Stephanie
Diamond Member
- Jul 11, 2004
- 70,230
- 10,864
- 2,040
Nile Gardiner is a Washington-based foreign affairs analyst and political commentator. He appears frequently on American and British television and radio, including Fox News Channel, CNN, BBC, Sky News, and NPR. The decline and fall of Barack Obama: five key factors that drove the midterm revolution
By Nile Gardiner World Last updated: November 7th, 2010
SNIP:
The midterms were a referendum on President Obama's policies (Photo: GETTY)
Last weeks midterm elections were without doubt a stunning political revolution, which will transform the political landscape in Washington in the second decade of the 21st Century, and possibly for the next generation.
The Republicans increased their seats in the House of Representatives by the biggest margin since 1948, with a significantly bigger win than 1994, gaining 61 seats. They surely would have taken the Senate as well, had all of the seats been up for re-election, instead of just 37. At the gubernatorial level the GOP now controls 29 governorships compared to just 19 for the Democrats. Republicans also picked up 680 seats in state legislatures, the highest figure in the modern era according to figures provided by the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The midterms were largely a referendum on Barack Obamas policies and his leadership, and represented a remarkable reversal of fortune for a president who just 21 months ago seemed unassailable. His partys heavy defeat at the polls represented an overwhelming rejection of the Obama agenda as well as the liberal ideology that drives it. I outline below five key factors which played a major role in bringing about the political revolution which took America by storm.
1. America is a conservative nation
As Gallups recent poll shows, the United States is an overwhelmingly conservative nation, and increasingly so. Conservatives now outnumber liberals by an almost 2.5 to 1 ratio. 48 percent of Americans now identify themselves as conservative, compared to just 20 percent who are self-described liberals. Barack Obama has been the most left-wing president in modern US history, with a liberal constituency that comprises just one in five Americans.
Poll after poll has shown that Obamas Big Government vision is fundamentally out of touch with the majority of American people, who want to see the role of the federal government reduced, public spending reined in, the budget deficit brought down, taxes lowered, and red tape cut. The Obama administrations quintessentially European-style approach to the economy, as well as its hugely expensive and bureaucratic health care reform plans are strikingly at odds with Americas tradition of small government, free enterprise and individual liberty.
2. US voters are unwilling to accept the idea of American decline
As I noted in an earlier post, the American people rejected the idea of US decline at the midterms, and in essence voted in favour of America remaining the worlds superpower:
The overwhelming repudiation of the Obama administrations failing policies sends a clear message to the world that the American people will not accept the decline of the worlds most powerful nation. After the immense damage of the last two years, the midterms have offered the United States an opportunity to reverse course and get back on its feet.
A central weakness of Obamas leadership has been his disdain for the concept of American exceptionalism, the idea the United States is a special, great nation in history, with a unique mission to lead the free world. His approach, both at home and abroad, has been to advance American decline, whether in the form of spiraling public debts, or weakening influence abroad. It is hard to lead a country at a time of tremendous challenges and threats if you dont even believe in your nations greatness, epitomised by Obamas willingness to bow before foreign leaders and apologise for Americas past.
3. The Tea Party sparked a political revolution
read the rest and comments
The decline and fall of Barack Obama: five key factors that drove the midterm revolution Telegraph Blogs
By Nile Gardiner World Last updated: November 7th, 2010
SNIP:
The midterms were a referendum on President Obama's policies (Photo: GETTY)
Last weeks midterm elections were without doubt a stunning political revolution, which will transform the political landscape in Washington in the second decade of the 21st Century, and possibly for the next generation.
The Republicans increased their seats in the House of Representatives by the biggest margin since 1948, with a significantly bigger win than 1994, gaining 61 seats. They surely would have taken the Senate as well, had all of the seats been up for re-election, instead of just 37. At the gubernatorial level the GOP now controls 29 governorships compared to just 19 for the Democrats. Republicans also picked up 680 seats in state legislatures, the highest figure in the modern era according to figures provided by the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The midterms were largely a referendum on Barack Obamas policies and his leadership, and represented a remarkable reversal of fortune for a president who just 21 months ago seemed unassailable. His partys heavy defeat at the polls represented an overwhelming rejection of the Obama agenda as well as the liberal ideology that drives it. I outline below five key factors which played a major role in bringing about the political revolution which took America by storm.
1. America is a conservative nation
As Gallups recent poll shows, the United States is an overwhelmingly conservative nation, and increasingly so. Conservatives now outnumber liberals by an almost 2.5 to 1 ratio. 48 percent of Americans now identify themselves as conservative, compared to just 20 percent who are self-described liberals. Barack Obama has been the most left-wing president in modern US history, with a liberal constituency that comprises just one in five Americans.
Poll after poll has shown that Obamas Big Government vision is fundamentally out of touch with the majority of American people, who want to see the role of the federal government reduced, public spending reined in, the budget deficit brought down, taxes lowered, and red tape cut. The Obama administrations quintessentially European-style approach to the economy, as well as its hugely expensive and bureaucratic health care reform plans are strikingly at odds with Americas tradition of small government, free enterprise and individual liberty.
2. US voters are unwilling to accept the idea of American decline
As I noted in an earlier post, the American people rejected the idea of US decline at the midterms, and in essence voted in favour of America remaining the worlds superpower:
The overwhelming repudiation of the Obama administrations failing policies sends a clear message to the world that the American people will not accept the decline of the worlds most powerful nation. After the immense damage of the last two years, the midterms have offered the United States an opportunity to reverse course and get back on its feet.
A central weakness of Obamas leadership has been his disdain for the concept of American exceptionalism, the idea the United States is a special, great nation in history, with a unique mission to lead the free world. His approach, both at home and abroad, has been to advance American decline, whether in the form of spiraling public debts, or weakening influence abroad. It is hard to lead a country at a time of tremendous challenges and threats if you dont even believe in your nations greatness, epitomised by Obamas willingness to bow before foreign leaders and apologise for Americas past.
3. The Tea Party sparked a political revolution
read the rest and comments
The decline and fall of Barack Obama: five key factors that drove the midterm revolution Telegraph Blogs