Playing to the Fringe
Updated on March 28, 2006 at 11:13 am.
Andrew Card, who had hoped to win the Presidential Chief of Staff iron man award, has resigned. Card has a reputation for hard work and long hours.
Neither Card nor the President have so far revealed the reason for Card’s resignation; however, CNN offered the following observation in the last paragraph of its story about the shakeup:
A recent AP-Ipsos Poll found that Bush’s job approval has dipped to 37 percent, his lowest rating in that poll. Nearly 70 percent of people say the U.S. is on the wrong track, a six-point jump since February. Bush’s job approval among Republicans plummeted from 82 percent in February to 74 percent, a troubling sign for the White House in an election year.
As far as I can tell, the administration remains flabbergasted at its unpopularity with the American people. I don’t find America’s hostility particularly bewildering.
The majority of the American people (55 percent) think the war in Iraq is a mistake and that we should get out. The majority (65 percent) of the American people want single-payer health care and are willing to pay more taxes to get it. The majority (86 percent) of the American people favor raising the minimum wage. The majority of the American people (60 percent) favor repealing Bush’s tax cuts, or at least those that go only to the rich. The majority (66 percent) wants to reduce the deficit not by cutting domestic spending, but by reducing Pentagon spending or raising taxes.
The majority (77 percent) thinks we should do “whatever it takes” to protect the environment. The majority (87 percent) thinks big oil companies are gouging consumers and would support a windfall profits tax.
Most Americans did not recoil in horror at seeing Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction; millions of Americans TiVoed the clip and watched it forty times to prepare for the water cooler chat the following day. The administration, recognizing that most Americans don’t approve of the use of our military as pieces in a real-world version of Risk, nevertheless attempted to sell its nation building experiment by deceitful manipulation of the truth. You can fool most of the people only some of the time, and none of the people are pleased to learn that they’ve been played as fools. Card coordinated the campaign to sell the war.
Tolerance is not a radical ideal. Fifty-one percent was never a mandate. When you make a political career out of cozying up to various small but vocal fringe groups, not only pushing their radical agendas but also endeavoring to convince the moderate majority that they’re the extremists, sooner or later the non-wackos in Middle America will run out to the barn to grab their pitchforks and torches.
It’s about time.
UPDATE: The Moderate Voice has a good Andy Card resignation roundup.
2 Responses to “Playing to the Fringe”
Well said!
Comment by Dara on March 28, 2006 at 10:10 am.
wow, I had never actually seen numbers put to those particular issues when it came to general public opinion. that’s just…. wow!.
Comment by refuge on March 28, 2006 at 3:34 pm.