Wednesday, July 20, 2011

President Romney

NYTimes' Nate Silver has two recent analysis that should give the Obama White House pause as it dismantles the New Deal legacy by slashing funding for the poor and elderly in ongoing debt ceiling negotiations with congressional Republicans. 


As Silver points out, the "deal" Obama has proposed to the GOP is significantly to the right of the average Republican voter. This remarkable fact is likely owed to the Obamaites obsession with moderate and independent voters and the 2012 election. Put aside the remarkable fact that a Democratic President has signed off on fiscal plan that is more austere to social programs than even average Republican voters want as a betrayal of the Democratic party.

But Obama's focus on out Reaganing Ronald Reagan could put his re-election in jeopardy...the exact opposite of the intended outcome.

For now comes Nate Silver's newest analysis that indicates Obama would be in a toss up election if the GOP nominee were Mitt Romney. Romney, of course, is the former moderate governor of Massachusetts who realized health care coverage for all the citizens in his state but who has now taken a hard right turn to appeal to the hard core conservative base that makes up the bulk of GOP primary voters.

Surely if Romney were to win the nomination, he would begin walking back to his moderate positions not only to appeal to centrist voters but also because that is where his true positions lie. 

If Obama continues on his bizarre right wing deficit cutting mission, it is entirely possible that Mitt Romney could be considered the more liberal candidate in the general election. Thus, the cynical assumption by Obama campaign operatives that liberals and progressives will have to support Obama because there is no alternative would not be accurate. Liberals and progressives may come to the realization that a President Romney will be more favorable, or at least more receptive, to their concerns than the Democratic incumbent. Strange times indeed.

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