I took to Blue Virginia earlier today, and read something that I think very succinctly sums up what the real narrative driving the election season this year is.
Here, Blue VA links to today's column by Eugene Robinson at WaPo, which is here.
His relatively simple analysis should be the Conventional Wisdom(TM) but of course, it isn't. Why? Because it doesn't benefit a corporation somewhere.
According to polls, Americans are in a mood to hold their breath until they turn blue. Voters appear to be so fed up with the Democrats that they're ready to toss them out in favor of the Republicans -- for whom, according to those same polls, the nation has even greater contempt. This isn't an "electoral wave," it's a temper tantrum.
My emphasis.
The Republican Party right now has absolutely abysmal approval ratings. Robinson cites a recent NBC News/WSJ poll showing Democrats at only 33% approval, but Republicans at only 24%.
...I don't even remember Dubya's approval rating tanking quite that low. It is striking to note that while "only" about a third of respondents think the Democrats are doing good, "only" a quarter of respondents think the GOPers are doing good.
In our beloved Veep's words: That's a big fucking deal.
In the punditry business, it's considered bad form to question the essential wisdom of the American people.
Because Americans are always all-knowing and wise and full of freedom and democracy and liberty and apple pie, right? GO TEAM USA!
...But at this point, it's impossible to ignore the obvious: The American people are acting like a bunch of spoiled brats.
Holy blasphemy Batman!
Yes, Eugene Robinson just likened the American electorate as a whole to a bunch of spoiled brats. And you know what? I not only think he is right, but I think he's dead on as he continues onward:
This is not, I repeat not, a partisan argument. My own political leanings are well-known, but the refusal of Americans to look seriously at the nation's situation -- and its prospects -- is an equal-opportunity scourge. Republicans got the back of the electorate's hand in 2006 and 2008; Democrats will feel the sting this November. By 2012, it will probably be the GOP's turn to get slapped around again.
This analysis in and of itself is probably going to be either missed or dismissed by a lot of Very Serious People, but that Robinson thinks that it will only take one electoral cycle for people to go from being mad at Democrats to back to being mad at Republicans is pretty astounding.
The way the Republicans and Teabaggers are acting, this is a new revolution. Revolutions don't fade after only two years, right?
Yes we all know that "traditionally" the incumbent President's party loses seats in the first mid-terms. I think on Rachel's show the other night it's only not happened like twice in like 60 years or something, if I remember correctly.
But the conventional wisdom (C) being put out by not just the Fox Noisers but by everyday people is that this is the beginning of the end of the dreaded cancer known as "liberalism". Hate to break it to them, but Gene is giving out a bold, fresh piece of reality to anyone who will put down their Gadsden Flag long enough to listen:
The nation demands the impossible: quick, painless solutions to long-term, structural problems. While they're running for office, politicians of both parties encourage this kind of magical thinking. When they get into office, they're forced to try to explain that things aren't quite so simple -- that restructuring our economy, renewing the nation's increasingly rickety infrastructure, reforming an unsustainable system of entitlements, redefining America's position in the world and all the other massive challenges that face the country are going to require years of effort. But the American people don't want to hear any of this. They want somebody to make it all better. Now.
This is how Robinson's column transcends partisanship because to be perfectly honest, this position can be accurately attributed to not just the foam-at-the-mouth hyperconservative whack jobs, but yes, also to those on the left as well.
Candidate Obama promised us freedom and liberty and rainbows and social welfare and no more war and everything liberals could ask for.
President Obama has not yet delivered all of those things. The man is trying, I get that. This is not a "Bash Obama!" diary.
But the fact of the matter is, there were some people who very quickly jumped on the "OBAMA SUCKS THE BIG ONE!" bandwagon. These people have been roundly made fun of here (see: "Firebaggers") and also regularly by John Cole at Balloon-Juice (tags include: "OBAMA IS WORSE THAN BUSH HE SOLD US OUT!!" and "Manic Progressive" and whatnot).
I routinely said that anyone who actually voted for Obama thinking he could wave a magic wand to give us all the "Change" we yearned for was deluded. Spoiled Brat? I think Gene is on to something here.
Call it Veruca Salt Syndrome. "I want it all, and I want it NOW".
Yes, that has described some on the left at some times. Not everyone, and certainly not everyone here. But Robinson is right to call out not just the rabid right for this sort of behavior, but to also point out that some of us got whipped up too:
President Obama can point to any number of occasions on which he has told Americans that getting our nation back on track is a long-range project. But his campaign stump speech ended with the exhortation, "Let's go change the world" -- not, "Let's go change the world slowly and incrementally, waiting years before we see the fruits of our labor."
The latter would not have made a very good campaign slogan. "Change we can believe in"? Great.
"Change that comes slowly through a lot of sausage making and will look ugly at times and we'll have to come back and fix it later and I promise I'm still committed to this but those damn Republicans suck"
Not so much.
I actually wish his column was a little longer and fleshed out more of the child-like simpering behavior of the right;
Claims of wanting "their" country "back", as if it was just a favorite toy that was taken away by the proverbial red-headed stepchild. Not a great country with a lot differing opinions and ideologies, but something that they and only they can stake a claim to because "they" like it "better".
Namecalling, everything from "Socialist" to "Nazi" to "Antichrist". Isn't that the kind of petulant bullshit that gets engaged in by playground adversaries in grade school?
Repeated, sometimes vague, threats of violence if they don't get their way.
Think about that for a second. If they don't get their way, they may very well resort to violence. Shooting, kicking, stamping, whatever. It's all the same.
Just as a child who does not get their way throws a temper tantrum when they don't get their way, so does our modern right wing political spectrum.
2010 is not a "wave", or a "revolution", or even just "the traditional losses of the incumbent president".
It's a full fledged temper tantrum. I think someone needs a "time out".