The recent debates and, more to the point, the reaction to them, have been the entirety of the GOP/Democrat dynamic in microcosm.
On the one hand, there’s the GOP. The party that launched a bold, “We don’t give a dámņ what you think of us” initiative in October 2010, or at least articulated it baldly enough to attract notice: Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell declaring, “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.” Not pass laws, not help the downtrodden, not serve the people. Their energies were to be devoted to preventing the president (and by extension the Democrats) from accomplishing anything. During the Bush years, any Democrat making such a statement would have been pilloried as unpatriotic and even treasonous.
Romney’s declaration that he was going to “reach across the aisle” carried with it the implication that Obama had failed to do so; a galling assertion considering that the GOP had effectively declared Obama public enemy number one. Even previously standard actions, such as raising the debt ceiling, were blocked by the GOP in order to damage Obama’s record. Using filibusters in record numbers and blocking 375 Democratic bills (including the Vision Care for Kids Act, the Veterans Training Act, and the Elder Abuse Victims Act) Republicans have not only aggressively stonewalled both the Obama administration and the needs of the electorate, but they now have the audacity to act as the peacemakers. Kind of like an abusive husband telling his wife that he promises not to beat her anymore if she’ll just avoid pìššìņg him off.
And yet when President Obama had the opportunity to highlight this in face-to-face conflict with Romney, he backed off. When Romney spoke in smooth, conciliatory language, Obama let him off the hook. I mean, if someone’s party spends four years—four years—doing everything within their power to ignore their oaths of service and block all that you try to accomplish, that’s got to make you mad. People need to see that it makes you mad, because otherwise they assume that you’re okay with it. Or worse, afraid to stand up to it.
Originally published February 27, 1998, in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1267
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