{"id":543,"date":"2012-08-16T21:52:52","date_gmt":"2012-08-17T01:52:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/?p=543"},"modified":"2012-08-16T21:52:52","modified_gmt":"2012-08-17T01:52:52","slug":"why-the-massachusetts-liberal-must-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/attheintersectionoffaithandculture\/2012\/08\/why-the-massachusetts-liberal-must-win.html","title":{"rendered":"Why the Massachusetts Liberal Must Win"},"content":{"rendered":"

Newt Gingrich was mistaken when he referred to Mitt Romney as \u201ca Massachusetts moderate.\u201d\u00a0 The author of \u201cRomneycare\u201d is a Massachusetts liberal.<\/em><\/p>\n

Regularly, I hear from my fellow Ron Paul supporters (as well as many others) that Romney and Obama, Republican and Democrat, are for all practical purposes indistinguishable.\u00a0 These same people inform me that under no conceivable circumstances will they ever again vote for \u201cthe lesser of two evils.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the impulse underwriting these sentiments is understandable enough, it nevertheless reflects a refusal to recognize that this isn\u2019t the next \u201cAmerican idol\u201d for which we are about vote in November.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To put it bluntly: anyone who is interested in arresting \u201cthe fundamental transformation\u201d of America that President Obama set in motion four years ago has no other real option but to vote for the liberal from Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

The objection, launched not just by Paul supporters, but some others on the right, that this election is a wash because the difference between Romney and Obama is one without a distinction is easily met.<\/p>\n

First of all, it simply isn\u2019t true to say that there is no <\/em>difference between the two candidates: a liberal Republican is not a hard leftist like Obama.<\/p>\n

Secondly, let\u2019s just suppose for argument\u2019s sake that this is true, that the policies of Obama are interchangeable with those of Romney.<\/p>\n

From the perspective of those of us who share none of Obama\u2019s enthusiasm to fundamentally transform our country, Romney would still be preferable to Obama.<\/p>\n

There is one crucial reason for this that, to my knowledge, no one has touched upon:<\/p>\n

No country lives by policy alone.<\/p>\n

Invariably, those on the right who equate Romney with Obama do so by concentrating exclusively <\/em>on the policy prescriptions of the two candidates.\u00a0 This approach, though, is as narrow in focus as it is politically immature.<\/p>\n

Above all else, Americans at least claim<\/em> to value liberty. <\/em>But the liberty to which we have grown attached isn\u2019t some abstract universal concept.\u00a0 It is a concrete, particular way of life that is determined at least as much by extra-<\/em>political or cultural <\/em>considerations as the legislation\u2014the policies\u2014for which politicians advocate.<\/p>\n

What this means is that things being what they are, our liberty is threatened as much by the environment that allows Barack Obama to advance his leftist agenda as by his leftist agenda itself.<\/p>\n

It is an axiom to the lover of liberty that the greater the concentration of power, the greater the threat to the object of his affections. Now, the President of the United States of America is among the most powerful people on the planet.\u00a0 As such, he must be vulnerable to every conceivable kind of criticism, whether fair or entirely baseless.<\/p>\n

However, because Obama is widely heralded as our \u201cfirst black\u201d president, a \u201cworld-historical\u201d figure of sorts, he has been inoculated to a significant extent from the same type of treatment to which past presidents have been subjected.<\/p>\n

To put it starkly, because Obama is the first black president, legions of mostly white Americans are reluctant to express their true feelings about him for fear of being considered a \u201cracist.\u201d\u00a0 And those Americans, from Republican politicians to working class folk, who are openly critical of the President almost always take exceptional care to speak only <\/em>to his policies, or to reassure us that, as a person, <\/em>they find Obama to be just dandy.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yet it isn\u2019t just that Obama is black. A black conservative or Republican would have a much tougher go at the presidency than Obama could ever dream of having.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What is far more relevant is that Obama is a black leftist, <\/em>a black Democrat. <\/em><\/p>\n

This is more relevant because, sadly, the vast majority of those who have traditionally served the invaluable social function of checking abuses of power\u2014the media, popular artists (like comedians and actors), and academics\u2014share Obama\u2019s ideology.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But this isn\u2019t the only incentive that they have to aid and abet his program to fundamentally transform America.\u00a0 Obama\u2019s readiness to play the race card has succeeded in rendering \u201cthe watchdogs\u201d no less fearful than the majority of their compatriots of being charged with the \u201cr\u201d word.<\/p>\n

If, though, Romney is elected, his standing as the Republican Party\u2019s titular head alone will suffice to relieve the press and others of the fears that currently inhibit full throated objections to Obama. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Again, the President of the United States must <\/em>be vulnerable to all <\/em>sorts of criticisms, from the most intelligent in nature to the most satirical and unjust.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the conservative base of his party will be sure to forever keep the pressure upon Romney to at least think twice about indulging whatever liberal proclivities happen to possess him at any given moment.\u00a0 In contrast, Obama\u2019s left-wing constituents, coupled with the fact that he will never again face another election, make it all too easy for him to plow full steam ahead with his robust socialist agenda.<\/p>\n

So, even if Romney wanted to do exactly what Obama wants to do, it would still make better sense for right-leaning dissidents to vote for Romney. \u00a0<\/p>\n

In other words, the lover of liberty who wants to halt the fundamental transformation of his beloved homeland must see to it that the Massachusetts liberal wins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Newt Gingrich was mistaken when he referred to Mitt Romney as \u201ca Massachusetts moderate.\u201d\u00a0 The author of \u201cRomneycare\u201d is a Massachusetts liberal. 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