The ascendancy of the handlers, spin doctors and consultants over American politics for the past twenty years or so has made me nostalgic for Popeye.
Remember Popeye? He was the cartoon sailor who wasn’t afraid to say, “I yam what I yam and that’s all that I yam.” Fancy one of today’s presidential contenders saying something like that. The handlers would throw a bag over his head and drag him off before he got half the words out.
My one hope is that the consultants will outsmart themselves, and an article in the November issue of Harper’s gives me hope that they will. The article is, “Making Mitt Romney: How to Fabricate a Conservative” by Ken Silverstein.
Mr. Silverstein tells the nauseating story of how Romney’s campaign employed over a hundred political consultants, paying them a total of at least $11 million. The object was to recast Mr. Romney -- a Mormon, a political moderate and the former governor of one of the most liberal states in the union -- into the kind of conservative who could appeal to the GOP’s evangelical base.
The result was mush. Romney’s speeches were reduced to such bromides as, “There is no place more important to the future strength of America than the American home.”
Furthermore, his flip-flops on controversial social issues like abortion and gay rights gave the impression that the man had no core convictions at all.
But the consultants got their way, and here’s Mr. Silverstein’s conclusion: “By all accounts, Mitt Romney is smart and pragmatic – not at all as vacuous, that is, as he has been made to sound. The irony is that in attempting to market him to the Republican base, his handlers have created a thorough phony.”
And the voters have noticed.
Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee has tripled his support in Iowa since July, and is currently neck-and-neck with Romney in that key state. And Huckabee’s strongest supporters are the evangelical Protestants that Romney tied himself into knots trying to win.
Worst of all, it’s now too late for Romney to just be himself and run on the authentic qualities and experience he has that would make him an attractive candidate for president. At this point it would just look like more spin.
Popeye knew better.
Comments (1)
If it is true that we live in a pure democracy where the government is Of the People, By the People, For the People, then the people of America really are in trouble. Judging by who are in office, we the people, do not like to control our own money, education or health care. We do not care about illegal immigration and we have turned our backs on God in general. If it is truly personal voting that has brought the atrocity of abortion, legal perversion, immorality and socialism-disguised-as-democracy to our country then we, the people, are to blame.
Yet we all know it does not work like that. From as far back as "Mr. Smith goes to Washington", we know that lobbyist carry more power than voters and special interest groups can buy, hex or cajole votes from lawmakers at alarming pace. This is a democratic ruse. Then we have judges making laws from the bench and movie stars swaying politicians. The common Jack and Jill says " The Heck with it!" and withdraw from the process.
I propose that we do not act as dead wood and lame ducks. Let us make our voices known. Tell them ,and the world, that we have had enough with crooks masquerading as politicians and liars selling us horse do-do and telling us it's cookies. Let us vote for innocence, justice and the simplicity of the original intent of this United States of America!
Let's vote for Popeye for President.
"Here was a down-to-earth character who represented Americans themselves. He was a man who could be pushed and bullied, until he couldn't take it any more and would fight back against his foes. He never initiated violence, but would not step down from a fight started by someone else." http://www.vex.net/~dq711/popeye.htm
By writing in "Popeye" on your ballad in November you are saying: Enough is Enough! We want change! We want honesty! We want politicians that stand for something!
Posted by Maria | February 19, 2008 7:21 PM
Posted on February 19, 2008 19:21