Backseat Speechwriter

Rewriting Politics: What politicians and other public figures would have said if we lived in a world where political discourse was ruled by rationality, common sense, truth, and a love for one's neighbor.

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Gingrich on Trayvon Martin

Today, Newt Gingrich spoke on Sean Hannity's radio program about the Trayvon Martin tragedy:

"What the President said in a sense is disgraceful. It's not a question of who that young man looked like. Any young American of any ethnic background should be safe period. We should all be horrified no matter what the ethnic background. Is the president suggesting that if it had been a white man who had been shot that would have been ok because it didn't look like him?"

What Dr. Gingrich could have said: 

"Any young American of any ethnic background should be safe period. Unfortunately, as the present tragedy demonstrates, this is not the case. If it had been a white man spotted by Mr. Zimmerman that day, chances are that he would still be with us. Prejudiced attitudes still exist in society today, and it won't help the situation any to ignore that reality. We need to be able to recognize that racism exists without lending credence to it. Race must be part of the discussion, out in the open where the light can get at it and disinfect us of the wrongheaded ideas that lead to this tragedy."

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Jim DeMint on America's "real" problem

Mitt Romney picked up a pseudo-endorsement from Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina. Below is an actual quote from Senator DeMint taken from Politico. I have omitted one phrase:

"We all need to look at this presidential primary and encourage the candidates to do a little self-reflection here on what's good for our country. The sooner we can make a decision, the sooner we can focus on the real problem, which is ____."

What do you think Senator DeMint filled this blank with? The economy? Poverty? Health Care? Social Security? The environment? Energy independence? A reasonable case could be made for any of these. Unfortunately, Senator DeMint filled in the blank with "Obama." 

Now, Obviously Senator DeMint disagrees with President Obama on numerous policy issues. However, that does not make the President the biggest problem facing the country. He is a man with whom Senator DeMint may disagree, but he has America's best interests at heart. I hope that the end Senator DeMint has in mind is solving some of the more substantive problems I've identified above, not merely getting a member of his own party elected to the white house. I think it's important to remember that winning an election is not an end in itself, but rather a means to an end.

On a related note, can we please call him President Obama, even when we're disagreeing with him? It's a little thing, but I think the little things add up when you're trying to add civility back into a system where it is severely lacking. Above I disagree with some sentiments expressed by Senator DeMint, but I grant him the deserved honor of his title. Whether or not I agree with his politics, he has been elected by the people of South Carolina and is a long-serving public servant. He deserves my respect. I hope he recognizes that his colleagues deserve his. (Although according to Slate.com, not everyone deserves a title. President Clinton and Speaker Gingrich? Only if we've time-traveled back to the '90s. Dr. Clinton and Dr. Gingrich will do just fine, thank you very much.)

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The question about gas prices starts just after 22:00.

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Obama on Gas Prices

At a press conference earlier this month, Obama was asked whether he wanted high gas prices to wean Americans off fossil fuels onto renewable fuels, Obama responded "Just from a political perspective, do you think that the President of the United States going into reelection wants gas prices to go up higher? Is there anyone here who thinks that makes a lot of sense?" The president goes on to say that he wants gas prices lower because high gas prices hurt families, but his gut reaction was to talk about politics. And he also failed to make the very defensible case that high gas prices would be good for Americans in the long run. Here's an answer Obama could have given:

"I think this recent surge in gas prices shows the weaknesses of basing the entire American economy on fossil fuels largely produced beyond our own borders. We've always known that oil is produced in volatile areas, which results in the possibility of equally volatile gas prices. If you need an economic or security rationale for getting off fossil fuels, there it is. But beyond those rationales is an environmental rationale: fossil fuels are surely, and not-so-slowly, destroying the planet we live on. I think that gradually rising gas prices over a long period of time would be valuable to wean Americans off gas while giving them enough time to consider among the various alternatives and choose the one that works best for them. Unfortunately, the current surge is not so much a "weaning" as it is going cold turkey. Americans can't react as quickly as the oil market, which means they take a hit at the pump. And even if they did decide to make a change as a result of the current surge, government has not made it easy for them. We haven't made the kinds of investments in green transportation that need to be made: We need to make investments in public transportation, in electric cars and hybrids, and in a power grid that supports these new projects. In order to secure America's future, economic and environmental, we need to become a nation that makes petroleum a part of its past."

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Mitt's Concern

"I am concerned about the economic prospects of the American middle class, the very poor, and everyone in between. I want to become president of the United States in order to make life better for everyone, regardless of economic class. No one has it easy in a recession – we have to look after each other."

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Read My Lips:

"Read my lips: I am generally against imposing new taxes, but would consider such a proposal as part of a compromise to avert a greater economic disaster."

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Jon Huntsman's Plea for Unity

Jon Huntsman was every Democrat's favorite Republican throughout his tenure in the GOP primary. Throughout the early primary contest there were glimmers of an admirable rationality, like his assertion that the GOP could not afford to "run away from science" on the issue of global climate change. Another admirable moment was an exchange with Mitt Romney during a debate in early January, quoted here by the Huffington Post:

Romney: "I think we serve our country first by standing for people who believe in conservative principles and doing everything in our power to promote an agenda that does not include President Obama's agenda. The decision to go to work for President Obama is one which you took, and I don't – I respect your decision to do that. I just think it's most likely that the person who should represent our party running against President Obama is not someone who called him a remarkable leader and went to be his ambassador in China."

Huntsman: "This nation is divided because of attitudes like that."

Or watch the clip on youtube here

Unfortunately, moments like this were far between and Huntsman soon found that primary voters didn't reward them. Huntsman was soon out of the race and backing the same Romney he disparaged during the debate.

Here is a speech Huntsman might have made, a plea for the unity he could have represented as a candidate:

"Our country is divided. It is divided because our political culture has come to value 'winning' over progress, because politicians pay more attention to raising their poll numbers than to raising the poverty line. Our politics values loyalty to party over loyalty to each other, which forces both sides to radically reduce and simplify their views so they fit neatly into arbitrary platforms created more by tradition than rationality. 

"I'm a Republican because to get elected president within the constraints of the current divisive electoral institutions, I have to identify with one party or the other, and more of my views match the Republican platform than the Democratic one. This does not mean, however, that I believe everything traditional Republican ideology espouses. I believe, for example, that global climate change is a real and imminent crisis facing our nation.

"Only "believe" is the wrong word to use here, because it implies a lack of evidence. Politics shouldn't be about belief or faith, it should be about evidence and rationality. I don't just believe that global climate change is happening, I know it, because I have been presented with scientific proof. Policy without proof is ignorant stubbornness, and ideology without factual basis is just shouting into the wind.

"If I'm elected president, I'll really listen to both sides of every issue and make a decision based on an equitable consideration of the interests of all parties. I do hold certain conservative beliefs about the proper role of government in society, but strict adherence to these beliefs can never be more important than vigorous, respectful, and rational debate in search of compromise or consensus. I might not get everything that I want, and you might not get everything that you want, but if we value rationality and positive progress over ideology and the status quo, we can all be convinced that we are doing the best we can in an imperfect world where people hold legitimate differences of opinion.

"So if you want a Republican for president, don't vote for me. If you want a Democrat for president, don't vote for me. But if you want a neighbor for president, if you want someone who will listen to you and the people you love, if you want someone who will listen to those you've never met, if you want someone who will listen to whites and blacks, latinos and Asians, Californians and New Yorkers, Ohioans and Alaskans, men and women, straights and gays, rich and poor, if you want someone who will listen to all Americans respectfully and with fair consideration of their points of view, then vote for me. Together, we can make the States of America truly United again, truly one great, indivisible nation."