Be Still My Heart

I woke up to a dream this morning:

Michele Bachmann's polling surge isn't just for the early primary states: A Quinnipiac University poll released this morning shows the Minnesotan is now in second place nationally, taking 14 percent of the vote to Mitt Romney's 25 percent. Bachmann's support has more than doubled since June 8, when she was in sixth place with 6 percent of the vote. From http://www.politico.com/2012-election/ 

And here all of this time my hope was that Sarah Palin would be my true love this election season. Now it turns out that Ms. Bachmann is the conservative's darling and has an outside shot at disrupting the coronation of Mitt Romney. We all know that the conservatives loathe Mitt, not least of all because many don't consider Mormonism to be a true Christian religion. But that bit of sober reasoning pales when held up to the larger mirror of  mainstream Republican dogma: discrimination against gays and lesbians, denial of a women's right to choose what she does with her body, destruction of the public schools (or any public system in my humble opinion), and a willingness to bring down the economy on the alter of false fiscal morality.




I have always maintained that the 2012 election would be analogous to 1984. That year the Democrats nominated Walter Mondale because they believed Ronald Reagan was too conservative and that he would get us into a nuclear war. What they failed to realize was that the liberal tide that began in the 1930's with Franklin D. Roosevelt had passed and was a caricature of its former self. Americans wanted reforms of the social programs that seemed to reward irresponsibility and they wanted to make sure that Social Security would be around when they retired. Liberals hated it, but Reagan was able to accomplish these things. When Mondale said in his acceptance speech that he would raise taxes, the election was over.

In the 2012 election cycle, the Republicans could make the same mistake. Their radicals have taken over the party and will not compromise. They believe that the American people are on their side when poll after poll shows that the majority of Americans want their social safety net (mainly because it's come in handy during the recession) and want responsible leadership. Nominating Bachmann, Palin, or Perry would be akin to the Mondale fiasco of 1984. And a nasty primary and/or convention fight would show the deep divisions in the party. Either scenario would spell doom for the conservatives.

 And so, for today at least, I can always dream.