A political moderate…
…gives his reasons for switching his vote to Romney, based on Wednesday’s debate.
It’s caused dissension in his marriage, by the way, because his wife “considers me a traitor to the very essence of America, providing a helping hand to those in genuine need.” The writer, whose name is Buzz Bissinger, shows no comprehension whatsoever of the arguments the right mounts to explain how it is that the conservative approach will actually help those “in genuine need” more than the liberal one, and how it judges that the “help” liberals offer is self-serving and illusory.
But every vote counts, and we’ll take it.
Ah yes, now that Romney has ‘moved to the center’ and shown convincingly that he is a ‘moderate NE Republican’ like Scott Brown, now he is acceptable to the liberal establishment. Puke.
Bissinger is most famous for “Friday Night Lights,” the book about high school football in Texas. Before that, he wrote a book called “A Prayer for the City,” about Ed Rendell’s years as mayor of Philadelphia. It was in general an admiring book, but by no means over-the-top. It was realistic in depicting the difficulties Rendell had with the public sector unions. I always took him for an old-style Tip O’Neill Democrat–but I guess those people don’t really exist anymore– and I’m kind of intrigued that he’s come out for Romney.
Two problems. One, already identified, is that this depends on the moderate version of Romney, which neo has persuaded me is not the true Romney. But that‘s the one everybody on our side tried to avoid during primary season. By gaining a moderate voter, he likely lost a TEA voter somewhere else.
Second problem is that this is one more red vote in a solid blue State. In Electoral College terms, this switch is irrelevant.
his wife “considers me a traitor to the very essence of America, providing a helping hand to those in genuine need.”
So liberals/leftists do recognize the concept of treason.
Interesting. Learn something every day.
Buzz B. said:
“By instinct I still cling to my Democrat roots. But I admit that as I get older, on the cusp of 58, I am moving more to the center or even tweaking right, or at least not tied to any ideology.”
Reminds me of what Churchill said. “If you aren’t a liberal when you are young, you have no heart. If you aren’t a conservative when you are old, you have no brain.”
My sister who has been somewhat liberal now owns a small manufacturing business in Louisville, KY. She took control of it when her husband died and when it was about to go belly up under his ownership. She’s turned it around and it’s doing quite well now. And she recently told me that as she gets older, she’s getting more conservative, politically.
And yeah…she built it.
foxmarks: one of the odd things about Romney’s debate performance (and I think I noted this in one of my pieces about it, but I’m not sure where) is that although he definitely was trying harder to appeal to moderates during it, he also seems to have shored up his conservative base at the same time. An interesting phenomenon, if correct—and most of the reaction I’ve seen so far indicates it is correct.
As for the “real” Romney, I think he is indeed a conservative. But in Massachusetts he certainly had a track record of compromise in order to achieve what he thought were the most conservative results possible under those conditions.
So how much he will compromise conservative principles if he is elected president depends, IMHO, on the composition of the legislature. If the legislature is Republican he will be free to try to push a more conservative agenda. If Democrats dominate, I’m not sure what he’ll do, but there’s certainly a possibility there will be some compromise (I believe Reagan did some of that both at the state and federal level).
Good friends of mine from grad school, very liberal (strong supporters of Jesse Jackson’s candidacy for President back in the day – seriously) recently rather sheepishly admitted that “they moved to your [i.e., my] side of the aisle.”
Took ’em a while, but as good scientists they eventually took cognizance of the data: leftist policies do not work. It’s just that simple.
It’s the conservative base that is not having “issues” with Romney. It’s been the moderates that have needed to grow a set.
…at this point, I doubt there’s much that Mitt could do that would cause me to pause.
And though I cannot imagine what the worse that Romney could say that might curb what has become genuine support, appreciation & enthusiasm, that “worse” would only move me to the previous ABO voter status.
Obama I know I want removed from office …as the second of the two truly incompetent and disastrous presidents of my life.
I cannot imagine that Romney “at his worst” is ever going to occupy that ultimate pit of disrepute.
Unfortunately, on politics I tend to be a pessimist. I keep thinking, can Obama really win again? Could he possibly be re-elected after such a miserable showing? He shouldn’t but he just might.
Then I remember the hype and hoopla around the guy four years ago. The yard signs, the bumper stickers, the Youtube videos, the Obama Girl, etc. I don’t see any of that this time.
No one who voted for McCain is going to vote for Obama this time. There will be, however, many people who voted for Obama who will vote for Romney this time. The fact that the guy in the article is coming out BEFORE the election says a lot to me.
If he’s thinking it (with all his liberal street cred) and actually acting on it, there have to be millions of others like him. Right?
The oft repeated meme is that when young you will be liberal, and as you grow older you grow more conservative.
If I may be forgiven for emphasizing the obvious; the Liberal left believes in Utopia, and idealistic youth also seek Utopia. The seasoned individual with a normal ability to reason, comes to realize that Utopia is a fantasy.
Those who live in the closed society of Academe, or many in the rarified world of elitists often seem to never outgrow their youthful fantasies. They either do not see the world as it is; or seeing, deny.
Then, of course, there are the hard people who realize that others’ longing for Utopia can be turned to personal advantage. They are always with us, and are often quite slick with their appeals.
This is what struck me the hardest about the article:
“Those making more than $250,000 should pay more taxes, and that does include me. But I also am tired of Obama’s constant demonization, of those he spits out as “millionaires and billionaires,” as pariahs. ”
As a politically active fiscal conservative I don’t know a single like minded individual that doesn’t think that the wealthy should not be carrying the largest part of the financial burden of running this country. Not one. Yet, the left and especially this administration has done nothing but insult and demonize those of us that make enough to put us in the top bracket.
My DH tells a story on me about about how last April 15th in my moaning at the loss of the hard earned income that we were sending to the IRS I snapped and yelled at him that “it was about damn time someone from the government called me up and told me, thank you!”
there is a more interesting similar piece that is in the daily news (ny) that details a person moving from right to left so as to be able to participate in ny politics and have a say… its basically a “come with me” piece except that this person describes themselves first as coming from not a red diaper baby world but a pink diaper baby world…
Why I’m becoming a Democrat
Conservatives like me just have to bite the bullet and switch parties so we can influence primaries
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/a-democrat-article-1.1176265
first paragraph:
second paragraph lays the claim of conservationism..
the upside is in helping pick which democrat will be in office (As republicans are not in office), and that you can still vote as you please… (but no mention how the higher registration numbers would be used to skew the registration numbers even more).
Multiple negatives problem now fixed.
Occam’s Beard wrote: Took ‘em a while, but as good scientists they eventually took cognizance of the data: leftist policies do not work. It’s just that simple.
And that, unfortunately, is one of the differences between those who studied science in graduate school, and those who studied the humanities. Most of the folks I know from grad. school are even further left now than they were then, and mostly they are doubling down on completely contrived and ridiculous rationales to vote for Obama (or for explaining why his debate performance the other night wasn’t as bad as it seemed, or how it was part of some general strategy, or other nonsense).
Neo,
The more time passes, the more I realize how remarkably deft Romney’s performance was. One example of this was that he softened or disguised nearly every blow, but the punches landed even more devastatingly for having been in a velvet glove.
When he made the remark about having five sons, he didn’t say it directly to Obama, but turned his head toward the moderator and audience. It was as if he were simply relating an anecdote about his own life rather than jeering directly at Obama, which would have been ugly to some voters. By turning his head, he demonstrated compassion even as he administered the killing blow.
The line “You’re entitled to your own plane and house but not your own facts,” appeared at first to be nothing more than an innocuous twist on an oft-heard rejoinder. On reflection, it seems that these remarks were meant to allude lightly to Air Force One and plush vacation homes, casting Obama as someone who is more celebrity than president. This is the kind of meme that breaks through, even to those who’ve been dubbed low-information voters. And however blinded the American electorate may have been in recent years, a Jay Z presidency is not what the electorate voted for nor what it wants.
neo: The distinction I was going for was the RP/TEA factions, which is not exactly the conservative base. I was trying to point at the “pox on both houses” set, most of whom wouldn’t ever vote for Obama, but aren’t that motivated to check Romney’s box, either.
The Libertarians got their guy on just about every ballot, and in my State, we have several even-more-minor parties appealing to Constitutionalists. The Paulbots in my State have begged the Romney campaign for a nod. None was forthcoming. If the same thing is happening in true swing States, Gary Johnson and the other losers will likely draw more than the margin of victory.
Conversely, I am pleased to see some Progressive pallys remaining steadfast to not vote for Obama. From where I sit, though, the Green faction isn’t going to defect in large enough numbers.
Reticent, Romney said “Look, I’ve got five boys. I’m used to people saying something that’s not always true but just keep repeating it and ultimately hoping I’ll believe it. But that is not the case.” Talk about a velvet glove, he wasn’t jeering, he was calling Obama a liar. That’s certainly what I heard.
The take on this at the Daily Kos is hilarious, “Remember when Romney called his 5 sons liars in the debate?” http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/04/1139685/-To-Romney-Lying-is-Winning-Romney-Even-Called-His-Sons-Liars-at-Debate
Paul in Boston,
I agree completely that the line killed. My point is merely that Romney didn’t come across as a bully when doing it. In contrast, for instance, remember the time when Lloyd Bentson told Dan Quayle, “You’re no Jack Kennedy.”? Bentson looked Quayle in the eye and, in essence, sneered at him. Being a Dem at the time, I loved it, but I also felt that Bentson was preening. Romney’s demeanor had none of that, so I think he won over people who don’t like meanies even as he killed.
Addendum to the above:
In other words, yes he called Obama a liar. But it was done in an affable way. LOL
“pox on both houses”
Yes, I understand this emotion; but BHO-Pelosi-Reid and company are so destructive and toxic the ‘pox’ is meaningless. R&R are not my ideal team, along with a republican majority in the house & senate, to turn the ship around swiftly. However, what else can we strive for? The people are not ready for the full truth of our situation. It will have to be fed to them spoonful by spoonful.
Can we survive a gradual reckoning with reality? I don’t know, but its worth the try if we avoid civil war.
I was corresponding with a friend about how different Hollywood used to be, and thought you all might find this of interest: The Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals.
Wiki here, but the tone is predictably negative (they try to paint the patriots as a bunch of right-wingers, but they’re all anti-Communist and anti-Fascist, and pro-American). http://preview.tinyurl.com/l8boyj
Read the “Statement of Principles,” and weep. How far the movie industry has fallen! It starts:
“We believe in, and like, the American way of life: the liberty and freedom which generations before us have fought to create and preserve; the freedom to speak, to think, to live, to worship, to work, and to govern ourselves as individuals, as free men; the right to succeed or fail as free men, according to the measure of our ability and our strength.
Believing in these things, we find ourselves in sharp revolt against a rising tide of communism, fascism, and kindred beliefs, that seek by subversive means to undermine and change this way of life; groups that have forfeited their right to exist in this country of ours, because they seek to achieve their change by means other than the vested procedure of the ballot and to deny the right of the majority opinion of the people to rule.
In our special field of motion pictures, we resent the growing impression that this industry is made of, and dominated by, Communists, radicals, and crackpots.
We believe that we represent the vast majority of the people who serve this great medium of expression. But unfortunately it has been an unorganized majority.
This has been almost inevitable. The very love of freedom, of the rights of the individual, make this great majority reluctant to organize. But now we must, or we shall meanly lose “the last, best hope on earth.” . . .
We need to get that spirit resurrected.
The MPA (for short) disbanded in 1975.
Cry, the beloved country!
If I may be forgiven for emphasizing the obvious; the Liberal left believes in Utopia, and idealistic youth also seek Utopia.
Utopia is multitude: a young idealist might prefer a Catholic utopia, an anarchist utopia (real anarchists, not the Christiana-OWC government parasites), a libertarian utopia, etc.
None of which may described as Leftist or Liberal. Certainly the Moslem youth wanting a Sharia utopia aren’t Liberal. The Nazi youth weren’t Liberal either–though they were Leftist.
I, for one, was an idealistic youth longing for utopia, but was never a Liberal or a Leftist or a Nazi.