Coffee Election day jitters today.
It’s incredibly difficult this morning not to be over-the-top excited for Scott Brown, especially when you see hard-core liberal ”operatives” proclaiming a Brown win.
I keep praying the outcome reflects the enthusiasm and hard work of so many–on the right, on the left, and down the middle–but I know we must overcome what Mark Steyn dubbed “the margin of Acorn, the margin of lawyer, and the margin of Franken-style recounts.”
I searched for something this morning to to quell my election day jitters, and stumbled upon this, “Panic: Why Democrats need to take a deep, deep breath. Maybe two” at The New Republic. Jonathan Chait argues that Democrats didn’t overreach or misjudge the mandate they were handed, they’ve just stumbled upon the misfortune of timing given the economic climate. This from someone who claims that over a third of the stimulus consisted of tax cuts and cites a ”consensus” of economists who think it helped the economy. I digress. Obviously, my ability to see the forest for the trees differs greatly from Mr. Chait’s.
But what shocked me most about his op-ed was the end.
The GOP’s ability to ignore establishment nostrums in the face of defeat is its great electoral strength. Democrats, by contrast, have a congenital tendency to panic. Abandoning health care reform after they’ve already paid whatever political cost that comes from voting for it in both houses would be suicide. Even if Coakley loses, the House could pass the Senate bill as is, avoiding the need to break a filibuster, and tinker with it in a reconciliation bill that can’t be filibustered. The only thing preventing the Democrats from following through would be sheer panic.
Remember the classic scene in It’s a Wonderful Life? Facing a run on his building and loan, George Bailey tries to explain to his frantic customers how to look after their self-interest. “Don’t you see what’s happening?” he pleads, “Potter isn’t selling. Potter’s buying! And why? Because we’re panicking and he’s not.” President Obama’s great challenge right now is to be his party’s George Bailey.
Obama needs to be his party’s George Bailey? Seriously? I’m not sure if I should laugh at your inability to see the world or cry because of it.
George Bailey consistently puts everyone else’s needs ahead of his own. He is pure of heart. He learns that life is sacred. If anything, Obama is Mr. Potter: willing to steal and conceal the truth for his own personal gain. (Or in Rahm’s words: “never let a crisis go to waste.”)
Have ideological boundaries shifted so severely that liberals can’t tell the good guy from the bad guy even in fiction?!
The folks at ABC repeated the White House claims of “Shakespearean” tragedy if Brown wins today in Massachusetts. What strikes me is the emphasis placed on it being a tragedy for the White House. It’s all about him.
Hey folks: the only Shakespeare that comes to mind in watching Obama is Richard III. (As an aside: the only live performance I’ve seen of Richard III was at the Globe in London. All female cast. Oddly enough, that leering woman reminds me of our dear leader. All that’s missing is the hunchback.)
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