Like a lot of folks on the Left, I watched with no small amount of amusement as Chris Matthews dismantle RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. I could have done without Matthews’ strident approach, but I can understand why he was frustrated. Like many Conservaitives, Priebus’ instinct when he determines that he’s losing is to fall back on vague talking points and cheap personal insults. When he can’t speak to the facts, he accuses the President of looking to Europe for inspiration. When he senses that Matthews has the upper hand, he resorts to the “I can’t play this game because he’s not fighting fairly” argument.
Priebus is representative of the Republican strategy of appealing to the lowest common denominator. They don’t want an honest debate, because they know they can’t compete on the facts. They know an honest debate will expose them as empty, propaganda-driven ideologues with no ideas. What they want is to engage in name-calling, specious accusations, and half-truths. Imply that the President wasn’t born in the US, and that he’s somehow “foreign”…before immediately denying that they’ve said exactly that. It’s a dog-whistle strategy designed to appeal to their Conservative base, which oathes the idea of a Black man in the White House. The reality that there’s no basis in truth or fact is beside the point. They know they can claim victory by acting as if they’re somehow above the fray, all while appealing to the ignorance, fear, and racism of their base.
The sad thing is that Republicans have a reasonable chance of riding this reprehensible strategy to success in November…because it seems the American Sheeple are too ignorant and intellectually lazy to pay attention to what’s taking place. When a significant portion of your base is absolutely convinced that the ONLY source of truth and honest analysis is Fox News Channel, you’re talking about people who equate truth with whatever confirms their prejudices and preconceived notions.
Meanwhile, Reince Priebus and his minions continue to smugly peddle their arrogance and disinformation while really caring only for their own ambition and enrichment. Now THAT’S leadership, eh?