Conservatives Agree: Romney's Wrong

This is economic determinism at its worst, going against the very message the Republican Party was trying to sell to the world during its quadrennial national convention last month. Over and over again, we heard speakers there talk about how their immigrant grandparents came to this country, worked hard, built "that," never asked for a handout, and as a result their descendants have enjoyed the American Dream of ever-upward mobility. What the 53/47 dividing line says, to the direct contrary, is that income status is a permanent political condition, defrocking all Americans of agency and independent thought.

Is there a reason for conservatives to be concerned about a broader culture of government dependency? Absolutely--it's the sort of thing Romney's running mate, congressman Paul Ryan, has talked about when it comes to Medicare reform and reining in the federal budget. Reform-minded conservatives argue that without making important changes to the welfare state, this is exactly the sort of future to which the United States is bound. In fact, this is the debate some on the right have pushed for in this presidential campaign.

But Romney's reductive characterization of the political landscape indicates he doesn't understand any of this.