Saturday 7 June 2008

The Strange Death of Republican America

Even, perhaps especially, if McCain wins.

Of course, they can always join up with the disaffected Clintonites, as a rump party of neoliberal economic policy, just plain liberal social policy, and neoconservative foreign policy. No change there, for either of them. But mercifully never in office again.

3 comments:

  1. Come on David! The "neocon" foreign policy will continue irrespective of who wins in November because Obama and McCain have both promised to bomb Iran. And social and economic policies will both either stay liberal if McCain wins or become radically more liberal if Obama wins. There are small differences between Obama and McCain on Iraq (where McCain wants a stable and secure Iraq but Obama doesn't care) and abortion (Duh!). On everything else it's just a question of degrees.

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  2. "Obama and McCain have both promised to bomb Iran"

    Neither of them has actually said that (unless you count McCain's singing efforts), and I don't believe that either of them would do it.

    "social and economic policies will both become radically more liberal if Obama wins"

    I don't see how they possibly could.

    In fact, on the economic point, Obama has expressed sound protectionist instincts. On immigration (and the language question), he is also both certainly free and almost certainly inclined to shore up his black base, since the Latinos hate him already.

    And on social policies generally, he will have paleocon debts to repay if he wins, since AIPAC hates him so much that he can't win without the paleocons instead.

    "McCain wants a stable and secure Iraq but Obama doesn't care"

    There used to be "a stable and secure Iraq". We all know why there isn't anymore.

    "There are small differences between Obama and McCain on abortion"

    Like what?

    McCain is a classic Republican of the last forty years, who thinks that pro-lifers think that have to vote Republican, and who knows that that perception depends on never actually killing the goose that lays the electoral golden eggs.

    Whereas Obama has ties to the black churches, an appeal to the traditional Catholics who tend to be paleocons, and a need to reach out to the white working class. He stands very little chance of doing anything about abortion. But McCain stands absolutely none.

    "it's just a question of degrees"

    Indeed. And I don't believe that McCain is really much more of a warmonger than Obama. But nor do I believe that McCain is for any practical purpose any less of an abortionist than Obama.

    The really bad candidate will not now be a Presidential nominee. If she, or someone just as bad, is Obama's Vice-Presidential nominee, then vote for McCain. But not otherwise. Like the Tories, voting for the Republicans only encourages them.

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  3. Obama has promised (as did Hillary) that his first act as President will be to legalise partial-birth abortion. McCain's views are here.

    Obama's "I'll do anything for you, dear" line to AIPAC was effectively a promise to bomb Bushehr and Ishfahan. (Even he won't let the Israelis do it themselves.) He'll give the Iranians most of southern Iraq as well, of course, but that will only make them bolder. He's also said that he'll take the Afghan war into Pakistan - which would certainly make things interesting. The big difference between the Democrats and the Republicans at the moment though is that any military action undertaken by the former will be overly reliant on air-power rather than boots on the ground. As with Clinton's policies over Sudan, Kosovo and Iraq, it is unlikely that Bomber Obama will achieve very much.

    "[S]ound protectionist instincts"!? Just re-read that phrase a couple of times. Do you notice anyting wrong with it?

    McCain is one of the few Republicans to have taken a firmly and principled pro-immigration line. I'm not saying he's right, but... The Hispanic vote is very much up for grabs. (Puerto Rico...?)

    Iraq was stable and secure when we were there but we withdrew in the 1950s. Now Obama wants to withdraw all over again. Given how expensive gasoline is already it seems unwise. (In fact it's a classically short-sighted policy for a one-term President.)

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