There's more than a few things wrong with Thomas F. Schaller's column "Policies favoring conservatism built into the system" (Jan. 26).
First, Mr. Schaller's claim that President Obama had a winning presidential vote share that exceeded those of Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush is a bit disingenuous. President Obama beat Sen. John McCain by less than 8 percent of the vote, and President Reagan beat President Carter by over 9 percent of the vote. In a nation with an ever-growing population, such metrics must be measured in percentages, not raw numbers, to have any real meaning.
Second, Mr. Schaller claims that President George W. Bush was able to push three "far-from-popular" income tax cuts through a Congress boasting smaller Republican majorities than those the Democrats enjoy today. In fact, in a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted Jan. 5-7, 2001, before Bush took office and before Congress began debating Bush's proposed $1.3 trillion tax cut, over half (52 percent) of Americans favored the Bush tax cuts. When it came to making them permanent, support dropped from 64 percent in November 2002 to 52 percent in December 2004, with opposition rising from 29 percent to 40 percent during that period. I couldn't find a poll that suggests that at any time during the debate public support for Bush's tax cuts was less than 50 percent, except among the liberal elites.
Third, Mr. Schaller appears to contest the notion that America is a "center-right" nation. Again, I would point to the polls. In fact, Gallup polling since 1992 has consistently held that there are roughly twice as many American's who identify themselves as conservatives as there are liberals. That didn't change in the most recent poll. With a consistent 40 percent of Americans identifying themselves as conservative and half that number identifying themselves as liberal, America is indeed a center-right nation.
Finally, I take issue with Mr. Schaller's insistence that the health care bill is not being forced quickly and thoughtlessly down Americans' throats.
Despite his claim that there's been "six decades of policy conflict, followed by two years of debates among presidential candidates from both parties and a yearlong national discourse over specifics," the fact is this bill was being pushed through by lawmakers, many of whom by their own admission didn't have the time to actually read it. And the only possible reason to push the bill through so quickly was because President Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid knew that once Americans read the bill, they would dislike it. During six decades of public conflict and many presidential debates, I didn't hear anyone mention a Cadillac tax on health insurance, a payoff to Louisiana, an exemption for the state of Nebraska or a free pass for trial lawyers. That's the current bill, and it's a mess.
Thomas Schaller, like the White House, is in excuse mode. They have an excuse for the low poll numbers, an excuse for the lack of good legislation, and an excuse for the pending landslide in November. Blame Bush, blame the system, blame the Supreme Court. What they don't have is a grip on the reality of the situation. The fact is, the only systemic factor working in favor of the Republicans is the one Mr. Schaller already mentioned. America is a center-right nation. Republicans who move back to their base after the general election are doing so with almost half the nation already ideologically connected with them. Democrats following the same path find only 1 in 5 voters in their corner, which is a political disaster. The result of this dichotomy, the populist candidate and the liberal leader, will often be a mid-term smack down, just as was handed to President Clinton in 1994 (after which he discovered his inner-moderate).
The mid-term election. Ah, another policy system favoring Republicans.
Michael P. DeCicco, Severn
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