1/23/12

The Wall Street Journal advises those who are worried about the fall election to calm down (The Gingrich Challenge). The voters must decide which Republican will challenge Obama. That is the essence of free market ideology. Only those who can compete effectively should win.

For Mitt Romney the challenge is to overcome timidity and for Newt Gingrich it is to be disciplined enough to avoid self-destruction.

Patrick Moynihan said culture was more powerful than politics. Romney’s experience in business makes it difficult for him to understand that in politics ideology matters. Hostility to capitalism is imbedded in our culture. Romney tries to adapt to that reality instead of confronting it. That annoys the Republican base.

Gingrich is an opportunist, not an ideologue, but he appeals to the base because he offers them red meat. He lambasts the media, but also attacks Romney for being a capitalist.

The elite media is a perfect target for Gingrich, because it is steeped in ideology, The New York Times today attacks Obama’s Job Council for recommending Republican ideas (Dissent in the Jobs Council). The Council wants our schools to focus on skills needed in the job market. The Times says that despite what corporations tell us we do not have a skills gap, we just have a lack of jobs. The left thinks the main purpose of our schools is to indoctrinate, so the students become left wing ideologues. It does not matter if they end up living on food stamps. It is how they vote that counts. Says the Times:

“The urgent and fundamental need, however, is to support, improve and sustain a strong public education system.”

Educators, like the trial lawyers, represent Democratic support groups that must be nourished and supported by taxpayer dollars.

In the face of such concerted cultural opposition the natural tendency of Romney is to bend. That is why he wants to eliminate capital gains taxes only for those making less than $200,000. That, he thinks, will soften his image as a greedy capitalist. What he should say is he wants to do away with capital gains taxes because he wants people to get off food stamps and live on paychecks instead. That is the language Gingrich prefers, even though he does not hesitate to attack his colleagues for their “right-wing social engineering.”

Gingrich and Romney should act as if they want to be the captain on the bridge that will prevent the ship from going under. That is what will happen to America unless we change direction. If they cannot rise to the occasion they deserve to lose. WSJ concludes the editorial by noting that the Republican establishment does not have a good record in picking nominees. Rank-and-file voters might have a clearer sense of what the country needs.