The media’s post-election analysis these past couple weeks has
been a gigantic, gelatinous, oozing blob of mind-bending
illogic.
We’ve been told the Republican Party must recalibrate all its
positions following an election in which very little changed. We’ve
been lectured on abortion after exit polls showed voters were
motivated by the economy. We’ve watched various big-government
“conservatives” crawl out from under rocks murmuring the usual
incantations against the Tea Party. And we’ve endured a video of
Meghan McCain
saying she “hates” Karl Rove being praised as some sort of
avant garde one-woman stage show.
As a friend of mine exclaimed a few days ago, “We lost
one election!” It was a stinging loss at a crucial time,
to be sure. But it hardly portends the extinction of
conservatism.
That being said, there’s one voice in the cacophony that’s worth
a listen. Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho)
said this on Meet the Press this past Sunday:
[W]e believe in small government, but we also believe in the
individual. There are too many Republicans here in Washington, DC,
and they are actually defending big business. They are defending
the rich. I didn’t become a Republican to defend the rich. And—
and what we need to understand is that big business loves big
government, because they get all the goodies from big government.
They get more— they get less competition. The more that government
grows, the more that big business actually benefits from the tax
code and from the regulations…
He’s right and it’s a problem for both conservatism and the
GOP’s electoral strategy.
I did a little volunteer phone calling for a Republican
senatorial campaign a couple years ago. About halfway through I got
a rare pickup (caller ID means the vast majority of these go to
voicemail) and made my case for our candidate. The woman listened
thoughtfully. “Well,” she said when I was finished. “I like the
Republicans. But the economy is so bad this year, I don’t think I
trust them.”
Regardless of reality, Republicans are reflexively associated
with Wall Street. A Gallup poll taken during election season found
75% of Americans thought Romney would be better for upper-income
Americans. Meanwhile 53% thought Obama would be better for the
middle-class and 66% saw the poor faring better under Obama.
It’s nonsense, of course. President Obama’s policies have left
the poor and middle class in economic stagnation. And as Rep.
Labrador pointed out, corporations are benefiting from less
competition and sitting on unspent capital. But public perception
is upside-down. The GOP is seen as the party of the rich.
Part of this comes from the right’s love of low taxes, which
inevitably get labeled “tax cuts for the rich.” Republicans
shouldn’t compromise on this. Raising taxes on the wealthy stymies
growth and is bad policy.
But most of the GOP’s reputation is undeserved and that’s where
the argument needs to be made. The president’s policies are
freezing the economy’s small business engine. Employment at
start-up companies is at a record low. Only 3.3% of unemployed
Americans are starting new businesses. The cost of bringing on a
new employee often exceeds the benefit. Obamacare alone is expected
to suck 80 million man hours out of the economy.
Corporations have plenty of money to comply. Small businesses
don’t.
Many commentators are demanding that the GOP transform into a
middle-class party. But right now the GOP is the
middle-class party. It just needs to take the ammunition and start
firing. Stop making tax cuts the sole reason for entrepreneurs to
vote Republican. Explain point-for-point why small businesses are
languishing. Make Obamacare and Dodd-Frank centerpiece issues
rather than peripheral ones. Cast the Democratic Party as corporate
America’s rightful home.
And nominate the right candidate. Mitt Romney magnified the
perception problem last election. Many Republicans bet that a
steady-as-she-goes veteran of the business world would win in an
era of mismanaged government. Instead, the Obama campaign
successfully painted Romney as a heartless corporate raider, helped
along by his gaffes and record of flip-flopping.
Actual policy details didn’t matter. Neither did Romney’s
overtures to small business. I like the Republicans. But the
economy is so bad this year, I don’t think I trust them. With
Romney topping the ticket, the GOP was perceived as corporate
America. Game over.
Contrast that with the political alignment in 2010. Polls showed
Americans overwhelmingly thought government policies, engineered by
Democrats,
were benefitting the wealthy and corporations. Republicans were
represented by the middle-class Tea Party. Game, set, match.
A schoolyard bully economy where big government and big business
team up and beat up the little guy isn’t conservative at all. In
2014, Republicans should recast themselves as the middle-class
party of small business. In 2016, they should nominate a real
outsider who will make the case.
