The “scandals” seem
to be heaped one on top of another on the White House lately. While there is some fire in the substance,
the hyperventilated, over the top smoke blown mightily by the GOP
is also about the 2014 midterms. It
is a political strategy that is sound
and fury likely to signify little in the end.
The GOP seems
determined to pin the problem on Pres. Obama, best if he can be found to be the
actual perpetrator (and so far they have failed to do that), or at least the
head of an overreached, out of control, incompetent
administration. Therefore, the GOP hopes
the President will be so wounded, Congressional and Senatorial elections will go
their way as voters become disgusted with anything tied to him.
The GOP views the rollout of Obamacare like a fox salivating at the possibilities of
catching chipmunk in a rock garden. They
hope Obamacare will fail miserably. They
have laid the groundwork to self fulfill
their prophecy. Whenever some southern and Midwestern governors and state legislatures were in GOP control, they have refused to set up the
state managed exchanges…resulting in the mistrusted feds having to do it for
them and leaving a gap of millions who would not have access to expanded
Medicaid or Obamacare. They have cut out funds slated to encourage
currently uninsured into subscribe to the subsidized exchanges, hoping if they built it, no one came.
Except where they have tried to sabotage the roll out, the
GOP is taking a risk. The roll out might
work…because California, Colorado, and Massachusetts, and New Jersey and Pacific Coast states are well prepared .
The cost of the subsidized premiums in California have come in much lower than
actuarial studies predicted. Colorado is
well ahead of the game, already testing technology and with 17 private insurers signed
on to participate.
Where the GOP will be
able to howl in protest and point to failure will be in states where they
are already strong. All politics in electing representatives
and s enators are local. They will be
preaching to their choir, safe in gerrymandered non competitive districts. Any
failures of the roll out could blowback on the GOP when the successes in other
states could be contrasted with the bungling in the purposefully unprepared
states.
The GOP has tried to inflate the “scandals” by painting them as “Nixonian”. In
their zeal to try to draw comparisons of Obama with Nixon they fall very flat. Nixon himself ordered the IRS to audit politicians, groups and journalists on
his enemies list. It was not a case of bungling by career service bureaucrats and an overprotective White House staff, as it
appears involved in this current
“scandal”.
The attempt by Nixon to hush up the Washington Post was not because
the CIA or national security was jeopardized by their reporting. The Watergate
coverup was his directed attempt to cover his role in a criminal act. However,
it was AP’s and Fox’s reporting of the
leak that blew the cover off covert
action against Al Qaeda in Yemen, endangering our war against terrorists, that
triggered the Attorney General’s investigation.
Nothing this year equals the Iran Contra Scandal in which the
Reagan administration skirted laws to run
Central American covert actions, or the revenge seeking W Bush administration
blowing CIA operative Valerie Plame’s cover.
As a strategy, even these more substantive scandals have
not changes the party domination in the immediately following
elections in the past. Economic issues were always larger factors.
So…fire away GOP. Voters
will begin asking where is your replacement for Obamacare or what you will do about
employment and the disappearing middle class. A GOP blocking immigration reform will only feed Democrats’ winning demographics. Those are the real game changers.
For more, visit www.mufticforumespanol.blogspot.com
This is a version of my column that will appear in the Sky Hi Daily News this week.
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