Party vs. Ideology

Since the election, the news has been dominated by talk of the impending Fiscal Cliff and the Benghazi consulate attack. In both cases, Republicans are increasingly split over how much they should cling to the Grover Norquist no tax pledge and Senator McCain's rejection of UN Ambassador Susan Rice as Secretary of State. In both cases, the Tea Party House freshmen, right wing radio hosts and Fox News maintain the need to remain ideologically pure and that attempts by Mitt Romney and others to at least appear more moderate were what cost Republicans the election. I don't see how that could have been the case when the party ran its most right wing campaign in modern history. This is not even the party of Ronald Reagan these days, much less the centrist party of Dwight Eisenhower. The right wing, embodied in the highly profitable conservative entertainment complex, sees a threat to its own relevance if compromise no longer remains a dirty word. Would you expect talkers like Laura Ingraham to urge their followers to move to the center? The GOP has a fight on their hands, and it's an internal one. Political parties were never founded to unswervingly promote ideology; they were formed to get candidates elected who were closest to representing their priorities. The primary system was focused solely on who could placate the most hardcore conservatives. That doesn't win general elections. The public wants to know what's in it for them, not the fact that you can push 100% of your agenda into law. Running almost exclusively on tearing down the opposition party's record of Obamacare etc. won't get you there either. The speed of change based on a mandate should be a caution to liberals as well. President Obama's first two years saw big accomplishments for left leaning causes, only to produce a strong reaction the other way in 2010. Mandates can be fleeting. Give a little.

Twinkies Will Live On - Will Good Jobs?

It was only a week ago when I stopped at the Hostess thrift store in Uncasville to get a loaf of wheat bread for a buck.   Given those healthy intentions, could I resist the temptation of  mix-and-match ten snack cakes for three dollars?    Of course not.    Had I realized the fate that was about to befall parent company Hostess, I would have included the iconic Twinkie in my assortment.   I actually prefer the Hostess cupcakes with the vanilla cake, chocolate frosting and signature curl on top.   Twinkies cake always had a funny texture without some chocolate coating.   That may be why I've missed the Chocodile, the chocolate covered Twinkie that hasn't been sold here on the East coast since the nineties.   Chocodiles were junk food heaven!   Much like the late night Black Friday shoppers getting on the news annually stampeding each other, it reminds me of how little common sense we continue to display when people start hoarding Twinkies and other Hostess products.   For one thing, I can't imagine some of these brands going away permanently.   Some corporation will buy most of these brand names and the Twinkie legend will live on.   The sad part of the Hostess liquidation is the possible loss of 18,000 jobs nationwide.   The company blames the shutout squarely on the bakers' union strike, but any research reveals a company plagued by problems on many fronts including market changes and big failures in restructuring.   I hope some jobs can be saved and these bakeries and distributors will still serve a purpose under another owner.   The Hostess saga also highlights how even givebacks by 70% of the unions couldn't keep it competitive with non-union shops that keep things cheap while lowering the average worker's standard of living.    I don't begrudge their success, but can we all afford to be working in "Walmart World"?

Setting A Poor Example

OK, call me overreactive. It won't be the first time someone will have done that. I was driving along yesterday listening to the radio. On came this Sears commercial where a woman pretends to call in sick to get out of work. When she hangs up, her husband congratulates her on a convincing act. You see, she wanted to spend the day shopping the early holiday sales. Cute, huh? That is so wrong. What does it say about our society when an ad agency can come up with a radio spot encouraging people to fake illness to go shopping? Did other people find this the least bit disturbing? Kids, I guess it's perfectly cool to lie if it gets you off work so you can go buy stuff. The holiday season gets criticized enough for crass commercialism, but at least I can live with that. We are all capable of lying to some extent, perhaps for some greater good. So many sitcoms feature white lies, but at least the viewer sees the consequences. Telling people to call in sick in order to go shopping isn't very noble. Responsibility is learned in small doses. Someone can start on that path by pulling that Sears ad off the air.

What's Apparent - To Me, Anyway

It was a late night.   That wasn't because the results of Election 2012 took that long to become known.    It was because yours truly decided to stay up and watch Mitt Romney's gracious concession speech and President Obama's inspiring victory speech.    This election has made me more politically aware than any other in my lifetime.   Here are a few observations:

• President Obama is not a radical left socialist - not even close.
• Make Election Day a national holiday.   If we have to cpombine it with Veterans Day, so be it.   Voting should be as accessible as possible.   While we exercise our right, we should take time to recognize our veterans who served to make this happen. 
• Obamacare is essentially Romneycare.   You can run but you can't hide from that.
• Romney never spelled out an original economic plan.  His projections for North American energy independence and adding 12 million new jobs are the same as what many economists expect to happen if we stay with Obama.
• Paul Ryan didn't help the GOP cause.   The VP choice excited many conservatives who weren't going anywhere else anyway.   Romney's debate coach Rob Portman could have helped them win Ohio, while Ryan's home state of Wisconsin has been terribly polarized by its governor's union-busting.
• Mitt Romney's 47% speech video showed his real attitude.  It would have been over after that if it hadn't been for President Obama's lackluster first debate performance. 
• Ethnic demographic trends are working against the Republican party.    Generational changes are hurting them as well.   Go with what resonates with the mainstream and not with what the average right wing talk show listener wants to hear.
• Mainstream Republicans - what's left of them - need to stand up to the Tea Party members.   As Obama found out in 2010, a wide mandate does not last forever.   Achievements through compromise can.
• The primary system has become an ideological litmus test that produces candidates who will say anything to placate their base while dragging more and more big money into a longer and longer political season leaving much of the electorate on the cynical sidelines. 
• Money can't buy enough votes.   Linda McMahon taught that valuable lesson.
• All in all, America still works!