Apparently respect and love are the new platforms of the Republican party. Or so it sounded yesterday as the speakers of the Republican National Convention sounded off on what they believed to be the strongest elements of American morals. The combination of platitudes and fabrications came from a multitude of speakers, the only thing uniting them was contempt for the current resident of the White House.
If political conventions are supposed to be about ideas and vision, then this one is already a mockery of one. With Rick Santorum repeating the lie about President Obama removing the work requirements for welfare, it is blatant that appealing to a broad mass is not even a secondary consideration. While ostensibly good for the main figures of the party to be fully on message in attacking the Democrats, this does little to nothing to help moderates see the vision of Republicans for the United States for the next four years. No promises were made about improvement of the economy. The overlapping message was “lets take our country back”
All this talk of “respect” from Chris Christie, and yet there is not enough respect for the intelligence of voters. When he spoke of sharing the sacrifice, many know that is code for coming budget cuts. Whenever there is talk of shared sacrifice, we know most of the pain will not be shared. When Ann Romney spoke of “love” there was an undercurrent of exclusion there. What exactly was meant by the term “real marriage”? In an attempt to shore up the support of women voters, Ann Romney mostly focused on the personal. What that has to do with the presidency, is not exactly clear. Also, the seemingly candid statement that you can “Trust Mitt” was a underhanded way of saying that you can’t really trust President Obama. I wonder why?
From running against welfare in 2012, to alluding to the last 3 and a half years as some sort of failed social experiment, the Republican National Convention is packed with messages. Most of them have nothing to do with an alternative vision, just an odd nostalgia for America’s better days. Where do you think they want to take America back to?
-Marc W. Polite
I’d rather go forward
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