I have a theory on the recent Republican strategy to smear and destroy President Obama through the use of lies and half truths, rude and boorish behavior, much of it based on plain old fashioned racism. The GOP faithful are still pissed that Obama won. They're not only sore about this, but can't figure out why. There are certainly enough nut cases in their ranks, so all it takes is a little encouragement from the desperate leadership and you have the kind of mob mentality we've observed recently. It's a little humorous that they've tried to associate Obama with Hitler when in fact their behavior is comparable to how the Nazi Party gained control in Germany.
So, they've set out on an ugly and underhanded campaign to discredit him through any means imaginable. This starts with opposing everything he proposes and ends with mean-spirited and often racist demeaning. No president in our history has been treated as shabbily as he has. Why? A lot of Americans -- and they tend to be conservative -- just don't think a black man can run this country. And, if you had a conversation with one of them they would base it on all the old stereotypes. This is an ugly turn on US politics and one that promises to do long-term harm to the Republican party.
Why? Because the majority of Americans don't buy into it, especially younger voters between the ages of 18-30. They voted overwhelmingly for Obama and continue to support him and the Democratic party because the Democrats represent their point of view on many issues, not just Obama. These aren't the people attending Tea Parties or carrying racially suggestive signs in DC. What they are doing is rolling their eyes at all this nonsense. And, it's not influencing them as is evidenced by these recent poll results which show Obama's approval ratings have taken a startling uptick in the past week. This signals that he has a strong base of support and that his speech to Congress was a big success among open minded Americans. It also signals that Joe Wilson's "you lie" heckling and the kerfuffle over his speech to school kids only harmed the right and made them look petty and small minded. The GOP is moving in the wrong direction by embracing and encouraging the mob. Every day they do this they take another step away from today's reality and paint themselves as old, stodgy and living in the past.
What the rhetoric clearly demonstrates is that the Democrats and President Obama continue to be the part of optimism, hope and abundance while the Republicans stand for negativism, fear and scarcity.
