The republicans are down to about 20% to 30% of registered voters. So, there is a general assumption that President Obama, or democrats at least, are going to be in control for a while. Maybe, but it's like making sure you've gotten all of the mold out of a building. That stuff is persistent and can be deadly. We need to make sure we are firmly entrenched before we scare too many people back to the other side. We also have the blue dog Democrats. I think for the most part these people are republican plants. One guy is rabidly anti pro choice (although I realize that is not a total litmus test). There are blue dog Democrats who have virtually never voted Democratic and do always vote republican.
The majority of people we need to worry about are what I call the dumbfounded republicans. These people are fiscally conservative but socially moderate. Some of them voted Democratic in the Presidential election but many did not vote at all. These are the old style republicans. When I was growing up they were the people who drove Buicks and lived in the two story houses... like Doctors, store owners, auto Dealers, the wealthy people in town. Now they are just trying to hold on to their moderately upper class standing (financially). You may force them to vote against you next election and this is why...
So where are they and what are they doing? I happen to live in a condo with 9 wealthy older couples (children grown). It's a long story about how we ended up in this condo but suffice it to say we are the "poor kids on this block". It's all we can do to afford the house. Ten years ago one of our neighbors was the CEO of one of America's largest Fortune 500 companies. This man told me that he had voted republican all his life but he thought this time he had to vote Democratic. This has given me an unusual insight into what they are thinking.
They were impressed with President Obama but unsure of his fiscal leanings. They noticed republicans become "more religious" but how bad could that be? Palin was their slap in the face. It was like asking their debutant daughters to date a boy with rusted cars in his front yard, tattoos, smoking Camels, and driving a truck with a gun rack in the back. It just wouldn't happen. So what do they do? Call these 1/3 of the people who just didn't vote last time. The problem is they are NOT going to vote against the stock market. They saw some of their best friends literally lose everything in the market. A lot of their friends started the banks that turned into the largest in America and owned only those stocks. One family had to move to a rental in a lower income part of town and the man went to work at a McDonalds.
Now what will happen when they come back and vote again? I think President Obama could get their vote. They sure see the current crop of republicans, rush, palin, and that ilk as white trash. And boy do they know what an evangelical is... the group that ruined their net worth with the help of Bush. But the mainstream media is just pounding Geithner. And the left wing hates him. The left wing may be left totally out in the cold if they try to turn America away from basic capitalism. So, left wing complainers (I'm left wing) how will you like being ruled by the Christian right again? You may leave the voting public no choice if you keep whining about Geithner. Talk about getting nothing, you won't see the light of day again for 50 years. About 20 years ago I wrote and wrote about evangelicals being a problem in the future and you wouldn't believe how many people wrote me to say, kindly, that I need not worry.
What scares me most are the blue dogs. I don't think we'll have another evangelical president. What we could have is what we have now... a Senate that has right wing nuts, but with a bunch of blue dogs willing to vote with them. Old style republicans have taken notice and may come out to vote in droves next time.
President Obama promised to fix "don't ask don't tell" and I guarantee he will. But there is one prominent media commentator that has a gay ax to grind and she just rips up every single thing the President does. She has gone after him with unbelievable venom. She takes every work the man says and accuses him of everything from breaking his promises to being another Bush. This is a typical problem for the President. If he doesn't do everything he said, right now, no excuses, then the left just rips him apart.
So where will we be in a few years? If the radical left doesn't accept bringing back some of American capitalism the left may again be out in the cold and if so, they won't be back for a long time. Don't ask don't tell will look like kindness if the republicans get back.
But you are leaving these old republicans no choice. They don't like the evangelicals but what are they supposed to do... vote for poverty for themselves?
The only chance you have if you are going to ruin Geithner, and it is indecent not to give him a chance, is if all the blue dogs are voted out and I'm not seeing that. I read an article by a man who said he ran into Rove and Rove didn't look worried or like a loser at all. he looked like a man with a plan. What makes you think Max Baucus, Ben Nelson and Evan Bayh aren't republicans who ran as Democrats because they couldn't beat a strong incumbent in their state?
But the stunning thing for me is that other than Keith Olbermann, Daily Kos and a few others, people are being so hard on Geithner and to some degree the President. Right now his approval ratings are strong but you just keep chipping away and who knows. You spent eight years in hell with Bush and there wasn't 10% of the complaining that there is about Geithner. We desperately need healthcare reform and you can't even come together long enough to demand and make sure we get it? Gitmo is a mess and you can't give President Obama time to figure out the worlds toughest problem.
You don't like what's being done right now? There are 100 million of you who want your way right now or you'll find a way to rip the President and the administration up? And don't forget the Supreme Court. Wanna rip him apart there too? You better come together as a untied front. It is the only way to get 90% of what you want. If you don't, remember, there are only two parties. You need to decide who you really want in power.
After publishing this I got a lot of comments about Bill Clinton and the Democrats in 1994. I don't get the connection. The point of what I was writing is GIVE GEITHNER A CHANCE and EVEN MORE give President Obama a chance. The people who are supporting him don't need to be more upset than the Republicans (bit bull Cheney) are already making them. I'm saying that many people didn't vote last time that usually are some of the surest voters. They want someone who is not a right wing nut but they will swallow that if the only other choice is to kill the stock market. That is where there life is. I don't mean the super wealthy, I mean the average upper middle class in America.