COLUMN: From the right
Who is the real Barack Obama? Is he the socialist extremist portrayed on the Glenn Beck program? Is he the foreign-born Muslim with secret ties to terrorist organizations of the 2008 election? Or maybe he’s — dare I say — the anti-Christ who has come to rain destruction down on our beloved country.
In reality, President Obama is none of these things. After last week’s State of the Union address, it’s hard to come to any conclusion other than that President Obama is a very moderate Democrat, and an American in every sense of the word.
After shamelessly campaigning for the first 15 minutes, the president centered his speech on what he called a blueprint for an economy “built to last.” To the disbelief of the far right everywhere, Obama’s plan was littered with the staple policies of the Republican Party.
Tax cuts for small businesses, further development of offshore oil and gas resources, more boots on the border to control illegal immigration and a plan to end government bailouts doesn’t exactly sound like the policies a left-wing extremist should back.
Additionally, the president made some very sensible proposals in an area that should strike a chord with all Americans during a recession — education. What’s more is that rather than simply throwing more tax dollars into the system, Obama proposed market-based solutions. Rewarding successful primary school teachers and offering incentives for public universities to keep tuition down with funding cuts if they won’t tighten their belts were proposals both parties could be able to agree on.
When it comes down to it, Obama simply isn’t the radical socialist that states, such as Texas and Utah, tend to paint him as. In fact, he is a fairly sensible and relatively well-liked president. If the Republicans hope to put someone in the White House this election, they need to come to grips with this reality.
If the right can’t stop shuffling through candidates and take a stance on something other than “anyone but that socialist Obama… except for you Mitt,” they don’t stand a chance in November.
In 2004, John Kerry ran against President Bush Jr. on the “anyone but” ticket. Bush was painted as a war hawk, dictator and heir to Hitler by the far left. If the “anyone but” ticket couldn’t defeat a president as lousy as Bush, it certainly won’t defeat Obama.
While he’s the clear favorite, Obama’s bid for a second term isn’t infallible. Many of his proposals were quite sensible, but his lack of economic understanding was showcased for the entire U.S. to see. His proposal that manufacturing provides the foundation for an economy “built to last” was utterly ridiculous.
Really Mr. President? Manufacturing? We need to streamline our primary education system and make secondary education more accessible so we can all get manufacturing jobs?
Then there was his absurd proposal that we provide tax incentives to encourage businesses to bring outsourced jobs back home. If the president’s plan to re-establish U.S. economic supremacy is crippling China by stealing all their cheap, grueling manufacturing jobs, then I suppose these proposals make good sense.
If, however, America wants real economic growth based on innovation, entrepreneurship and skilled labor, then we either need a president who understands the potential power and progress of globalization, or we should spend a few tax dollars on hiring the incumbent an economics tutor.
The State of the Union showed that Obama is primed for another successful run at the White House seat. There is, however, one ticket the right may be able to ride to victory: the economically impaired.