If The Republicans Were Smart

I’m seeing the same polls you are that say Romney is trailing blah-blah-blah. Specific to that point I agree with Dick Morris who has gone into great detail explaining how the media and biased pollsters are not only able to, but in fact are, skewing the polls for the express purpose of making Obama appear to be a fait accompli.

The Obama campaign is counting on high turn-out among the three groups he needs to win reelection, i.e., blacks, Hispanics, and young people. Republicans have hitched their wagon to independents; their Rovian theory being that all they have to do is focus on them and they will win.[quote style=”boxed” float=”right”]But there is a group that I believe Obama the narcissist-in-chief has overlooked and has done so to his peril. And that group is comprises those who voted for Obama in 2008, but have realized he has betrayed their confidence and will not vote for him again.[/quote]But as I pointed out in my article a hotel housekeeper I met titled, “How Many Informed Voters Will Stay Home,” both campaigns are ignoring those people who are disgusted with Obama and will under no circumstances vote for him, but at the same time are not satisfied with Romney as their other choice.

But there is a group that I believe Obama the narcissist-in-chief has overlooked and has done so to his peril. And that group is comprises those who voted for Obama in 2008, but have realized he has betrayed their confidence and will not vote for him again. However, there is a sub-group to them that I believe Obama and his legions are tragically underestimating.

That sub-group are the people who are nothing short of outraged that they are being branded by the Obama legions as racists because they will not support him for a second term.

To accuse these voters of being racists or “sellouts ashamed of their race” is, in a word, just wrong. Those to whom I refer did not vote for Obama because of the color of his skin; they voted for him because they bought into his message of hope and change. They did their calculations based on their personal formulas pursuant to same and believed he would usher in a better time. Instead he ushered in a zeitgeist of immiseration, class warfare, unemployment and a diminished standard of living. And even more egregious, they hold him accountable for renewing the racial divide that many believed we had moved beyond.

Obama believes he is clever, and, as was said of President Nixon, “the problem with clever people is that they don’t know when to stop being clever.” Add to that alchemy his weak leadership, his unwillingness to accept responsibility for his failures and shortcomings, and his transpicuous lies–these former supporters have had enough. They have been waiting for him to accomplish (or at least try to accomplish) those things he promised.

They’re not gushing over his wife as the late-night hosts and media are–quite the contrary. They are looking at her arrogance and over-the-top spending juxtaposed to their own lives and they are not impressed.

Earlier this week I spoke with my driver as we were en route to the airport. As he opened the door for me to enter the vehicle–I jokingly asked if I would be safe with him behind the wheel. He smiled and assured me he was the best driver his company employed.

En route we talked about the NFL referee strike, and also found we were both New York Yankees fans, but it was when my son called and he overheard me share scripture and remind my son that God is in charge and He would work things out to His glory that the conversation broadened to ultimately include politics–when my driver and I resumed our conversation after I had finished talking to my son.

My driver is not a colorblind ideologue who thinks Obama deserves another term because he’s black. More important was the seething anger and feelings of betrayal that were most telling and that I believe spell trouble for Obama. My driver was not as politically informed as I am, after all, politics is what I do, but he knew right from wrong and he knew crap from shinola.

He explained his reasons for supporting Obama in 2008, and he explained his reasons for feeling that he was conned by Obama–he (like many) now believes that Obama knew he never had any intention of keeping his promises. My driver was particularly incensed that he was being branded as a racist because he refused to support Obama for a second term.

He shared that, besides his having voted for Obama in 2008, his wife is Hispanic and his brother is married to a black woman. He shared that there were many interracial marriages and relationships in his family. And he deeply and personally resents Obama and his legions accusing him and those like him of being racist for not voting for what they view as a failed presidency.

He is grudgingly voting for Romney because he sees no hope of recovery if Obama is reelected. If the Romney campaign were smart, they would zoom in like lasers on the many people who share my driver’s feelings. He, like the housekeeper I referenced earlier, will not show up in polls nor are they a vociferous cacophony of voices, but they are not uninformed. They are more informed than any of the political hacks are giving them credit for being, and they are fed up with Obama. The difference is that, unlike the informed housekeeper, my driver does not plan to stay home on election day.

If Romney were to pull just 2-3 percent of people like my driver, and the housekeeper I wrote about previously it would be a death knell for Obama.