If you were under the assumption that most Americans don’t like Barack Obama – as of last week, you were right. A recent Gallup poll listed President Obama’s approval rating at only 39%. With a disapproval rating of 53%), a majority of voters now criticize the way he is presiding over the country.
Any casual political observer can explain why: the economy is in an abysmal state. In 2009 unemployment rose from just about 8% to a high of about 10% in the Fall. This increase followed a stimulus bill that the President promised would keep unemployment below 8%. Meanwhile, the great “debt debate” of 2011 resulted in lower approval ratings for both Obama and Congress as a whole. All in all, only 41% of Americans approve of Obama’s handling of the economy. More importantly, many of the President’s initial supporters feel that they have been lied to, and as a result, disillusioned.
Regardless of its cause, this political atmosphere has all the ingredients for a heated primary race in the opposition party, as Republican candidates vie for the chance to be the one to “get America working again.”
The idea that America is broken and needs to be fixed seems to imply that the Republican Party has new and better ideas. This is only partly true. While many Americans are realizing that the Republican ideal of less government may be the way to go, the fact is that the GOP candidates seem to be riding a wave of support derived merely from the fact that they must be better than Obama. They have offered few truly new ideas, but instead are focusing on the same contentious and polarizing issues they have in the past .
Not that these issues are unimportant; they certainly must all be addressed. However, if the Republican Party is merely offering the same solutions to the same questions, then the same results will inevitably occur. What are these results? Gridlock in Congress, staunch partisanship, and a general inability to get things done.
A candidate who truly wishes to change the course of this country will need to break from the status quo and focus on the issues that matter. Molly Leidig, ’14 agrees, saying, “Conservatives need to stop focusing on unimportant social issues in this time of national debt and crisis. Although I am a diehard Conservative, I believe times have changed.”
So, whether it is a third-party candidate or just a brave Republican, someone needs to focus on what matters most. That means ditching the polarizing and toxic moral issues. The candidate who does this will certainly lose the support of the far right, but the support they lose will be more than rewarded with the support of millions of moderate Americans who are beginning to realize that fiscal conservatism is fair, rational, and what is right for this country. The country needs a change in direction, and the Republican Party faces a make-or-break election to bring about this change. But first, candidates must decide what issues are truly important to them and the country as a whole.
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