Moorestown Democrats

On August 4, President Obama's birthday, a CNN/Opinion Research poll is released that finds 41% of Republicans believing definitely or probably that President Obama was not born in the U.S.  A link :http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/40644.html.

Which leads to two obvious questions:  1.  Is the Republican party doomed to obsolescence, and 2.  Is there really a legitimate validity to their relentless criticism of President Obama?  Perhaps a third question:  what happened to the respected party of Eisenhower, Ford, Christine Whitman, Richard Lugar, even Jim Saxton?  Where did it go?

Never mind that there is the irrefutable evidence of yellowed newspapers in archives showing the birth announcement of Barack Obama in Hawaii on August 4, 1961.  Never mind that his birth certificate has actually gone through the process of being authenticated.  How can an electorate, of which a whopping 41% believe that President Obama was born elsewhere, have any credibility?  How can they be taken seriously?

What really affects the legitimate, respectable, but rapidly shrinking rationale wing of the Republican party is their diminished ability to actually have legitimate criticism of the President.  When does crazy end and legitimate discussion begin?

In an never ending struggle to push the center to the far right, more and more crazy ideas and proposals keep coming out of Republican candidates nationwide.  Many of them are just catering to the narrow slice of tea party craziness, seeking an edge in a contested primary.  The tactics are increasingly crazy and irrational statements, such as the candidate from Tennessee advocating secession from the Union.  Birthers galore, trying to outdo each other.  Fox News is obsessed with two minor "black panther" characters from election day 2008, somehow thinking it's a national issue and also relevant today.    The net result is that what seemed crazy a few years ago, is now more "accepted", more "mainstream". But only because crazy keeps pioneering new frontiers, continually stretching the borders.  There are a lot of historical parallels.  Not all of them turned out well.  Look for examples in the next few days.

It's not the Democrats, nor the Republicans, nor the Tea Partiers, nor the Independents who lose when lunacy becomes a significant part of the political vernacular.  No, it's the American public.  I hear a lot of comments saying "that I'm concerned about the direction of this country."   Count me in too, but for different reasons.

Eminent Domain?  I thought I'd never hear those words from this current Moorestown Township Council.  After all the drama in past years about property rights when the historical preservation ordinance was debated, I would not have expected a Council led by Dan Roccato to advocate eminent domain. Eminent domain has become a conservative cause in past years after the 2005 SCOTUS decision on Kelo v City of New London, although fairly enough, there are various conservative responses to the concept of eminent domain. 

Actually I did not hear the words "eminent domain".  I heard words like " condemnation" and phrases that described assuming ownership by other means, although everyone in the audience understood what was being talked about, at the July 14 Council meeting.  Eminent domain is certainly a frightful topic, particularly in a community like Moorestown, where respect for individual property rights is high.  It appears that our Council does feel comfortable in deciding which unsightly properties are acceptable for eminent domain (no matter what it is called), and which ones to simply ignore. 

Recently the Philadelphia Inquirer published an editorial about the increasing lack of bipartisan effort in Washington.  The editorial observes the obvious: "The two parties rarely agree on minor matters".  With national and international affairs at crisis stage, the two political parties, and their followers tend to focus on scoring political points, rather than colllaboratively solve significant problems.  As a result, we are stalled on much needed domestic issues such as financial reform and jobs creation.  The Inquirer continues to state "The crisis has grown worse partly because the more partisan voters in both parties have been voting out lawmakers whom they view as too cooperative with the opposition".  No question there.  The GOP is being challenged from the hard right, with various groups that could be loosely labeled as tea-partiers, but even these groups are somewhat fragmented and find difficulty in reaching agreement.  The progressive wing of the Democratic Party presses for more ideological purity as well, with recent challenges to Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas, and a few years ago, Joe Leiberman in Connecticut.  In Pennsylvania this spring, Democratic voters rejected their establishment party candidate Arlen Spector because he was not sufficiently "Democrat".

Probably more dramatic, and with possibly enduring consequences, are the intra-party challenges by the various tea party factions.  They find Republican incumbents, such as Senator Bob Bennett in Utah, who they deem as lacking ideological purity, and they muster enough of an effort to oust them, sometimes through conventional primary elections, sometimes through more arcane methods, such as party nominating conventions.  As a result, candidates, particularly Republican candidates, from conservative states are evolving to extreme conservativeness, with no apologies or consternation from those factions supporting these extreme candidates.  Today's best example is Sharron Angle as the Republican nominee for the US Senate in Nevada.  Prior to Angle's primary win, Harry Reid had an exceptionally difficult re-election effort in 2010.  Angle may be "ideologically pure" at least as defined by some tea-partiers, but has views that probably reflect less than 10% of the voters in the United States.  Perhaps only 15 or 20% in Nevada, at best. 

But where does this lead us to?  There are two consequences for these intra-party challenges, whether Democratic or Republican:  either lose in the general election, in many cases losing an opportunity for a party turnover, such as in Nevada, or be elected, and widening the divide even further.  Voters may be demanding a change in our legislative bodies, but by the tactics that many are asking for, the result may be a U.S. Congress evolving to further gridlock and unwillingness to compromise for any initiative.  As a result, the great middle of our electorate may end up being further and further frustrated with the lack of effectiveness and results of our Senate and House of Representatives. 

My prediction right now?  That the far, hard right factions loosely characterized as tea-partiers will win a few small victories, leaving them intoxicated with power, but with no real results.  A few conservative states will have even more conservative representatives to the House and Senate, but with no more ability to find solutions.  The only likely result is greater intransigence and unwillingness to work together, compromise and find solutions.  Along with a few victories, there will be lost opportunities.  For the Republican party eager for a symbolic victory by defeating Harry Reid in a mid-term election, they are likely to be sorely disappointed, and feeling a bit of buyer's regret with their dealings with the tea-party factions. 

I recognize that it is a minority of people, but a minority that is getting very skilled at creating noise and attention to their extreme views. 

Get over it.  Barack Obama was elected President.  Of the United States. And by a sizable majority.  That's how democracy works. 

So when the President of the United States wants to highlight the importance of education, hard work, and self-reliance to the nation, through a speech to the nation's school children, this is something that we should support.  Whether that President is Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton, George W Bush, or Barack Obama.

Are these extremists about limiting discussion and avoiding viewspoints different than theirs?  Perhaps their bigger worry is that their children will actually like, or at least admire the current President of the United States? 

Barack Obama is the President of these extremists.  He is the President of all citizens and residents of the United States.  Support the Office of the President of the United States, whether you agree with him or not.   It was hard for me to support George W. Bush, but I did, when he was in the role of the President of the United States.