Ted Cruz, that great Canadian Vol 36

If all your clothes have logos on them, then you must be a Boomer !

Being a Boomer that spent most of his working hours immersed in business, I can appreciate having a strategy, and working my tactical part of it to be successful. True, most of the time it was not my strategy, but I belonged to the implementation plan, and was compensated if the team was successful. It was called real life, and if the strategy did not work, there were consequences.

It is with this view of politics that I am amazed that no Republicans have published a plan on how to attack, turn, understand, neutralize, energize, or otherwise compromise the 47%. You remember, the people Romney gave up on early in the last presidential race. I understand getting caught with your strategy exposed, and he really had no time to recover. He was doomed. Trying to be perfect to the other 53% was impossible.

So, thats history. Today, I remain shocked, with the 2014 US midterm elections almost upon us, why the GOP has not worked to gain the vote of portions of this 47%. At least, they should be carving sections out, gearing ideas or legislation to the various sub groups.

Lets say, for example, that the largest subgroup is the AARP, pensioners who receive a monthly cheque for Medicare. Fighting Obamacare and the Democrat screw-up may look like a differentiator, but its not turning your uncommitted numbers higher. Let it go … Perhaps negotiating a few legislative goodies with Obama in exchange for a dropping of all anti- Obamacare activities is a preferred path forward.

Emigration looks to be a great idea. I do not think that immigrants make up a large portion of the 47%, but it is a sub-group that merits attention. Most of the industrialist states, from Europe to Asia to the US need immigration, to provide the workers our service industries will need. However, the GOP prefers to play keep-away. Pushing almost any solution should attract a lot of immigrants, especially Latinos’, who should be culturally in sync with many GOP policy planks.

Blacks are probably a lost cause, but there must be some who feel the natural pull towards a conservative agenda. Where do they go if the GOP continues to push voter registration bills that are basically racially motivated ?

Women remain the other big chunk of voters who need cajoling. I will leave it to other commentators to suggest policy statements that address women’s issues, but I guarantee that every time I see an old white male lecture women on their libido’s, Boomers cringe.

This would clear the decks for the real issues discussion, on economics and inequality. Yes, individual races will have to discuss gay rights, pot legalization, climate change, and a myriad of local concerns, but at least the main thrust of the Midterms would be set, and look favourably on Republicans nationally.

Now, Ted Cruz is a smart guy, and he surely has seen that the 2016 presidential race is wide open, with lots of funders aching to back the right candidate. So, analysing his ongoing strategy would be a great start. He has given speeches about the 47%, and that the GOP should be focusing on them.

In this re-boot, he seems to be talking to people who voted for them, not the real audience of potential voters. No immigration plan, less food stamps, capped entitlements, vagina prods, less financial regulation. No discussion as to the reasons for inequality.

Where is the concern for our education system, retraining programs, the failed war on drugs, broken families, unwed mothers and unwanted teenage pregnancies. Perhaps he has no comment because most of the suggested solutions involve more government, an idea that is anemic to Conservatives. Perhaps this is why Teddy is silent on these topics. Either that or the Tea Party’s got his tongue ? Where is his plan to get the 47% number to say 35% ? Think of the government spending that would be saved !!!

The US could be seen as two nations – one with stable families, high education, and great opportunities, and one with low education, broken families and no opportunities. I wonder if this translates into red versus blue states ?

Obama’s progressive agenda for the future includes addressing globalization, technological change, widening inequality, wage stagnation, too much “me” and not enough “us”. Its forward looking, and will capture the imagination of the electorate. On the other hand, the Conservative agenda includes a decentralized entrepreneurial system with winners and losers, a tangled tax code, no Dream Act, and no thought as to how to re-invigorate an aging population. Gridlock has been the result. One wonders how Democrats, who believe in gov’t, and Republicans who believe in markets, will ever find the right mix of sellable ideas we can all live with.

An alternate point to consider, if you think the problems we face are intractable, is how can we teach Iranians or Africans about capitalism and liberal democracy if we can’t teach Alabama’ns or Texans the same rules ?

This is where Teddy loses the plot, and the electorate. Today, I applaud the Tea Party Express economically for insisting on paying for new stuff, even if that means dropping an existing program. Our needs as a society change, so it only makes sense that our spending priorities evolve as well. Need retraining, great, but fund it. Boomers would love to have these types of discussions, as opposed to filibusters about green eggs and ham ! You want to talk about real life Teddy, then stop being so politely Canadian, and really open up the dialogue. As Boomers, we dare you !

Next on Boomers – wtf !, FUBAR and Nudging, and why it good for you.