Democrat

Holland, Ohio

Early in the afternoon of a warm, midsummer Saturday, Norman Roundell sat in a lawn chair in his front yard. He sipped from a coffee mug half-full of Old Milwaukee, with a second unopened can at his feet, next to his pack of Pyramid cigarettes. His wife, Nora, sat 20 feet away on a small deck attached to their modest rambler.

Their topic of discussion: Barack Obama and the economy.

Last November, as members of the House of Representatives considered the health care reform bill, President Obama made a dramatic trip to Capitol Hill. After closing down sixteen blocks of Pennsylvania Avenue, a half-mile long White House motorcade whisked the presidential entourage past cheering tourists to meet with the House Democratic Caucus.

From charisma to populism—this is the slippery slope down which Barack Obama has been sliding over the past two years. In June 2008, Obama the candidate described his nomination as “the moment when .  .  . our planet began to heal.” In June 2010, Obama the president promised his partisans he would find an “ass to kick.” 

The Obama presidency is nearly out of gas. So are the Democratic majorities in the Senate and House. Yet the White House and congressional Democrats aren’t surrendering. They’re still intoxicated with their “historic majorities” and bent on enacting more landmark liberal legislation this year, including cap and trade, a value-added tax (VAT), and who knows what else.

I was slightly surprised to learn that some friends in Hong Kong couldn’t bring themselves to vote in last weekend’s special election.  The election was forced when five pro-democracy legislators resigned their seats in protest over the direction of a constitutional reform project being shepherded by the Beijing-supervised Hong Kong government.

Conservatives came in first in Thursday’s election in Great Britain, but it’s their failure to win a majority that Republicans should examine for the lessons it teaches.  If the GOP listens, they’ll improve their chance of winning control of Congress in the congressional midterm election on November 2.

Voters elected Barack Obama in November 2008 – at least in part – based on an American myth. Seventeen months later, the same allegory is creating a host of consequences for individual politicians, as well as the way citizens view political institutions like Congress.

The myth concerns the level of political consensus in America. It’s a lot lower than most people think.  Polls may show high levels of agreement on generic aspirations like peace, prosperity, or even a better education system.  But when it comes to specific steps to achieve these goals, things begin to unravel.