The Republican primary contest calls to mind a scene from Seinfeld, in which George and Jerry are discussing how to pitch their show, about nothing, to NBC. When Jerry mentions what NBC is paying Ted Danson George can't believe it.
"I'm as good as Ted Danson."
"No,you aren't ...you're worse."
A handful of Republicans, of whom there are still four, made the forgiveable yet wildly misguided calculation that they belong in a league where they really don't. Bless their patriotic dumbass hearts.
Their candidates responded to improving economic news by pivoting to a campaign against birth control. They execute this loser of a strategy by obscuring the issue as a trumped up charge of attacking religious freedom. There is a level of rhetoric about religion that almost makes "death panels" sound like thoughtful analysis. Overall, the corporate media has been lame in calling out the right and keeping this from seeping into the fabric of the discourse.
The Treasury Department will release the president's plan for corporate taxes. It is a reasonable, fair approach that will involve lowering the tax rate and closing loopholes. The sole foundation of the GOP agenda, oppose Barack Obama, will require them to oppose fairness and reasonableness. (I guess it's a word.) When political suicide is your strategy you don't belong in the game at the highest level. President Obama has advanced policies that aren't as aggressive as some of us would like, but this has been from a lack of Republican cooperation, not from failing to see the right thing to do. The GOP opposition wants to eliminate unions and Medicare and slash Medicaid and food stamps while increasing military spending and waging on assault on women. I would be afraid to fly in the face of so much public opinion as well as the demographic trends. Well, maybe not if I could determine who actually got to do the voting at the ballot box. President Obama is still the candidate of hope because he is still campaigning against fear.