This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

The Conversation Ahead

Why the Republican party wants to change how we're talking about the vote this year - and how much impact they'll end up having.

The most current issue of the day is that of Mitt Romney’s streak of mischief when he was in high school, with focus on his having cut the hair of an unwilling fellow student. It is not the place of my writing today to determine how this impacts the validity of voting for or against him, but rather to analyze the ongoing challenge that Republicans have been facing in something that they are typically excellent at: the framing of a conversation.  The discussion of the recent issue, itself an echo of President Obama’s recent endorsement of gay marriage, represents the ongoing problem of the Republican party: that they must have an opposing candidate. The Republican party, starting in 2010 as the Tea Party took the house, has established itself as a party dedicated to replacing what they view as a too controlling government with a more laissez-faire economic system, while at the same time initiating greater control over social values. This urgency and dedication has resulted in both a strong effort to ensure that President Obama loses his seat, and a refusal (some may call it a failure) to compromise with Democrats leading to a general lack of legislative action. This has manifested itself in a focus not on the strong suits of Mitt Romney but on the weak suits of President Obama.

         The issue is that the Republican party is currently not showing the capability to change the focus from the former to the latter. This is mainly because Mitt Romney has not been vetted for his position as much as President Obama has. While Romney has spent two elections trying to be President, in the first he was not even the second best candidate in the primary, and in this cycle he has won mainly not on his merits, but more on the utter absence of merits in his opponents. As Bachmann was overshadowed by Perry, who spoke his way into losing to Cain, who made himself look absurd enough to make Newt Gingrich the sensible choice, who had enough weight for Rick Santorum to rise to the top, Romney was able to get by on “not being the other guy.” However, against Obama the same tactics don’t seem to be working. In a media that truly is motivated by profit and thus people consistently tuning in, the most interesting stories run, and thus Romney stories – like that of his high school behavior in the 60s – get more attention than they would have in the circus that was the primaries.

         All that the Republicans have to do, their strategists would say, is make the election a referendum on Obama. A referendum on Obama would become, for many, a referendum on the course of the economy and government in general. With Americans feeling historic disdain against their government, and generally underestimating the power of current economic growth, the best Republicans could do is to focus on Obama 24/7. However, this cannot be done; Romney’s gaffes, from a dog on a roof to an unwanted haircut, are staying on the minds of the public. While this might not be a problem with a candidate who has enough conservative support that he can swing moderate and thus relish the attention, Romney faces the challenge of appealing to the more conservative base of the party – the one that now sides with him more or less by default – for funds while at the same time moving for independents put off by the more radical aspects of the party. At the same time he will be trying to keep in check his embarrassing tendency to drive people off with his wealth (see the coverage he got when he suggested that those struggling with student loans borrow from their parents). Even if the current party establishment didn’t revile Obama, Romney still needs him to keep the pressure off without collapsing – months of trying to appease the whole party and independents without a rallying point in the opposition is unfeasible.

Find out what's happening in Highland Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

         This has lead to the Republicans looking for any avenue they can to change the issue at hand to that of President Obama, rationally enough. The problem is that they haven’t been hitting at what they hold to be major flaws; of course the issue of dropping taxes and repealing Obamacare is still the center of each stump speech, but it’s not what’s driving the daily discussion.  The daily discussion is and will be small, personal criticisms such as a rejection of motherhood as working (which echoes into the Mother’s Day videos posted by both campaigns today), the flip-flopping of candidates on issues such as gay marriage or the Detroit auto bailouts, or just how sincere each candidate is about apologizing for their actions in high school. The back-and-forth will be broken up by small moves from Obama such as endorsing gay marriage. Romney won’t make moves when he can put pressure on Obama instead, and Obama will take every opportunity to respond, an uncomfortable but stable equilibrium as both candidates try to frame the conversation to be about the other. In other words, the general has already started, and there’s nothing to change the course it’s taking. I, for one, am excited. 

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?