Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

Hence Democratic office seekers tend to move leftward during the primary season to win the votes of activists more likely to vote in primaries.  Conversely Republican office seekers tend to move rightward to covet the votes of activist primary participants.

Swings tend to occur in the post-primary season leading up to election day based on national voting tendencies.  The average American voter based on numerous studies as well as voting examples stands to the right of Democratic Party stalwarts who engage actively in the political process and to the left of Republicans so involved.

This phenomenon is what prompted the use of the term vital center in a way that Arthur Schlesinger did not intend.  In a current context the big question is what the Republican Party strategy will be when the current hotly contested 2010 primary season ends and the general election campaign commences.

The current trend evidenced in national polling, and reflected in the current primary season, is an active non-incumbent animus, a "throw the rascals out" attitude.

This gives rise, however, to the obvious point of what these individuals will do when given the choice between two candidates espousing differing viewpoints.

Should these elections and the broad national election picture not come down to issues?  Which candidate or candidates offer the better solutions of what is best for the country?

I have recently observed the World Net Daily website.  It is a favorite of the Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter set, and is so reflected based on the columnists featured there.

The major "issue" I have observed being discussed unrelentingly is fraudulent.  It deals with Barack Obama being wrongly and unconstitutionally in office when he was born in Kenya despite the fact that his birth certificate was released on the Internet and his birth was reported in the two major local newspapers, the Honolulu Advertiser and the Star Bulletin.  

The "Birther" non-issue has been a popular Tea Party advocacy point, as was the ludicrous point that Obama was unpatriotic because, as seen in a widely distributed photo, he did not place his hand over his chest when the Star Spangled Banner was being played.

Visit any public event and you will observe scores of people standing at respectful attention, in the manner that Obama was shown, without placing their hands over their chests.  If this is an unpatriotic practice then huge numbers of Americans would qualify under this fallacious standard.

Another point repeatedly raised by Tea Party activists, and in this instance echoed by Republican minority leaders Senator Mitch McConnell and Congressman John Boehner, is the determination to campaign against Obama's health care bill.  The point is buttressed by the confident claim that most Americans oppose Obama's position on health care as reflected by the legislation passed.

The final point is correct but in a misleading way that makes it ultimately false.  Yes, national polls have recorded opposition, but because the bill did not go far enough.  Those same polls revealed that the majority of Americans favor the public option and support for a Canadian style medical care system runs high.

Invoking the public option is seen among Republicans as "socialistic" even among Maine's Senator Olympia Snowe, the one Republican that Obama unsuccessfully wooed for support and was perceived to be the last major officeholder from the old New England progressive Republican tradition.  

Is the aforementioned an example of what we can expect in the 2010 general election from Republicans?  If so, will America's vital center embrace the party's stance on the issues?