In the last few days before the election, many moderate Democrats are contemplating breaking up with Barack Obama. Parting with a political party or candidate can be every bit as wrenching as severing a personal relationship with a girlfriend or boyfriend. The problem whenever one walks away from a serious breakup is that doubts keep creeping in: “Am I doing the right thing?” “Will there be someone else for me?” “Was there something wrong with me that I was attracted to such a manipulative, unkind person?” “Will I be ridiculed for being blind to his/her faults?”
Republican political groups (the Romney campaign, the RNC, PACs) have recognized that there are a lot of voters out there who need permission to change their minds about Obama. The Independent Women’s Voice has recently released several videos that recognize that political relationships are just as real and deep as romantic relationships. These videos address people’s struggle to balance a sense of loyalty with a belief that their survival depends on leaving a damaging relationship:
Because this election is going to depend on people breaking away from their toxic relationship with Obama and the Democrat party, we should acknowledge their emotional pain and extend a helping hand. This doesn’t just mean helping them decide to break-up, it also means validating their feelings and inspiring them after the breakup.
We need to remind them that they’re stronger and better for having abandoned a damaging relationship. It’s not their fault that they were charmed by a shiny smile and a glib line. We’ve all been there, but the smart ones walk away, having learned from the experience. Here, then, are the top seven “I am so done with you” breakup anthems.
1. Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” — Breaking Free From a Toxic Dependency Relationship
Many Obama voters are figuring out that the dependency that Democrats seek to foist on the American people (Big Government = Good Government) provides a short-term thrill, followed by long-term damage to individual Americans and to the body politic. If you find yourself in a situation in which the relationship seems to be the only thing that sustains you, the only way to keep yourself from being destroyed is to walk away — and then listen to “I Will Survive” to remind yourself that you’re doing the right thing.
At first I was afraid I was petrified.
Kept thinking I could never live without you by my side.
But then I spent so many nights
Thinking how you did me wrong.
And I grew strong!
And I learned how to get along!
Yes, leaving your comfort zone, whether emotional or political, is scary and it may be very painful, but the future brings with it the promise that you’ll be a stronger person, able to engage in a healthy relationship:
Did I crumble
Did I lay down and die
Oh no, not I! I will survive!
Oh and as long as I know how to love I know I stay alive.
I’ve got all my life to live, I’ve got all my love to give.
And I’ll survive!
I will survive! Hey, hey.[snip]
And so you feel like droppin’ in,
and just expect me to be free,
now I’m saving all my loving for someone who is loving me!
2. Sara Bareilles’ “King of Anything” — Breaking Up With a Controlling Narcissist
Narcissists project arrogance, but that arrogance masks profound insecurity. One of the ways they deal with this insecurity is to try to control everyone around them. By putting others down (usually in the form of obsessing about the other person’s imaginary failures) the narcissist acquires a superior position, especially if he or she promises to repair those imagined failures. Barack Obama has done precisely that. From the beginning, he’s repeatedly told voters that America is deeply flawed. She’s arrogant, greedy, and unfair, but he can fix her by “fundamentally transforming” America. Obama’s Big Government ideology, one that seeks to have the government interfere in more and more aspects of American life, whether it’s the way business is run, faith is practiced, or children are educated, is the control aspect of narcissism writ large.
Sara Bareilles “King of Anything” is the perfect song for someone walking away from a relationship with a controlling narcissist. It describes the healthy boundaries people need so that they don’t get swallowed and destroyed by the narcissist’s unbounded ego:
Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me.
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be
Who died
And made you king of anything?
Nor is the song cruel. It recognizes that, to give them the benefit of the doubt, many narcissists actually think that they are making things better, rather than controlling people to death. That erroneous belief does not entitle the narcissist to step on you so that he can feel better about himself:
Who cares if you disagree?
You are not me.
Who made you king of anything?
So you dare tell me who to be.
Who died
And made you king of anything?
The road to Hell is paved with good intentions. The mere fact that Obama and the Democrats think that their Big Government, micromanaging style is a good thing, doesn’t mean that it is. The song’s message to Obama voters: don’t be fooled by the sad puppy dog face and the claim that “I only did it for you.” Regardless of the narcissist’s ostensible motives, if you’re being managed into oblivion, you need to walk away from the relationship, humming “King of Anything” as you go.
3. Hot Chelle Rae’s “Honestly” — Sometimes It Really Is You, Not Me
We’ve all heard the classic breakup line: “It’s not you, it’s me.” We say that when we’re breaking up with someone we like, even though we don’t want to be with them. The problem with these breakups is that you end up feeling like a heel for walking away. You also keep asking yourself, “If it’s not the other person’s fault, shouldn’t I be working on my issues?”
Sometimes, though, it really is all about the other person. Your ex is whiny, demanding, irrational, and irresponsible. And that’s when you turn to Hot Chelle Rae’s “Honestly” to remind yourself that you really didn’t need this pain in the butt person (or politician) in your life:
Honestly you did it to yourself
So don’t blame meIma go ’cause I got no
Problem with saying goodbye
Is it wrong that I’m gonna be
Having the time of my life
‘Cause deep down I know
I should cry I should scream
And get down on my knees
I should say that I need you here
But I’m gonna party tonight
Barack Obama looked so good in the beginning with his uplifting talk of “Hope” and “Change.” Once the relationship started, though, people saw that we ended up with a person who couldn’t play well with others, kept avoiding serious work to head off to the golf course, partied with friends who were a bad influence, engaged in trash talk, and generally made life miserable. Honestly, who needs that?
4. Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger” — Having the Strength to Leave a Bad Relationship is Empowering
Too many Democrats are terribly worried that, just like Samson with a haircut, when they sever their ties to the Democrat party and to Obama, they and their whole world will be weakened, possibly destroyed. The most serious manifestation of this neurotic, irrational fear is the “Children of the Corn” video, that features clean, healthy, well-groomed children singing a cheerful dirge about the imminent apocalyptic nightmare that will result should voters forcibly retire Obama from his job.
What Democrats need to understand is that leaving a bad relationship is empowering, not destructive. Kelly Clarkson gets it:
You think you’ve got the best of me
Think you’ve had enough the last laugh
Bet you think that everything good is gone
Think you left me broken down
Think that I’d come running back
Baby, you don’t know me, ’cause you’re dead wrongChorus:
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger
Stand a little taller
Doesn’t mean I’m lonely when I’m alone
What doesn’t kill you makes you fighter
Footsteps even lighter
Doesn’t mean I’m over ’cause you’re gone
When America is no longer dragged down by killer debt, killer national security failures, killer race relations, and killer border problems, she will bounce back. Indeed, if history is any guide, once America gets a dynamic conservative president (say, Reagan, for instance) who comes along immediately after a malaise-creating Democrat president (I’m thinking Jimmy Carter here), her pent-up energy is explosive. We’re not down and out, we’re down and ready to bounce back. If we can get Obama and the Democrats out in time, we’re going to be an American powerhouse once again.
5. Taylor Swift’s “Never Ever Getting Back Together” — Once You’ve Made The Break, Make it a Clean One
One of the most exciting things about leaving a bad relationship is the overwhelming sense of future possibilities. Former liberals (myself included) who managed to shuck their ties to the Democrat Party feel free. Our minds are sharper and our political analyses more logical and intelligent. Like the long-time smoker who fully recovers his taste and smell after quitting, we feel overwhelmed by patriotism and an incredible awareness of America’s great blessings.
Sometimes, though, there are regrets: “Was it really so bad when I was a Democrat?” “My Facebook friends are making good arguments about pouring even more money into FEMA?” “The banks were pretty greedy.”
Just remember: You’re allowed your doubts when you leave a bad relationship. You’re also allowed to keep with you, intellectually and emotionally, the good things that came out of that relationship. But for goodness sake, never, ever get back together:
But Oooh, this time I’m telling you, I’m telling you
We are never ever ever ever getting back together
We are never ever ever ever getting back together
You go talk to your friends talk to my friends talk to me
But we are never ever ever ever getting back together
I used to think, that we, were forever ever
And I used to say never say never
Huh, he calls me up and he’s like, I still love you
And i’m like, I just, I mean this is exhausting, you know
We are never getting back together, like ever
We are never ever ever ever getting back together
We are never ever ever ever getting back together
6. My Fair Lady’s “Without You” — The Earth Will Survive Without Obama at the Helm
Obama promised that his election would herald a new Eden on earth: “This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.” As Hurricane Sandy just demonstrated with savage ferocity, Obama’s four years have done nothing to change the earth’s natural tendencies.
Eliza Doolittle got it: a narcissist may think he has the power to control the very rotation of the earth, but he doesn’t. It’s a delusion, and anyone who has the strength to walk away from someone that delusional will do just fine:
What a fool I was, what dominated fool
To think that you were the Earth and sky
What a fool I was, what an elevated fool
What a mutton-headed dote was INo, my reverberating friend
You are not a beginning and the endThere’ll be spring every year without you
England still will be here without you
There’ll be fruit on the tree
And a shore by the sea
There’ll be crumpets and tea without you
We may not have crumpets and tea in a post-Obama America, but there’ll still be a seashore, a blue planet, and stars twinkling in the sky. Obama never controlled these things and, while Democrats might initially have been so dazzled by his charisma that they forget these basic life sciences principles, they’re wiser now and can walk away, knowing that the sun will still rise tomorrow.
7. Train’s “50 Ways To Say GoodBye” — The Breakup is Going to be Harder for Them Than it Was for You
Those Democrats who vote for Romney should remind themselves that this breakup is going to be harder for Obama and the Democrats than it is for the voter who has reached out to, and will be embraced by, a whole new political party. After the election, assuming as I do that Romney will win, Democrat recriminations will begin immediate. The Democrats will line up all the usual suspects to explain their failure: (a) Bill Clinton; (b) Hillary Clinton; (c) Hurricane Sandy; (d) Mitt Romney’s deep pockets; (e) the evil 1%; (f) the Koch brothers; (g) Sheldon Adelson; (h) the Tea Party; (i) racism; etc. The lies will be endless:
My heart was paralyzed
My head was over-sized
I’ll take the high road like I should
You said, “It’s meant to be.
That it’s not you it’s me.”
You’re leaving now for my own goodThat’s cool but if my friends ask where you are
I’m gonna sayShe went down in an airplane
Fried getting sun tanned
Fell in a cement mixer full of quicksand
Help me, help me, I’m no good at goodbyes
She met a shark under water
Fell and no one caught her
I returned everything I ever bought her
Help me, help me,
I’m all out of lies
And ways to say you died
The one thing you’ll never get from Obama, the rest of his administration, or the entire DNC is an honest look at outdated socialist policies that, wherever tried, have led to economic stagnation, a demoralized population, and a dangerously decreased standing in the world. Self-analysis and self-improvement, sadly, aren’t part of the Progressive repertoire.
When this election is over, and Romney has won, we should be able to say “I hear America singing,” and those songs are celebratory.
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Image courtesy shutterstock / Jacqui Martin
More hit articles from Bookworm at PJ Lifestyle:
Crazifornia: How California Is Committing Suicide
5 Reasons This Election Is Ward Cleaver vs. Eddie Haskell
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