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The Obama Watch
A Cure for Obama Disillusionment Syndrome
The secret ballot allows progressives to vote for Romney and claim they didn’t.
I cast my first presidential ballot in 1972. Being a mere lad of 18, I was pretty clueless and thus voted for George McGovern. Having long since become a knuckle-dragger in good standing, I guess I shouldn’t admit that. But, as I say, I was just a kid. And McGovern, despite his penchant for being wrong on every issue, was at least an honorable man — a thing that cannot be said about the people who now run the Democrat party. Moreover, that vote did no real harm. Our type of representative government has a strong immune system that protects it from the most virulent outbreaks of naïveté. And even when it does contract a new strain of stupidity, the system responds well to treatment administered via the secret ballot.
Which brings us to next week’s election. In 2008, millions of voters developed a malady that Andrew Klavan has diagnosed as “electile dysfunction.” They voted for Barack Obama because their capacity for critical thinking had been rendered flaccid by content-free mottos like “hope and change” and meaningless slogans like “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” During the ensuing four years, however, many have recovered. In addition to the millions of independents who now realize that they made a grievous error in casting their ballots for Obama, more than a few progressives are also in remission. A typical example is Matt Stoller, who just published a piece for Salon titled, “The Progressive Case Against Obama.”
Stoller, whose progressive credentials include a stint as a senior policy advisor to Rep. Alan “Republicans want you to die quickly” Grayson, believes that “The president is complicit in creating an increasingly unequal — and unjust — society.” Most conservatives would agree with that general conclusion, of course, but for different reasons than Stoller cites. While conservatives object to the very notion that self-appointed elites have a right to orchestrate our daily lives from Washington, Stoller has no real problem with that kind of statism. His primary complaint is that Obama’s brand of “trickle down government,” as Mitt Romney has taken to calling it, hasn’t served the cause of social justice.
By way of proof, Stoller offers what most progressives would consider the ultimate indictment: income inequality has been worse during Obama’s term than under the hated George W. Bush: “Under Bush, economic inequality was bad, as 65 cents of every dollar of income growth went to the top 1 percent. Under Obama, however, that number is 93 cents out of every dollar.” And Stoller goes on to say that this is no accident. “[M]ost of this shift happened in 2009-2010, when Democrats controlled Congress. This was not, in other words, the doing of the mean Republican Congress.… This is the shape of the system Obama has designed. It is intentional…” From the progressive point of view, this is indeed an unkind cut.
And this kind of disillusionment is by no means limited to the occasional opinion writer. During the past week, a variety of newspaper editorial boards have demonstrated that they share Stoller’s disappointment by endorsing Romney this year. In fact, as the Washington Monthly reports, “seven of the top 100 newspapers have flipped from Obama in 2008 to Romney this year.” And three of them, the Florida Sun-Sentinel, the Orlando Sentinel and the Des Moines Register, are located in swing states. It’s difficult to know how much such switches influence voters, but the quick and snarky reaction from the Obama administration to the loss of the Iowa newspaper’s endorsement suggests that they think it matters.
White House propaganda merchant Stephanie Cutter snarled, “It was a little surprising to read that editorial, because it didn’t seem to be based at all in reality — not just in the president’s record, but in Mitt Romney’s record.… It says that he’d reach across the aisle, which he’d do the exact opposite. It’s the exact opposite of what he did in Massachusetts.” This is a curious statement, considering that Romney was a Republican governor in a state so dominated by Democrats that he would not have been able to get a cup of coffee without reaching across the aisle. Indeed, it was his frequent willingness to compromise with Democrats that caused many conservatives to regard him with suspicion during the GOP primaries.
It isn’t hard, however, to see why Cutter reacted with such vehemence to the Register’s endorsement of Romney. It was also an indictment of Obama: “The nation has struggled to recover from recession for the past 40 months. Still, the economy is growing at an unacceptably anemic rate.… The president’s best efforts to resuscitate the stumbling economy have fallen short. Nothing indicates it would change with a second term in the White House.” This has been said many times by conservatives, of course, but it is much more devastating coming from a high profile publication that once endorsed Obama. Combined with columns like Stoller’s, it suggests that progressive disillusionment with Obama is pervasive.
This disillusionment is, for many progressives, probably accompanied by a certain amount of embarrassment. When they recall how they mindlessly chanted “Yes we can!” like so many preschoolers, they probably feel as if they were in the grip of some fever. And they were. Now, for those who have recovered sufficiently to think for themselves, there is a way to complete the cure. Anyone who voted for Obama in 2008 can change their vote, just as the editors of the Des Moines Register changed their endorsement. But it’s easier for the voter. Thanks to the secret ballot, no one has to know. All one has to do is hit the “Romney” button and, if accosted by an exit pollster in front of your neighbors, lie like Obama did in 2008.
About the Author
David Catron is a health care revenue cycle expert who has spent more than twenty years working for and consulting with hospitals and medical practices. He has an MBA from the University of Georgia and blogs at Health Care BS.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (39) | Leave a comment
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Von Mises Jr| 10.29.12 @ 7:19AM
Hayek in "Law, Legislation and Liberty - The Mirage of Social Justice" explains that “social justice” is vapid and vacuous in its meaning. But to Progressives, it is code for redistributive justice.
Today's Progressives are naive Utopian fools, but they are not all hard core Alinsky radicals. Some actually believe the "can't we all just get along," Brave New World bull$hit.
So while conservatives are outraged at the totalitarian tyranny of the new Liberals whom are the old Communist, the Progressives are scratching their head and wondering WTF happened at Solyndra, Ener1, A123 Systems, Solar Trust.....
While they are still not the brightest bulbs or sharpest knife in the drawer, they have been scorned. There is nothing like a "War from Women" whom has been scorned. Most liberal men like Perp and Twitvin are girly men and I am sure they feel the same deep down in their twisted, dark hearts. They were probably at OWS protesting the failure of their Utopia they thought could be real.
TLP| 10.29.12 @ 10:42AM
When I read your stuff, VMjr, I'm reminded of the Twilight Zone Episode where the guy emerges from the Building Basement to find that the World had Blown itself Up in a Nuclear Exchange, and he was now, the last man on Earth.
Only, in this Version, that man is you, and you never broke.
TLP| 10.29.12 @ 10:45AM
GODDAMN IT!
Only, in this version, that guy is You, and your GLASSES never broke.
Can we PLEASE get an Edit App on this Cheapass Site that breaks down every week?
Alej| 10.29.12 @ 11:25AM
Hit the "preview" button. I've finally been trained to do that, cuz I type so fast.
TLP| 10.29.12 @ 4:47PM
I do hit the Preview Button.
But I get so excited, cause I can't wait to see MY COMMENT, after having to muddle through all of the Crappy Ones that you guys rite.
TLP| 10.29.12 @ 4:47PM
See?
I did it, again.
Von Mises Jr| 10.29.12 @ 11:29AM
I'm thinking Vonnegut's "Cats Cradle." I convince Mona not to commit suicide by eating Ice-9 and we live happily ever after. Boku Maru.
Joellen| 10.29.12 @ 11:36AM
Tim, you do mean Gosh dog it, right; and has the contest started already? Loves me the Twilight Zone.
TLP| 10.29.12 @ 4:43PM
Oh, you.
Occam's Tool| 10.29.12 @ 2:41PM
My first vote was for Reagan. I voted for a third party candidate in 2000, but I was in Kentucky, which I knew was going to go for Bush. Otherwise, I have always voted Republican in every Presidential election. Reagan twice, Bush Sr. twice, Dole in 2000, W in 2004, McCain in 2008, and I will vote for Romney in 2012. I always vote for the elephant, and I always vote.
KennesawJack| 10.29.12 @ 7:20PM
My first vote was for Nixon in '68 right after I got back from Nam. Ironically, Mr. Catron, the only election I've ever missed in my life was '72. I had to work late that day and my wife called to remind me the polls closed at 7. I remember telling her that, in this election,if one vote was going to cause Nixon to lose, the country was beyond redemption anyway , so what was the point. Obviously, I was correct and Nixon won in a landslide. If I recall, McGovern didn't carry his home state of South Dakota (I may be wrong on that - old man's memory, you know). Since then, I've never missed any election and have never voted for a Marxist, I mean Communist, er I mean Socialist, er I mean Democrat. Yeah, That's it, a Democrat. You'll have to bear with me, sometimes it's difficult for me to tell the difference among the four. There is a difference, isn't there?
CJW| 10.29.12 @ 10:22PM
KJack
You are correct. McGovern carried only Massachussets. Difficult to figure him, he was a fighter pilot, about missions in WWII, yet in his campaign he said he would get on his knees and beg HoChiMinh to end the war and release the POWs. At least George was honest, Obama has bowed to every dictator he met, went on an apology tour, and did nothing while four Americans got killed.
After 72 the choices were Carter, Mondale, Dukakis,Clinton, Algore, Kerry, and Obama. What a crew.
CJW| 10.29.12 @ 10:23PM
"about 30 missions"
John II| 10.30.12 @ 12:29AM
Actually, McGovern was a bomber pilot. He flew the B-24 Liberator in Europe. One of my uncles was also in the Army Air Force in World War II and, as well, a bomber pilot--although he flew the more reliable B-17 Flying Fortress in the Pacific.
What's strange is that, by 1972, my uncle was a liberal-left Democrat and doubtless voted for McGovern. Like the latter, he died this year at the age of 90.
I'd be tempted to think that bomber pilots lean to the left in their politics while fighter pilots (Barry Goldwater, John McCain, both Bushes) lean to the right, but Jimmy Stewart was also a bomber pilot in WWII. Maybe the exception that proves the rule?
Just sayin'.
Appleby| 10.29.12 @ 7:21AM
My first two votes were for Nixon. It was not that I was enamoured by Nixon; it was that Gene McCarthy and George McGovern were such losers. At my Bible College, hippies were "coming clean for Gene" and without the face fuzz they proved to have weak chins. Lots of my colleagues were hiding from the draft by taking a course leading to the Presbyterian Ministry; and lots of the stuff we were being taught was a good argument against what the congregations believed. Most of them grew up to be something else, and I daresay many of them ended up voting for Reagan.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 10.29.12 @ 3:00PM
Gene McCarthy was in the Democrat primary, but Hubert Humphrey was the 1968 Democratic Party nominee, who ran against Nixon, with George Wallace on the American Party line.
CJW| 10.29.12 @ 6:39PM
I saw Gene McCarthy speak in college, very impressive. He deserves credit for forcing LBJ to withdraw from the race in 1968 after McCarthy got 42% of the vote in New Hampshire.
Dodd2| 10.29.12 @ 8:02AM
They voted for Obama in '08 to prove they weren't racist, and they'll vote for Romney in '12 to prove they're not stupid. Simple as that.
Pecos Pete| 10.29.12 @ 8:13AM
Dodd: I hope you are correct. But, their ObamaPhone is important, don't ya know?
Indy| 10.29.12 @ 8:15AM
Free on hulu through the election, the documentary Hope and Change. It is about former O supporters in 2008 now voting for R&R, please share the link with others.
http://www.hulu.com/#!watch/409925
Frank Drackman| 10.29.12 @ 8:58AM
Wow, what a coincidence, I also cast my first Presidential vote in 1972.
Of course I was 10, so it was only in my 5th grade class "election".
and since it was one of the finest Intergrated schools in Atlanta"the City too busy to hate*"(i.e. 95% Afro-American) I was the only kid to vote for Richard Milhouse. Oh yeah, and in 1972, Atlanta wasn't nearly as busy as it is now, Nome Sane?
Hey, my older brother had it worse, he voted for George Wallace in 68'....
Frank
*"We would hate you, if we weren't so damn busy"
birmingham| 10.29.12 @ 9:38AM
It was chilling to watch well-educated friends of mine fall over themselves to prove that they weren't racist by voting for Obama. I knew reason was not going to prevail when Repubs picked McCain. McCain, really???
PolishKnight| 10.29.12 @ 10:06AM
Exactly. I disliked McCain so much I was going to write in my cat's name but my wife cried for me to vote for him (McCain, not the cat.)
My European and suburbian friends vote Democrat and Obama in particular because of his apology Europe 2009 tour. Also, the Democrats claim to be all in favor of making the USA into Europe with "free" healthcare, cheap rail, and "green" energy. Many of them simply don't understand that "free" healthcare won't work here (we have medicaid/medicare and that is not saving money on healthcare), Amtrak is mismanaged, and green energy doesn't work as plain as that. But they don't explore those issues. Also, Bushes went into Iraq, twice, and now we have a real mess in the long term because of it and I can't blame them. I'm happy for the Kuwait people but because of us going there, now we have to take off our shoes and belts at the airport and the "terrorists won" in a way.
What's most damning about Obama is the fundamental problem with the Soviet system that the left has imitated: they don't help the middle and working class and instead build GUM stores for their elites and send different ethnic groups into concentration camps because that's the simplest, dictatorial way to stay in power which is ALL they care about.
Joellen| 10.29.12 @ 11:41AM
Aah Amtrack, where you can get a disgusting burger for $9.50 but it cost the taxpayer $16.15. Now if Perp, Trish, and all the liberal/communist can explain that math to me - well I guess I just might be in a state of shock. Not going to happen though.
PolishKnight| 10.29.12 @ 2:42PM
I find the math strange as well but I also saw a similar thing in former communist nations: primitive hotel rooms at $120 a pop and only about a 10% occupancy. The locals didn't bother getting ripped off and half of the occupied rooms were comped for party members and bureaucrats. With most of the rooms going empty, they were an economic drag.
So who knows? Maybe only 10 people on a whole train ride pay for the overpriced burger and they still have to pay the guy to cook the burgers and stock the pantry, etc.
TLP| 10.29.12 @ 4:51PM
You should have just renamed the Cat - McCain.
gray man| 10.29.12 @ 11:09PM
"free" healthcare, cheap rail, and "green" energy - none of them work anywhere including europe.
Johnimo| 10.29.12 @ 11:10PM
Not only will "free healthcare" not work here, it doesn't work in Europe either. The over-extension of the Nanny State is the reason they're in an economic malaise. In Greece, Hellenic Rail System's debt service is twice the amount of its total revenue. The total payroll is four times greater than ticket sales. There's no desire for structural reform because they look on the rail system as a jobs program.
c. j. acworth| 10.29.12 @ 10:06AM
"The secret ballot alllows progressives to vote for Romney and say they didn't" , says the subtitle to Mr. Catrons' article. After every poll I see reported on I shake my head and say to myself, "How can this election be so close, given the obvious failure and outright lawlessness of Obama?". Well, maybe it isn't so close after all.
PolishKnight| 10.29.12 @ 10:17AM
The answer to that question is obvious, sadly. Democrats from the beginning bought votes via welfare and race entitlements (first by supporting Jim Crow and then reversing it.) Between these two things, they get about 40% of the vote outright.
Kwan| 10.29.12 @ 10:44AM
Marxism in America. How is Obama following in the steps of other Marxist Dictators.
http://www.morningstartv.com/o.....sm-america
Ian Cognito | 10.29.12 @ 12:38PM
WE all do stupid things. I voted for Carter. After Nixon, what could a hick Gov from Georgia do? He be president and do little damage. You're right about the secret ballot and increasingly I know Romney wins this big. +8 - at least.
Pecos Pete| 10.29.12 @ 2:36PM
Ian: Me too, I voted for Ross Perot and that got us Bill (the meaning of Is, Is ... well Is) Clinton.
TLP| 10.29.12 @ 4:48PM
"I voted for Ross Perot."
Is anyone surprised?.
KennesawJack| 10.29.12 @ 9:06PM
Pete, are you still doing penance?
Albert Constantine Jr.| 10.29.12 @ 3:10PM
I cast my first vote in a Presidential election for Reagan in 1980, and wound up celebrating his election with a tiny cluster of College Republicans and ROTC members on campus later that night. In the days that followed, I heard so many members of the non-violence advocating left suddenly discussing assassination, it was an introduction to the notion of how they respond where their power is threatened.
gene| 10.29.12 @ 4:47PM
I live in Northern Illinois near North Chicago and Waukegan. My job takes me out into the community. All the lawn signs? Plenty for all of the local elections, County Judge, Court Clerk, etc. and so on. You see HUNDREDS of them before you see one Obama/Biden sign or a Romny/Ryan. The former Obama people are too embarassed to put out their signs, and the ones for Romney do not want their properties vadalized. On the Polls? People are going to tell you what they think YOU want to hear. They are not going to say Obama if they fear embarassment or Romney if they fear retaliation. But when that Election curtain closes? Obama is going down like the Titanic. His own state is afraid of supporting him.
Don't believe it?
Take a drive through the residences of Waukegan and the surrounding area. The signs and the LACK of them speak VOLUMES!
Anthony| 10.29.12 @ 5:46PM
Correct gene, which is why the unions oppose the use of secret ballots when companies have their employees vote to unionize or not. What we can't get by a fair vote, we''ll steal by intimidation!!
The secret ballot is an anathama to leftism's goals. Look for an Obozo 2nd term to do away with the secret ballot. Or elections in general.
PolishKnight| 10.29.12 @ 8:44PM
In some ways, Anthony, I look forward to the left eliminating the pretense of voting. When that happens, they will have ZERO incentive to buy votes via welfare and race and gender entitlements. Every person consuming state resources will be one gram less of caviar for the GUM store. In addition, they will have no need for a sock puppet like Obama. Look at what happened to Beria. Someone such as Hillary wouldn't be made secretary of state. She'd probably be manager for some state run grocery store.
I invite you to go some of the countries of the former USSR and observe the remnants of the former glorious republic because as miserable as it was, it's better than what our leftist masters are capable of.