Reply #21: Idealogy or rhetoric?

[MindMatter]

Those are two entirely different things.

The rhetoric of the GOP is personal freedom, gun rights, religion, anti-tax, small government, anti-immigration.

The ideology is quite different when you look at the reality of what they actually do with their power.

A similar argument can be made about the Democrats. Our rhetoric talks about American jobs, protecting the least among us, and standing up to greedy corporations, and there are plenty of examples where the true Democratic ideology is nowhere near the rhetoric.

When people like Nader say the two parties are Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, he is talking about the actual ideologies in practice. Obviously the rhetoric is vastly different between the Democrats and Republicans, but the actual ideologies have not been so different. That is mainly because the Democrats only held power over multiple branches for a brief time in the past 20 years, and that was with a President that was perfectly happy to sell out any Democratic principles if it was a good deal for him personally.

My point is that if Democrats' ideology lived up to their rhetoric, there are a lot of people from the other side who would consider it. But we are divided -- just about 50-50 in this polarized era. If Obama is hugely successful, he will get 20% of the normal GOP supporters to give him a chance and approach his Presidency with an open mind, even if they don't vote for him. That will still leave 30% opposed, so I certainly agree America will always be divided to some degree.

There is another important factor. Obama has been honest about this. We face really big problems, and he will be asking for sacrifices. You can't solve some of our biggest problems without sacrifices and compromises. We have several generations of Americans that are literally fat, dumb, and happy (although people aren't so happy these days). A large percentage of Americans have become complacent and narcissistic, and the GOP rhetoric is carefully crafted to appeal to the most self-centered among us. Recall that George Bush's solution to 911 is that we should all go out and buy stuff. His answer to the recession brought on by 9 trillion dollars of federal debt is to give out more tax rebates.

If Obama follows through on HIS rhetoric, he will be asking for real sacrifices in some cases. I dare say most people who identify with the Republican rhetoric are not willing to make these sacrifices. That will ensure some division remains.

But let's get real. Even Republicans hate the current administration. Obama really does have an historic opportunity to unite this country.