Spreading doubt and confusion has been a constant in Republican politics since time immemorial, and never more so than in 2012. Since the Republicans have always seen themselves as the superior breed of Americans, they’re never in doubt about how they will vote. Just pull the lever that is the elephant’s trunk. That’s the way of elephants, caught up in memory. It matters little who’s on the ballot. If the Party has put them there, that’s good enough for the faithful. It’s better than the Good Housekeeping Seal of approval.
They are then free to spread doubt and confusion about everyone else on the ballot. With enough money — and, thanks to the Supreme Court, the supply will always be ample for candidates of the right, or corporate faith — opponents can be given a whole new identity. Many a Democrat running for Congress this year finds himself or herself running less against an opponent than against a blitz of TV ads that portray him or her as “foreign” to the American mainstream. Ironically, most such ads are being paid for by interests foreign to the turf on which the race is run. Such ads are regularly laced with prevarication.
The towering example of this in the 2012 campaign is the ruthless and relentless Republican blitz portraying President Obama as less than American. Plainly, the blitz rides an under-tow of racism. It started by spreading suspicion about the validity of his Hawaiian birth certificate. Imbedded in the under-tow is the implication that “Islanders” are less than real Americans. Besides, how can anyone fathered by a Kenyan actually be American. And, if he graduated from Harvard Law at the top of his class, how could he possibly relate to everyday Americans.
When the history of the presidency has always been a white man in the White House — isn’t that why it’s white? — the GOP can’t resist portraying a black in the White House as unAmerican. Their game is as old as politics. It’s the warfare of nicks: nick the enemy enough and demise is inevitable. We’re getting it in 2012, the stream of nicks, the implications that play as little lies.
This is Governor Romney’s approach. He’s playing on implication when he says that, if elected, he will “never apologize for America” when speaking abroad. It keeps Jane and John Voter scratching their heads to recall those times when President Obama was apologizing for US when speaking abroad. But,
— Frank Mensel July 2012