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uk/2012/10/romney-and-ryan-are-a-one-way-ticket-to -disaster/ Romney and Ryan are a one-way ticket to disaster Obama may have disappointed, but a Republican in the White House would be bad ne ws for the world, warns Ian Williams by Ian Williams Wednesday, October 10th, 2012 Barack Obama has under-fulfilled his own modest promises in many respects, but c ompared with the Philistine farrago of his opponents positions, only the tried an d tested school of Masochism-Leninism could wish for his defeat or do anything l ike abstention that would assist a victory for the Grand Old Party. In the face of an unrelenting and unprecedented war of attrition by Republicans on Capitol Hill, Obama does have some solid achievements. In the fuzzy logic of political calculus, the President eschews grandstanding about what he has done, not least since, when outwitting your somewhat dim opponents, it is not clever t o explain your tricks. Apart from the healthcare bill that, despite its faults, infuriates the GOP to t he extent that it tries to repeal it on a weekly basis, the last budget compromi se possibly saved the world economy by smuggling in a stimulus package whose pas sage was dependent on it not appearing as such. That has been good in terms of pragmatic one might almost say Fabian tactics. Bu t it underestimates the attachment of the American electorate to theo-ideologica l appeals and voters aversion to evidence-based analysis. In a country where almost half of the population are creationists, climate chang e deniers and so many Republican voters think their President is a foreign-born Muslim, it is hardly surprising that American voters in their untold millions ar e convinced that Obama has increased their taxes and that the economy has worsened during his first term. Obamas tactical call is to decide when he broaches the big ideas. This carries da ngers. Attracting the independent-minded voters who look at technical details li ke reality could conflict with the communitarian ideals that he needs to rally h is own core supporters and motivate them to turn out to vote. It is Obamas acute dilemma: he has to win over the independents, who often do vot e, and yet motivate the traditionally abstaining minorities and poverty-stricken who, with some good reason, fail to see what a battle between different bankers surrogates has to offer them. In both cases, his biggest asset is inadvertent: the insouciant cretinism of his opponents. It might be observed that the Mitt Romney-Paul Ryan ticket is taking the shape of a Dan Quayle and Sarah Palin duet to disaster. Romneys comments on the 47per cent whom he puts in the position of spongers, dependent on the larges se of a state funded by people like him, will certainly upset many. But we are not talking about a group of avid readers, even if the video leak of his speech to wealthy fundraisers had made as much of splash in the media as it should have done. Is the world really ready for a devout former Mormon bishop in the White House who will tell his backers whatever they want in order to gain p ower? There was little or no fuss when it was revealed that Romneys charitable donations were, in fact, mostly tax-deductible tithes to the Church of the Latter Day Sain

ts. Faced with the doctrinaire reality detached nature of current Republican positio ns, it could almost be reassuring that Romney is so gymnastically flexible in hi s positions. However, that tactical flexibility is a thin veneer on a harsh and selfish neo-liberal, Mormon core ideology. As befits an American bred religion founded on the search for golden treasure an d disciplined hierarchy, the Mormon Church has not exactly been in the forefront of American progress. Romney does have a communitarian vision of sorts. Along with a pattern of patria rchal sexist authoritarianism, his record as a Mormon bishop includes many examp les of care within the church community. Similarly, his fundraising talk shows that he prepared to extend the LDS communi ty of blessed, provident and self-sufficient Americans to include the general co ngregation of committed self-made and self-reliant billionaires the Church of Lucky Damn Sods, as it were. Of course, such definitions of self-made persons exclude any help from rich parents, conspiracies with rich insider colleagues and simila r examples of divine providence. Here, his expedient running mate comes into his own. Apart from the general incl ination to shovel money from the poor to the rich that he shares with Romney, Pa ul Ryan is a true believer in an atavistic form of Catholicism which is so react ionary that it outflanks Franco on the right and ignores half a century of Roman Catholic developments in social concern. Ayn Rand meets Savanorola, in his pecu liar worldview. Both Mormonism and Ryans Catholicism share an unhealthy pre-occupation with how p eople screw each other sexually that covers their with enthusiasm for mass finan cial rape by the rich. People who need food stamps to feed their kids will vote for candidates who oppose abortion but will take away their food stamps. When Ryan produced his deficit reduction plan, which every sane economist saw as an extended plan for euthanising the United States economy while amputating the last vestiges of the New Deal, the mainstream punditocracy greeted it with resp ectful clucks. It was like watching the emperors new clothes being made in front of your eyes. So that is why the Romney-Ryan ticket is still in with a chance. While a refresh ing number of people do remember that the financial crash came on non-person Bus hs watch, far too many have been mesmerised into thinking that taxes are too high , as are (everybody elses) welfare entitlements. They think that the deficit is the biggest problem except when it comes to milit ary spending (which Ryan wants to increase). So, this presidential election does make a difference. Obamas technocratic compet ence and attenuated concern for the disadvantaged, not to mention seeing his fee t on the ground of the New Deal and the real economy, is in total contrast with the unmitigated disaster promised by the opposition. The Masochist-Leninists are probably beyond hope, but we can hope that the Romne y-Ryan double act can persuade the poor and minorities who see Republican attemp ts to clear them from voting rolls, who see their healthcare evaporating, and th eir jobs and even unemployment benefits threatened, to turn out on the day. If any of them claims voting does not make a difference, they should be directed to Britains former mining towns, where Margaret Thatcher showed that it did.