By James Schlarmann
Over the last couple of weeks, the Right Wing has trotted out the idea that this 2012 Presidential Election is going to be a referendum on Barack Obama. They claim that the American people have been let down by the President’s economic performance, and that it’s time get the good ol’ tricke down started again. They claim that so many people are out of work and hurting financially, and they know it’s because Obama has failed to pull us out of the Depression (seriously, it’s a Depression that we’re in), and thus this election will be all about Americans saying “no” to the Obama Administration.
The thing is, theyÂ’re right about this election being a referendum. And maybe they could be right about it being a referendum on Obama, but only for their own electorate. Instead, I think thereÂ’s a much larger picture being painted with this election, and itÂ’s for the moral compass of this countryÂ’s economy and social policy. For the first time in many, many years, Americans are being asked to dictate the direction of the country not just in terms of its economyÂ’s heart and soul, but of the heart and soul of the nationÂ’s stated beliefs when it comes to human rights. The Mitt Romney/Tea Party/George W. Bush/Grover Norquist/Wall Street is King/Greed is Good message of fiscal and social extremism is really whatÂ’s on trial here. As much as the GOP would have you believe this election is about the other guy, is much more about them, and their apparent decision to let the lunatic fringe of their party drive the ship.
The War on Women, the Fight Against Marriage Equality and the Let the Rich Get Richer forces of the Republican party are going to be put under intense scrutiny by the Obama campaign, and they may be shocked when their messages of intolerance, devolution and Plutocracy are left to die on the vine.
All over the nation, people are being given a choice. Conservatives now more than ever are trying to rush us into a massive nuclear-powered Delorean and take us as far backward as they can, be it a social issue or a fiscal policy. People like Paul Ryan are proposing budgets that kill social programs but pump still even more money into the Defense budget. Over a thousand bills restricting womenÂ’s health care and access to abortions and contraceptives have been introduced since the rise of the Tea Party. The storm is gathering, and showdown is coming.