Romney’s “gifts”
The immigration debate will measure how open the GOP is
The recent comment Mitt Romney made that President Obama won the election because of the “gifts” he gave his voters is a fair corollary for a presidential campaign that never understood the average American.
Especially during a re-election, it is normal for the president’s office to take advantage of its power to benefit its candidate. The Republican campaign must have anticipated this, since it also had a list of “gifts,” according to Romney’s definition.
The Republican proposal promised drastic tax cuts, full-speed-ahead deregulation, reforms of social benefits programs and defense increases, all without increasing taxes on the wealthiest. These gifts were for the business sector, under the label of job creation.
On the other hand, Obama’s “gifts” alleviated pressure on millions of professionals trapped under endless student loan debt, gave peace of mind to a category of immigrant students with the Deferred Action program and facilitated access to health insurance for a sector of the population. These were the most urgent problems, even in a bad economy.
A lack of understanding of the reality of the average voter led Romney to keep thinking that only minorities benefit from Obamacare, as if there were no uninsured whites, and that only young people benefit from help with their student debt.
There is no doubt that Romney was not a good candidate for this day and age. For him, everything has a market cost, nothing is free; that is why even access to a doctor is a “gift” from the government.
His disconnect from voters was the result of his way of being, his strategy and his message. These three factors must be taken into account in his self-evaluation.
That is where the problem is. While some Republicans are calling for widening the message to adapt it to changing demographics, there is a growing group that attributes the defeat to their candidate’s deficiencies and a matter of strategy that cost him votes. Both groups, so far, are rabidly anti-government.
The evolution of this partisan conversation will probably be seen in the expected debate over immigration reform. There we will be able to truly see how Republicans read the results of this election.
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