Yes, I’m starting with Massachusetts. I’m entitled. My mother, of blessed memory, was born and raised in Pittsfield, Mass, one of six remarkable sisters, the daughter of a kosher meat wholesaler. I lived in Pittsfield for a few years, attended Redfield School, and I was there when Dewey lost to Truman, one of my earliest political memories. We also lived for a couple of years in Springfield, where my father, of blessed memory, ran Indian Motorcycle Company towards the end of its storied history.
The Ledeens were of course Dems, and later on, in New Jersey, became liberal Republicans of the Clifford Case variety, but in Massachusetts I only remember Dems. And so it was with considerable surprise that I found that Pittsfield had gone for Brown. Indeed, 69% of Pittsfield voters chose him.
I don’t think a vote of such magnitude was based merely on anger, a word invariably trotted out to explain Democratic defeats (remember the “angry white man” a few years back?). I do believe that passion played a big role, but a somewhat different one: not anger, but fear. They’re afraid of Obama. Afraid of what he’s doing to them, and therefore prepared to change sides.
This fear is extremely broad-based. It is not limited to social class nor to domestic or foreign policies. Banks are not lending, companies are not hiring, because they are afraid of what Obama will do next. Both are afraid of onerous taxes, including new health care burdens, and the banks fear new regulations and the consequences of the recently declared war on evil bankers by the president. Seniors are afraid they will be deprived of medical treatment. Juniors are afraid they are going to be forced to buy health insurance they don’t think they need. Across the board, Americans are afraid they’re not going to find work, and won’t be able to afford a house. And, as the Massachusetts vote showed, Americans are worried about threats from abroad, worried about Iran, afraid of terrorist attacks, and afraid the Obama Administration doesn’t take all this seriously enough. As Scott Brown put it, most Americans think our tax dollars should go to fighting terrorists, not to pay lawyers to defend terrorists.
“I do believe that passion played a big role, but a somewhat different one: not anger, but fear.”
The role of calm logic must also be included. A high number of Obama opponents can readily provide solid reasons for their displeasure. Sometimes even in a precise point-by-point manner. They are also realizing that the president is both intellectually shallow and lacking in executive experience. The job is too much for him. Obama should still be in the Illinois state senate.
Purple state voters often are relatively indifferent concerning everyday political activity. This is especially the case since most of them have experienced a fair degree of affluence in the last twenty some years. Obama has changed all of that. These voters no longer trust him with the economy. They will now typically vote Republican in most circumstances simply to balance off Obama’s power. If I felt compelled to place a wager on the 2010 elections—I would bet my money that the GOP will retake both houses of Congress.
The role of calm logic must also be included. A high number of Obama opponents can readily provide solid reasons for their displeasure. Sometimes even in a precise point-by-point manner. They are also realizing that the president is both intellectually shallow and lacking in executive experience. The job is too much for him. Obama should still be in the Illinois state senate.
Purple state voters often are relatively indifferent concerning everyday political activity. This is especially the case since most of them have experienced a fair degree of affluence in the last twenty some years. Obama has changed all of that. These voters no longer trust him with the economy. They will now typically vote Republican in most circumstances simply to balance off Obama’s power. If I felt compelled to place a wager on the 2010 elections—I would bet my money that the GOP will retake both houses of Congress.
Michael,
Nicely said. Fear, though Machiavelli’s context was that of Rulers and the Ruled, not one of Ordered Liberty. You’re right too in that we fear the former and for the survival of the latter.
Genuine contempt already exists on all sides – in that regard, weakness is especially provocative. In that his ineptitude has awakened the libertarian core, he is a genuinely transformational figure. In his bass-ackwards way, he is proving to be as effective as Reagan, if not more so.
Obama had the ‘anger’ partly right, though, in explaining the election – though it was the libertarian-conservative base angry at the Republican Party for handing us yet another squishy big-government “moderate.”
Great post.
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“He doesn’t instill fear of punishment.” Wow! You know, whenever I think of Bush that was able to “INSTILL FEAR of PUNISHMENT”, all I see is gun show, while Chinese and Russian laughing behind our back! Oh yeh! Oh yeh, what U.S. needs more BOMBS and MORE BOMBS, ANYWHERE ANYTIME!!
COME ON AMERICA that’s what is missing! LETS MAKE EVERYTHING and EVERYONE FEAR US! That is why America is going down, because world DOES NOT FEAR US ANYMORE! Our enemies DO NOT FEAR US!
MORE FEAR is the SOLUTION. What? President Obama wants to solve problems with SMART THINKING? HELL NO! We NEED MORE FEAR. FEAR will fix everything. Just look how much P. Bush could fix in the last 8 years of FEAR around world? We just need more of it.
Problem is B52s are not enough. We need B50000 and B9000000! It must match the same fear that U.S. deficit cause everyone around the world, as the look at U.S. dollars—more zeros MORE FEARS.
Oh yeh, I bet Machiavelli is SHAKING and TURNING OVER in his grave reading your apple and Mustang 1965 comparison!
Just as FYI, STILL I’ve been unable to FIND the ORIGINAL Farsi comments made by Larijani. So knowing and READING the source in Farsi and what word was used is important. Nevertheless, that does not diminish the fact that these brothers are the most A. holes and anti democratic and anti Iranians to gain their freedom. So until I read the FARSI text of the word he used in Farsi, I’m having trouble to understand what he really said. If anyone can provide FARSI, ORIGINAL news link, please do so here.
If the Repubs ‘take back both houses’ in 2010 it will be a shock.
Can the fear be so great that the dumbed down American public will swing en masse back to the trust fund babies from the Country Club?
Save us from these 60′s spoiled adolescent radical leftists, but spare us more spoiled oligarchs.
True. And I wonder how much we should fear Obama when he sees he is a cornered rat, a rat with all the powers of the Presidency.
“…because they are afraid of what Obama will do next…”
Reminds me of a very enlightening article by Robert Higgs:
http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?a=430
“though it was the libertarian-conservative base angry”
Unfortunately, Libertarians have shown themselves to be against America’s right to defend herself; Libertarians are part of the Unholy Alliance: Radical Islam and the American Left.
As a Reaganite ‘peace through superior firepower’ Conservative I am disappointed with the Libertarian Party of Pot, Porn and Dirty Dealings with Dictators.
We are at a tipping point economically. Even if 2010 is a Republican tsunami, which I know it will be, the economic damage being done by this administration is jaw dropping. My small business is in the manufacturing of construction related materials. In my research 5-6 years ago to start this company, I took many things into account: The Baby boomers, Green building technology, poor quality of wood for construction blah, blah,blah.
Not for a minute did I factor in the damage of an out of control Progressive administration. I guess I am never too old to learn….
Ridicule is critical. Every effort must be made to relentlessly highlight the ridiculous things Obama says and does. If he becomes a laughingstock, he becomes impotent.
Ran, you are correct. This is a point I’ve tried to make over and over since Brown won. (a first for me, I voted for the winner in a MA senate race)
Obama was correct when he stated that the same anger that elected him elected Brown. What he is too dense to realize is the anger is not focused on what he thinks it is.
The anger is focused on the Corrupt, Corporatist, Crony-capitalist political system that rewards the big money boys of Wall Street and the politically connected Unions with billions for their support of the politicians. This election was seen as Obama doubling down on Bush’s worst tendencies. They didn’t even try to hide the corruption and bribery embedded in the HCR bill. They didn’t try to hide the corruption in the “stimulus” other than by arrogantly declaring details about the AIG pay-off to be “national security” issues.
Call it all by the label of corruption and THAT is what folks are angry and afraid of. The Dems. it is now realized are even worse than the ‘pubs. and the MSM can no longer hide the mechanations of Dodd, Franks, et.al. and their hand in the corruption of the last 20 years.
Michael …
Love your thoughts … unfortunately, Pittsfield (near where I live) went 69% for Coakley. (see MYTimes map) Out here in Western Mass many of my neighbors can’t understand what the problem is with Obama. They think he hasn’t moved fast enough on the progressive agenda and the rest of us don’t ‘understand’ him.
Frightening; but I hope O’s continued arrogance rebounds, so that the tea party can bring the GOP back to its senses: fiscal conservatism, no graft/earmarks, rule of law, and national security that recognizes evil in the world and stands decisively against it. Is that too much to ask?
Keep up the great work
Mr.Ledeen — Fear is the absolute truth. That’s where the Tea Parties came from. Many of those who didn’t vote for Obama already had that sick feeling when the election results showed he was our new president. We’d already done the reading, the researching, the blogging, the e-mailing trying to get the word out about what we believed this candidate was all about. When the first “stimulus” was passed and Rahm Emanuel said that about not letting a good crisis go to waste, well we knew. We knew. And that’s when fear became the great motivator.
I like this quote — unknown author: “Courage is fear that has said its prayers.” That’s when fear becomes determination to overcome.
I like this one too — Thomas Jefferson: “When the people fear their government there is tyranny. When government fears the people there is liberty.” Tyranny is a word that has come back into the lexicon (thanks, Mark Levin) — and Americans won’t stand for it.
Michael
This was the most penetrating analysis of what the country faces. A day does not go by that Obama demonizes some part of the economy; while, the debt looms over all of us.
Without knowing a thing about Obama or his record, it was possible to know in ’08 that something was drastically wrong.
It was the case of the dog that didn’t bark. A press that refused to say anything negative about him or even candidly report on his background. To a thinking person, this was ominous and was reason enough, by itself, not to vote for him.
But, apparently, not everyone was thinking at the time. Now, with the man’s weaknesses on full display, the level of deception practiced by the press has become apparent. Among other things, people are afraid of this emerging unholy alliance between the media and media favored politicians. They see first hand the disaster that’s been wrought. They see a free nation on the fast track to slavery.
I’ve often called Obama “Pres. Reagan-in-Reverse”; everything about him is so inside-out and upside-down, he’s like Bizzaro Superman on Opposite Day.
As you point out, his policies are feared by Americans and loved by America’s enemies; exactly inside-out and upside-down.
And dangerous.
A Father should be both Angel and Devil
to his children. – Japanese Proverb.
Pater Familias as Loco Parentis;
Now repeat after me, children:
Yes we can, Daddy Dearest.
A good national leader would inspire fear in his enemies abroad, not on his constituents.
Right now the nation is on the defensive, from the unpredictable offenses of a seemingly arbitrary and capricious leader. We are looking at national policy like air traffic controllers mesmerized by the haphazard trajectory of an unidentified aircraft, and who dare not imagine that monkeys have taken over the cockpit. They can’t talk to the pilot, they can only wonder about what’s on his mind, not prepared to consider the possibility that there isn’t anything on his mind, just having all the possible fun, as any self-respecting monkey should.
In America, we don’t really know what tyranny feels like, but we are getting a taste of it, and thanks God we don’t like it. All these trillions flying out of the window is a heck of a tuition to pay for our basic education on the perils of excessive power, but the cost of ignorance could be even higher.
The funny thing about Dems is that they love to say things that anger us, for instance, calling us “teabaggers,” etc. Then when they lose, they profess shock at our anger. Go figure…
Great short essay on Machivelli’s six conditions of republican rule (note small ‘r’).
From 2007, the words are already prescient. What a difference an election makes.
Part of my fear is that the Republicans also would wreck the country if given their way.
They’d probably wreck it a bit more slowly than the Democrats, but they’d wreck it.
Obama speaks for those who conclude, “Whatever provides short term gain is right in my book”.
They have no room about truth being eternal.
’nuff said.
You misread the election results. Pittsfield went 69% for Coakley. Coakley lost (by nine votes) only one town in all of Berkshire, Franklin, and Hampshire Counties. In the towns around UMass Amherst, Coakley surpassed 80%.
http://www.boston.com/news/special/politics/2010/senate/results.html
I had no idea Massachusetts was so deeply divided!
rats! mom is actually annoyed, then. I blame Bush.
“In my research 5-6 years ago to start this company…”
I strongly suspect that eighteen months ago you thought your own economic situation was secure for the indefinite future. Countless purple and red state voters did not consider the election of 2008 to be a big deal. Barack Obama was deemed exciting and he implicitly promised white people the forgiveness of their past racial sins. The Democratic presidential candidate also graduated from Harvard Law. Unfortunately, few realized that the high academic standards of this once great university are a thing of the distant past. The affirmative action policies instituted during 1960s have turned Harvard into a second rate school.
Obama is unlikely to change for the better. He lacks the education. Obama never learned how to think and follow a logical argument. Fifty years ago he would never been admitted to an Ivy League university.
Mr President Obama totally is a colourblind, he can no longer distinguish between his friends and his enemies!!! Unfortunately, the same is true of the vast majority of American people.
1. David Thomson:
“I would bet my money that the GOP will retake both houses of Congress.”
Yes, I entirely agree with you. And the White House in 2012, as well.
Putting aside the mean remarks, and the hopeful change that might be forthcoming in the next elections, what specifically does the GOP offer for changing the mess that is health care, unemployment, budget deficit, defaults on homes etc etc etc? Will we hear again Free market? small govt? and other bump;er sticker things that had not applied and did not work.
Specifically, what will bring the needed help for the nation? Palin? McCain? Brown?
advise, please.
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