There are few notable differences between our Earth and our little-known, other-dimensional twin, which we’ll call Earth 2. Over there, for instance, dog videos dominate social media, not cat ones. And Star Wars: The Force Awakens, directed by Alfonso Cuarón, offered a fresh, nostalgia-free take on the space fantasy series – what a box office bust.
And, in that dimension, the Republican party actually learned something from its 2012 presidential election defeat – particularly from how Mitt Romney lost by a 5-to-1 margin to then-president Hillary Clinton among voters who valued empathy in a president. (Romney had the same result here versus Barack Obama.)
As a result, the Republican party on Earth 2 coalesced around a policy agenda designed to meet the economic challenges facing the American middle class and poor. All that party’s presidential candidates are offering plans that cut taxes for working class families, guarantee universal healthcare through market-friendly reforms to Hillarycare and modernize the existing safety net to better help workers hurt by trade or automation. And both liberals and conservatives on the BookOfFaces and Cheeper have been buzzing about the Republican presidential debates because of the fierce battles over which candidate has the better plan to break up the megabanks that have the potential to set off massive market failures.
Things haven’t quite worked out that way here on our Earth. Despite the 2012 results, the 2016 Republican wannabes here decided to – again – offer economic plans centered around ginormous tax cuts for rich people and businesses. And while some, like Marco Rubio and the now-departed Jeb Bush, have offered detailed college and healthcare plans, respectively, few voters know about them. A genuine, sustained, plausible effort to connect with the anxious 99% might have tamped down on Trumpism. (On Earth 2, Trump is running as a Democrat and giving Vice-President Obama a serious run for his money in their primary.)
As it is, voters – by a wide margin – believe that the Republican party favors the rich over the middle class and poor. And the party’s current frontrunner is someone who exploits voters’ fear, rather than engaging their aspirations. Given that our Democratic president has presided over seven years of slow economic and wage growth, the Republican party should be favored to win the presidency. But right now, for good reason, it isn’t.
And I don’t blame the voters for that.
James Pethokoukis is a columnist and blogger at the American Enterprise Institute.
from – Latest Content http://ift.tt/1T4pnhP
0 التعليقات:
Post a Comment