Reflections on "Super Tuesday"
Steven L.
Reflections on Super Tuesday
During this election cycle we've been exposed to two contrapositive
perceptions: pundit-based reality and voter-based reality.
Pundit-based reality is the political simulacra created by the bloggers,
journalists, radio talk show hosts, and other confident opiners who
understand how the world should work. Voter-based reality is the messy
electoral aftermath that occurs after voters cast their ballots and show
us how the world actually works. For the past few months we've been
living in the pristine bubble of pundit-based reality only to have it
popped by the inexplicable actions of the Voter Class.
Here are some of the lessons we learned on Super Tuesday:
Pundit-based reality: Huckabee is stealing votes from Romney.
Voter-based reality: Huckabee is competing for votes with McCain.
In the latest USA Today/Gallup poll Huckabee supporters were asked for
whom they would vote if the race came down to John McCain or Mitt Romney.
The results showed that McCain wins over Romney as the second choice of
Huckabee voters by more than a 2 to 1 margin, 64% to 28%. McCain beats
Romney 42% to 24% with Huckabee in the race (Huckabee gets 18% of the
vote) and expands that margin to 53% to 30% with Huckabee voters forced
to choose between the two candidates.
A more likely scenario is that Romney's continued presence in the race
siphoned off votes and support for Huckabee.
Pundit-based reality: Romney is a full-spectrum conservative; he is
the only one that can bring together the "Reagan coalition."
Voter-based reality: Romney is a poor-man's Michael Bloomberg; he
never had a legitimate shot at the nomination.
Out of the six states that Romney won, four were caucuses (MN, ND, CO,
MT) that were largely uncontested and favored the candidate with a
strong organizational structure. The only primary states Romney was able
to win were the ones in which he has previously resided – UT and MA.
(The only other primary state that he won before Super Tuesday was
another state where he lived – MI.) In other words, Romney can win if he
can pay to organize party volunteers at a rally. What he can't seem to
do is convince people to go to the polling booth and actually cast a
ballot for him.
Without the ability to self-finance his campaign, we would now be
referring to Romney as the CINO (conservative in name only) who washed
out in Iowa. Sadly, he'll continue on despite the fact that his base of
support consists of Mormons, talk radio hosts, and people who really,
really, hate McCain.
Pundit-based reality: A McCain-Huckabee ticket would be
unacceptable to the party.
Voter-based reality: The majority of GOP voters would be fine with
a McCain-Huckabee ticket.
Can anyone explain why a ticket comprised of the two candidates that
will win/have won the most delegates, as chosen by Republican voters, is
considered an unacceptable option for… Republican voters? Are the
pundits unaware that the GOP voters that vote in the primaries are the
same GOP voters that vote in the general election?
Pundit-based reality: Rush Limbaugh's opinion carries a great deal
of weight.
Voter-based reality: Thanks, but we can think for ourselves.
Adding to his recent string of embarrassments, Rush Limbaugh made the
unforced error of endorsing Mitt Romney. If El Rushbo truly believes
that Romney "is a candidate on our side who does embody all three legs
of the conservative stool" then he needs to hang up his Golden
Microphone, for he has lost all sense of discernment. I truly don't
think Rush is dumb enough to believe that is true. So why does he think
that we voters are dumb enough to believe it just because we hear it
proclaimed on our AM radios?
What has happened to Rush? The reason he was once entertaining is
because he'd tell us "Dittoheads" what we already knew was true (e.g.,
liberal are silly). That was his shtick and he did it well. But
somewhere along the way he started taking himself too seriously. He
seems to think that he is the adjudicator of who and what is considered
to be "conservative." For him to give the impression that he is some
sort of thought leader is both mildly amusing and moderately insulting.
His primary audience is conservatives, a group that doesn’t take its
guidance on how to vote from entertainers (and yes, Rush is first and
foremost, an entertainer).
As a pundit I understand that having 12 million listeners per week is
reason to be in awe of Rush. But as a voter that doesn't impress me
much. If I need someone with a large audience to tell me how to vote
I'll turn to Wolf from American Gladiators.
Pundit-based reality: McCain will destroy the GOP.
Voter-based reality: McCain is the leading choice for a majority of
the GOP.
Listen, McCain is not my first choice. But he appears to be the
inevitable choice of our party. If he's nominated I'll vote for him for
the simple fact that his is far better than Obama or Clinton. If you
disagree, then quietly vote for the third party candidate of your
choice. But for heaven's sakes, stop whining, stop hyperventilating, and
stop all the hyperbolic, Tony-award worthy dramatics. It's unbecoming.
The animosity toward McCain is even more bizarre when you consider that
he's not that different than the other "acceptable" candidates. Fred
Thompson co-sponsored McCain-Feingold and no one accused him of tearing
up the 1st Amendment. Romney was for abortion, amnesty, and an assault
weapons ban until--what, last week?--and no one seems to hold that
against him. And Giuliani, a candidate that really would have rent the
party in two, was once touted as the only alternative to Hillary the
Inevitable.
Now, McCain is considered to be less acceptable than Hillary. I don’t
get that at all. The Coulter-Clinton-Buchanan Axis is not in the best
interest of the party, our movement, or our nation.
It's time we gain some perspective. As Daniel Patrick Moynihan once
said, "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts."
The voters have presented us with facts that we can no longer deny. It's
time for us to to face up to our situation and stop living in the
fantasy realm of a pundit-based reality.
http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/004216.html
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Steven L.
Email: sdli...@earthlinkNOSPAM.net
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