The U.S. political pundits are busy this week trying to determine “what we can learn” from the presidential election.
So far they have determined that there is a “new reality” in American politics based on the increased number of new voters: some young, some Hispanic, some Asian and some African-American.
Old-time Republican Party members are using their loss as a lever to try to convince all Republican members of Congress not to let the ultra-right wing, fundamentalist views of the Tea Party control their votes.
What the Republicans should also learn is that it is time to kick a few of their more familiar, influential commentators to the curb.
Karl Rove was a kingpin in the Bush administration and continues to be a far-right mover and shaker in the Republican Party.
The sight of him on the Fox Network continuing to insist that Ohio could still go for Romney – after all the networks and news organizations, bolstered by over 70 per cent of the votes being cast and multiple polls had declared Obama the winner – was pathetic. He blustered and blubbered in such a strange, disjointed way that even the other Fox commentators were incredulous. Kick him to the curb.
Right wing commentator and broadcaster Bill O’Reilly concluded that the election was lost because the new voters were weak, uninformed, selfish creatures who knew nothing about politics or economic reality and voted for Obama because they were only interested in irresponsible spending and acquiring “things, more and more things.”
Apparently the intellectual and moral superiority of millionaire O’Reilly insulates him from the moral deterioration that results from acquiring “things.” Or perhaps when the things one desires are very expensive, like the things that O’Reilly can afford, one remains untouched by the plague of moral decrepitude that infests the lower classes. Kick him to the curb.
Then of course there is staunch Republican and mega-entrepreneur Donald Trump who announced to the world in several tweets when Obama took an early lead: “Lets fight like hell and stop this disgusting injustice. He lost the popular vote by a lot and won the election. We should have a revolution.”
He determined this because Obama at the time was ahead in the Electoral College vote but behind in the popular vote. Not only were his tweets irresponsibly worded (not to mention seditious) but they show a complete lack of understanding of the American electoral process and history.
His buddy George W. Bush won his election over Al Gore though 500,000 popular votes behind) Kick him to the curb.
Until the Republican Party learns to disavow babbling self-promoters like these, the political new reality will forever elude them.
– Jim Holtz is WEEKENDER columnist and former reporter for the Grand Forks Gazette
