The Politics of Our Beloved Land

Politics has interested me for a while, and President Obama’s election really sparked that interest in me quite a bit. Being in Wheaton in Dupage county, I am in one of the wealthier and more conservative counties in Illinois (And no, we’re not wealthy. I have 5 siblings, remember? I’m paying for all of college myself). However, Wheaton North Public High School was a different story. It seemed, as national polls indicated, that all the young people were in love with Obama, and hated Bush and “that old senile white guy” McCain. Liking Obama was easily the “Cool thing to do.” I’ve just finished a mini lecture series on the history of US Presidential elections, and it was made in 2008 with the last lecture being an analysis of the 08 election. So I could see pretty specifically the massive “Blue shift” almost every single state had during that election. Besides Arizona, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Tennessee, every other state and countless counties voted far more Democratically than the had in 2004. Even my country, along with many other “Wealthy and white” fast growing suburban counties that had previously been Republican strongholds either went Democratic (As was the case with all the counties surrounding Chicago) or saw their Republican majorities strongly reduced. So that was surprising to me, even though I had predicted early in the Summer that Obama would win by a sizeable amount.

Now today, the Democrats in Congress are in serious danger of losing the House and are probably going to see their majority in the Senate sharply cut (But that’s only because 36 are up for reelection this year). Obama’s approval rating is hovering around the 48-52 range and is at it’s lowest point ever. People are fed up with the liberal agenda that has totally ignored what a majority of the people really want. The deficit is incredibly high and the national debt is staggeringly huge. The new financial regulations bill (Whose Congressional debates I have watched hours of) is also meant to unreasonably restrain businesses (especially farmers) and banking in a way that severely limits their ability to lay safety nets for themselves and is again putting the government into every aspect of our lives. Now granted, some of the reforms have good ideas. Would it be nice to have cheap healthcare for everyone? Of course! Is it good that large financial institutions aren’t being irresponsible with funds and aren’t trying to make money on corporations failing? Yeah! But then do you make taxpayers foot the enormous bill, do you slow down the system, do you harm businesses? No! It’s just like most things the Democrats have come up with over the centuries. Unions were good ideas. They provided workers with better conditions and better pay when they were being exploited. But now, they’re simply out for themselves and don’t seem to care for the companies they actually work for. They are limiting business and slowing down production and aren’t doing much good. Was old age and disability insurance (Social Security) a good idea? Sure! But now it’s going to bankrupt out country because there are and definitely will be in the coming years far more retirees than workers. Things are not getting cheaper and if everything continues, Social Security expenditures will comprise a massive amount of our spending, again raising our deficits and national debt.

So essentially, the Democrats are fantastic at doing things that seem great, but in reality cost far too much money, and cost far too much government. Obama has for the moment lost quite a bit of popularity and many Blue-Dog (Fiscally conservative) Democrats that were swept into office in 2006 when the Dems were energized  are going to be swept right back out as many have not stayed true to their constituents and have obediently bowed to the more liberal wing of the Democrats that has controlled the agenda. Obama’s support among Independents-a key to his 08 victory-has all but vanished. So now, the Republicans are riding a wave that could land them quite a few seats. Republicans are extremely energized, even more so than they were in 94 with the “Republican Revolution”. The problem is, according to some poll (I forgot which one, maybe Gallup) most of those who are planning on voting for a Republican (And there are plenty) are doing so not because they like Republicans and their ideology, but because they dislike Obama. So Republicans cannot be overconfident in thinking that this is the beginning of a major change in American thinking and that they’ll be in power for years to come. As with almost every single movement centered around the hatred or dislike of a person or idea, once the object of dislike is removed, support for that movement vanishes. So Republicans must continue and support what the majority of Americans (And especially those Independents and Democrats) is supporting: fiscal restraint and deficit/debt reduction. Now I know that I have heard and seen personally many representatives (My own, Congressman Roskam *Beams*) especially Republicans that are advocating just that, but we need to make sure that Obama’s fad support doesn’t become our support, where it’s just “cool” to not like the Democrats. That way, we can set this country again on the right path toward a better future for all Americans. (Sorry, couldn’t help adding the melodramatic note at the end)