding?
We’ve heard a lot about “context” lately. It’s the first refuge of a scoundrel: what I said doesn’t mean what you think I said if you take it in context with everything else I said, whenever I said it.
But there’s a second part of the “context” issue, and it’s more important than the first. The second part is the context placing what politicians say into the issues that are in voters’ minds. How far apart is the rhetoric from what people really care about?
No longer does anyone claim the “context defense” for Joe Biden. When Mr. Biden he speaks, there is either no context at all, or there are so many unrelated concepts strung together that no one can keep track of them. Biden plays with words like a musician who changes the key he’s playing in three times in the course of one song.
Case in point: last week, Joe started with an accusation that Romney and Ryan would “unchain Wall Street” and ended the same phrase (sentence? paragraph? Who knows?) by telling an audience (about of which half were black), “…they’ll put y’all back in chains.” Only Joe would string together an accusation the first half of which is class warfare and the second half is the threat of a return of slavery. Rudy Giuliani had it about right in saying Biden evidently lacks the mental capacity to serve as vice president or president.
The context defense is the media’s favorite to explain away Obama’s “you didn’t build that” comment, which is the sum total of his total faith in government and his rejection of free market capitalism. For the record, here’s the entire quote:
There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me — because they want to give something back. They know they didn’t — look, if you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. You didn’t get there on your own. I’m always struck by people who think, well, it must be because I was just so smart. There are a lot of smart people out there. It must be because I worked harder than everybody else. Let me tell you something — there are a whole bunch of hardworking people out there.
If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen. The Internet didn’t get invented on its own. Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet.
The full quote doesn’t change the meaning of the excerpt. Obama clearly said that government, not smart, hard-working business people, is responsible for the success of businesses large and small. This is a kitchen table issue. Small business owners, such as Mr. Chris McMurray of the “Crumb and Get It” bakery in Radford, Virginia, understand that. Mr. McMurray declined a visit by Mr. Biden and his entourage because of Obama’s “you didn’t build that” remark, noting that his wife had just worked twenty-four hours straight.
Mr. McMurray understands that people expect that America’s economy is supposed to reward hard work and initiative. It’s an issue that is worrying a lot of Americans this year and not only because of Obama’s remark. Our economic system has been fundamentally changed in the past three and a half years by Obama’s spending, by the enactment of Obamacare (which gave the government control of about 16% of our economy) and by the over-regulation of our economy by Obama’s federal agencies.
Kitchen table issues such as that are the real context of the presidential race. And neither candidate has boiled his messages down to explain how they will solve these issues.
It’s not simply “the economy.” The economy is an amorphous concept that people think about only in terms that affect themselves. To boil it down the candidates have to reduce it to those terms: how to bring unemployment down, how to revive the housing market, how to make gasoline and other forms of energy cheaper and how to make Social Security and Medicare solvent.
And the kitchen table issues go beyond the economy. They are about how to preserve personal freedom that is under attack by the government everywhere from the entry gates at airports to the ability of businesses, both small and large, to function in the overburdening regulatory environment. They’re about how all Americans will be able to afford and obtain the best medical care. They’re about how sequestration may cost one million defense industry jobs and why Obama’s Justice Department is suing Ohio to block early voting for military members. And it’s about voters’ growing distrust of the gatekeeper media who are spending each day proselytizing for Obama.
Romney says the answer to unemployment is to spur economic growth by relieving the regulatory burden and reducing tax rates for business and individuals. But he hasn’t explained how that will work, or explained the many economic studies supporting his idea. Obama attacks Romney’s plan, but hasn’t presented any new ideas. He’s still insisting on more spending, more debt, and that tax hikes are the answer.
We know — from the Social Security and Medicare Trustee’s report — that Medicare Part A is bankrupt now and Part B will be bankrupt as early as next year. Social Security will be bankrupt about ten years later. Both Obama and Romney are now arguing about whether senior citizens will be hurt by Romney’s plan, which is written to prevent anyone over 55 from suffering any reduction in benefits. No one — except Paul Ryan — is talking about how to make Social Security and Medicare solvent.
Romney spent most of last week trying to differentiate his economic plans from Paul Ryan’s specifics. Going into the Republican Convention next week, he needs to be able to explain a unified, simple plan that he and Ryan can run on. He needs to say, specifically, how he will balance the budget by the end of his second term. Both men need to stay on the attack against Obama’s commitment to government solutions to every problem we have.
In an August 12 editorial the New York Times wrote of Paul Ryan’s budget, “By cutting $6 trillion from federal spending over the next 10 years, he would eliminate or slash so many programs that the federal government would be unrecognizable.” But isn’t that the point of this campaign? We’d love it if the government as it now stands were cut back to the point that the liberals didn’t recognize it.
That’s a promise to make, and to keep.
About the Author
Jed Babbin served as a Deputy Undersecretary of Defense under George H.W. Bush. He is the author of several bestselling books including Inside the Asylum and In the Words of Our Enemies. You can follow him on Twitter @jedbabbin.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (37) | Leave a comment
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Jack in Wi| 8.20.12 @ 6:24AM
Obama is running an attack Chicago type campaign. It is sort of like Carter ran against Reagan in 1980. A lot of the press will be his willing accomplices. I haven't seen Romney sell the deal yet. He has a lot more work to do. Ryan is a personalble kind of guy, but his budget was always going to be the issue. So far I don't see Romney having a program that is going to win this election. Taxcuts for the rich, endless war, and cutting granny's Medi-care are not winning issues. If Romney wants to win this thing he has to sounda lot more like Ron Paul then GW Bush. The times are too dire for more pablum and nonsense. The government needs massive downsizing. You can't do that without getting out of these wars and bringing the troops home. Think Switzeralnd on defense. Defend the homeland and let the world defend itself. Every war we have been involved in has led to more wars and more bankruptcy.
spike59| 8.20.12 @ 6:31AM
Jackie, Jackie, Jackie...how many times do we have to tell you-DrRonPaul has imploded YET AGAIN...he's beamed back up to the mother ship for the last time-if Romney/Ryan start sounding more like Ron Paul, they can kiss the election 'good-bye'...save your moonbat talking points for Kos
Jack in Wi| 8.20.12 @ 7:09AM
Read the polls baby. We will decide the election. Either we stay home or we hold our noses and go pull the lever for Romney. There is no way that Romney wil go over 50% without us. Most polls early on showed only 2 people who could beat Obama, Romney and Ron Paul. If Romney does not move our way, there is no getting the votes of independents and the young to get elected. He needs us more then we need him. 70% of the country wants and end to these endless wars. Romney's collapse in the polls coincides with his disasterous neocon planned foreign trip where he sounded like awarmonger. It is time to throw the neocons off the bus. They belong in the Democrat party anyhow.
Alej| 8.20.12 @ 10:04AM
Nice threat, pal. Stay home. The American way.
Alan| 8.20.12 @ 10:44AM
All Hail, so speaks the self-appointed leader of the WE-US coalition. Lets see, if Romney loses Jack @ss can take credit for "staying home" and say I told you so and if Romney wins, Jack @ss can take credit for king making as dictator and leader for life of the WE-US coalition. Maybe Romney should just make the pilgrimage right to your door and KYA, after all your vote is so much more important than anybody elses, right? Blowhard.
Do us all a favor and stay home.
Jack in Wi| 8.20.12 @ 11:08AM
I see Alan from Tel Aviv has chimed in. It isn't just me. Go to any internet chatroom and see all the disaffected people. There are plenty right here. I have predicted that Romney would win Wi. if he goes for a more peaceful policy. There is no way he can win here if he does not. This state is probably the most anti-war state in the country. The whole Midwest is. Romney has a chance to closely win a lot of electoral votes here but he needs the libertarian and paleoconservative vote to turn out. He can get it, but he has to work for it.
Dai Alanye | 8.20.12 @ 11:35AM
Due to the Ryan selection Obama has now lost Newsweak, and when a Democrat loses Newsweak he has little hope left. If the crazy wing of the Paulites stay home the only thing they'll accomplish is to lose the chance of joining in a victory.
Occam's Tool| 8.20.12 @ 12:23PM
You're a coward who wants to see Obama win. Thanks, Jack.
spike59| 8.20.12 @ 4:05PM
"We will decide the election"
======================
sure...you, clint, and a half-dozen other losers from the 1996 Star Trek Club
spike59| 8.20.12 @ 4:12PM
btw, the odds of RonPaul beating ANYONE for President are roughly the same as the odds of scoring a hole-in-one during a blizzard while using a broken tennis racket and sinultaneously picking the next year's worth of Mega Million winning numbers IN ORDER
JP| 8.20.12 @ 8:31AM
Jack,
I do agree with you in that Mitt doesn't have in 2012 what the Gipper had in 1980. The Kemp-Roth Tax Cuts were the center-piece of Reagan's economic plan. Mitt has nothing similar.But, that is not to say that Mitt doesn't have smaller, less grandiose plans. Much of what he promises is to undo what the current President and Congress have done. We shall see if the voters agree (I'm not optimisitc he will prevail).
As far as fighting endless wars goes, our current President has made a mess of things from Tunesia to Afghanistan. President Obama, first ignored to Egyptian uprisings, before turning on long term ally Hosni Mubarak, and then backing the Islamic Brotherhood. Sec of State Hillary Clinton promised Congress that the Egpytian Army would keep the Muslim Brotherhood in check. But that promise evaporated 2 weeks ago when the Muslim Brotherhood purged the military of its "disloyal" officers. In Syria, things have gone from bad to worse. Seeing how Mubarak was lied to and treated by Obama, Assad (Syria's bruta dictator), has dug his heels in. You, see you don't treat allies like Obama did and not expect things to blow-up. He should have learnt that lesson from Carter. And if you take into account the recent murder of US servicement in Afghanistan by Taliban terrorists, you have a Trifecta. One does not announce to the enemy when you plan to leave and not expect such difficulties. And those difficulties have cost the US hundreds of casualties this year.
Jack in Wi| 8.20.12 @ 11:03AM
With all due respect. Obama is in trouble because he didn't deliver on his promises to end the wars and bring the troops home. Instead he got us involved in at least 6 more. It is a big reason for his continuing deficit. None the less he can still run as the peace candidate. He can claim to have ended the Iraq War, got Bin Laden, and to be bringing the troops home from Afganistan. It's not very true, but it is better then promising to keep these chickenhawk wars going like Romney has so far. I expect Romney to develop a far more peaceful sounding foreign policy or he won't win. He knows it. Thats what the polling shows.
Appleby| 8.20.12 @ 7:06AM
I haven't heard anybody say what they're planning to do, only that they're planning to do something else. When will Romney say what he's actually planning to DO?
TLP| 8.20.12 @ 7:34AM
WTF do you care?
YOU LIVE IN CANADA, ya Stupid Old Broad!
Stop worrying about Romney, every freaking day, and go read that copy of - Final Exit - I sent you, before I call one of the Orderlies, and have you restrained.
Appleby| 8.20.12 @ 2:10PM
I'm an American citizen, little girl. American Citizens are permitted to vote no matter where we happen to be living.
Did your mommy teach you your charming manners?
TLP| 8.20.12 @ 4:55PM
You don't live here, so NOBODY gives a Sh*t about your Opinion.
We have to LIVE with the results of this Election, while you sit up there in your Government Asylum, and mouth your Stupid Inanities about the only guy that has a chance to rid us REAL AMERICANS, of The Black Death, that is Obama.
STF UP.
Dai Alanye | 8.20.12 @ 11:38AM
Romney has finessed the need for a plan by choosing Ryan for VP, because Ryan HAS a plan.
TLP| 8.20.12 @ 7:35AM
44 out of 57 States, with, I think, 3 more to go, saw Increases in their Unemployment last Month. Gasoline is up 18cents, in the last week. The Coal Miner's Union will not endorse President Fck You if you wanna job. Think about that.
How many Democrats have openly said that they will not go to the Convention to Renominate Hamas' Deliveror?
Have you seen the Video made by all of those Navy Seals, and Intelligence Officers? How many people know that the Blacks Only/Gun Running/Do Nothing about MFing John Corzine Justice Department has added "Early Voting for Military Members" to their list of CRIMES against Humanity - with Minorities, the Poor, and the Elderly, being the Hardest Hit? It's true. And we can add it to the list of other High Crimes and Misdemeanors such as Producing Proper Identification to Cast a Ballot, or actually Enforcing the Laws that are already on the books?
I haven't seen one story about it, as opposed to the never ending deluge, that would follow a similar decision by a Republican A.G. - of any Colour - with a similar edict against any one of the Left's Protected Groups, such as Pedophiles, Felons, Gays, Lesbians, Transgenders, Purp, Alan Brooks aka Brooksblacknegrohomo, and whomever is "waving at them" from the other side of the Glory Hole.
44 States outta 60 (I believe)
The UNION VOTE is there, for the taking. They need to know just how many JOBS are out there, waiting to be had, when Romney/Ryan opens up this Country for Drilling, again.
JP| 8.20.12 @ 8:32AM
I wish I could be so optimisitic. It will go down to the wire.
Purp| 8.20.12 @ 8:02AM
You betcha the whole quote changes the meaning. You saying that it doesn't only works on the non-thinking low-information voters.
The President is just fine with kitchen table issues, Romney offers nothing to change that. Ryan just scares the bejesus out of thinking Seniors and near-Seniors.
Now, in MO. , the Republican party has nominated another idiot for Senate, Todd Akin, who thinks women who get raped don't have to worry because their bodies will self-abort a "legitimate" rape. What's a legitmate rape? What's an illegitimate rape?
Moreover the GOP has just desecrated the Sea of Gallilee in ISRAEL, by swiming nude in the Sea. Congressmen and the party jumped in the Sea naked and now they regret it so much. Yeah, after the desecration. What a bunch of jerks.
JP| 8.20.12 @ 8:34AM
Perhaps our Seniors didn't get the memo: Seventy Six billion dollars will be cut from Medicare annually starting in 2013 to subsidize the Uninsured via ObamaCare.
Just think, Beardo-the-Wierdo will get health insurance on the back of granny. Now, thats change you can believe in!
Drunken Sailor| 8.20.12 @ 10:43AM
You do realize that the Sea of Galilee has public beaches don't you? Swimming in it is done all the time. Or is it just the nude part you consider sacriligeous? Personally I think it was stuped but that is all. I mean it's not like they posted nude photos of themselves like Anthony Weiner or anything.
Occam's Tool| 8.20.12 @ 12:24PM
They were partying, got drunk, and went skinnydipping, probably with their wives. Big to do.
They didn't drown their secretaries and lie about it.
TLP| 8.20.12 @ 5:09PM
And they didn't RAPE Quanita Brodrick, either.
Or Expose their Genitals.
Or have an 11 Year Affair with a Lounge Singer, during their first 12 Years of Marraige,
They haven't run this Country off a Fiscal Cliff, or let Black Panthers get away with Voting Rights Violations, Putting Bounties on Private Citizens, and Calling for KILLING WHITE BABIES.
Neither have they Run Guns to Mexican Drug Cartels, or Bow to Muslim Potentates, or Apologize to America's Enemies.
They haven't run up $5 Trillion in New Debt, and they don't put forth Trillion $ Dollar Deficts, every Year, while passing Zero Budgets, in that same time frame.
They haven't put in place Illegal Drilling Moratoriums. They haven't made Illegal Recess Appointments. And they haven't spent Million$ on Lavish Vacations, while imploring that the rest of us SHARE IN THE SACRIFICE.
In other words - GFYourself.
Dai Alanye | 8.20.12 @ 11:44AM
Purp is whistling past the graveyard of Obama's hopes. Even Newsweak, practically a house organ for Dems, has come out against him, giving its cover to a condemnation of Obama's failures.
The deadliest criticism has come from Obama insiders, former members of his administration. They confirm what we've long suspected -- no adult is in charge in the Oval Office. It's true -- Obama has no plans either for the economy or foreign policy. Fortunately, Paul Ryan has a plan for the economy, at least.
Appleby| 8.20.12 @ 2:11PM
Lots of Your Seniors are more capable of reading and understanding Government Bafflegab than the Occupiers
Von Mises Jr| 8.20.12 @ 8:45AM
To date, Romney has not been effective presenting his vision, but I think that Mr. Babbin is foolish if he thinks that a guy with an MBA that ran a company such as Bain Capital that reorganized failing businesses, governed a state and rescued a corrupt and failing Olympics does not understand how a free market economy should work. Paul Ryan is a brilliant economist and wrote a boilerplate detailed budget.
Obama is a community Organizer that we cannot see his college records. Even if he was not a Foreign Exchange Student, how do we know he didn't take mostly Social Sciences classes such as Gay and Lesbian Studies, or Indian Studies, or African Studies by Marxist? He has never had a real job and neither has the VP Bite-Me.
It is not uncommon for contemporary liberals and progressives to have unconnected non sequitur arguments. Their worldview starts with a belief that the environment is pristine and self-regulating and it cannot be disturbed. But man, part of nature, is in conflict with the earth and his economic decisions should be taken away since he cannot decide what is best for him and in his own self-interest.
Conservatives follow logic and the principles such as Ayn Rand professed of constantly developing thesis based on cognition and volition. We reject specious arguments while the left rationalizes the irrational.
Jack of Spades| 8.20.12 @ 10:16AM
If Romney hasn't been effective in presenting his vision, one possibility is that he doesn't really have one. I don't agree that just because he was successful at Bain that he understands "how markets should work." All that shows is that he knows how markets work, period.
We have the likes of Warren Buffett and Donald Trump spouting off without once mentioning free markets, property rights or the rule of law, much less the need to pare back the government to its authorities under the Constitution. And don't get me started on George Soros.
So far as I know, Steve Forbes is the only prominent businessman who understands "how markets should work," and so far Romney seems to be, at best, somewhere between Forbes and Trump, though not obnoxious like Trump. And Romney has had years to work out such a vision and how to present it.
Von Mises Jr| 8.20.12 @ 10:52AM
Buffet practices what Von Mises would call "Etatism" or essentially either interventionism or socialism. I suspect Trump knows how to work the system as well.
But I cannot cite any examples of Romney and Bain using government control to rig the game. In fact, when they saved GST for a handful of years from bankruptcy (until the whole industry collapsed due to cronyism/ syndicalism/fascism) that were propped up by protectionism; they apparently did not resort to more statist policies. Perhaps I am naive, but without examples of Romney's alleged cronyism using government interventionism to succeed, I cannot dismiss his success.
We know Obama is the King of Cronyism with Solynda and "Green Energy" boondoggles and GM/Chrysler. At best, Romney offers an alternative to otherwise fascist interventionism.
Appleby| 8.20.12 @ 11:33AM
This is what I think -- if he has a "vision thing", let's hear it.
Jack of Spades| 8.20.12 @ 10:18AM
OK, Forbes and Herman Cain.
Ken (Old Texican)| 8.20.12 @ 9:55AM
The convention is the place and time to hammer out policies...after Roney id OFFIcialy our candidate.
Throwing out specifics right now would have all the pussy whipped Republicans pissing their pants.
Who Knows?| 8.20.12 @ 11:09AM
The president proposes, Congress disposes.
Presidential candidates make PROMISES.
Political commentators must write something. That is, they look for things to criticize. No problema.
A Martian, though, would have no difficulty discerning the stark difference between Obama, with a proven record, and Romney, also with a history—and, promises, buttressed by the pick of the proven “boy genius” Ryan. Can you recall any election so polarized?
One way or the other, there’s going to be a whopper of a climax to THIS election.
It’s the Obama campaign that bears watching. We can all now see the outlines of how the Romney team, including outside groups, are going to fight to both expose BHO and present their own message.
But, what will Obama do?
He’s like a photo that in 2008 was way out of focus, so fuzzy most people saw the opposite of what was truly there. And, over time, sharper images emerge, almost daily, so that NOW even those who don’t pay much attention to politics are starting to GET THE PICTURE.
Another analogy—creepy crawling things at the bottom of a well, in the dark: Obama 2008. Since then, more and more flashlights probing deeper and deeper.
Ugly exposure!
Drunken Sailor| 8.20.12 @ 11:31AM
Hell even newsweek is starting to print negative Obama stories. Will wonders never cease?
Occam's Tool| 8.20.12 @ 12:26PM
Romney's first major decision was to pick a brilliant guy as VEEP. Obama's was to pick Shakes the Clown.
I'd be happy with boring competence and lower taxes. How 'bout you?
Ken (Old Texican)| 8.20.12 @ 1:44PM
Well doctor, I could do with 16,000 fewer regulations and a castrated EPA.
Indy| 8.20.12 @ 5:13PM
If only the media would commit a random act of journalism and inform voters, the kitchen table POTUS grew up around is nothing like that of most Americans
http://www.maggiesnotebook.com.....um=twitter
Our President has been surrounded with radicals since his youth, do you know anyone, anyone at all with a childhood like that? I'm still reading about Frank Marshall Davis, O's mentor, the ties to Valerie Jarrett's and Axelrod's family are amazing. Most of the media is a joke, they protect him at all costs.
http://www.trevorloudon.com/20.....a-miracle/