The Psychoses of Liebermania....

The Psychoses of Liebermania.....

By C. Edmund Wright

What is Liebermania? Or more precisely, WHY is Liebermania? It is an air borne political psychosis with about three main causes. (it is related to why the Republican brand is in trouble...)

Consider:A couple months ago I was speaking to a fairly well respected and successful Washington DC communications consultant about some election related issues and his take on the campaigns. He had been referred to me by a bigtime Obama supporter who in fact was not even sure of his political stripes. This guy was very proud of being in a group with other consultant types pushing hard for a McCain-Lieberman ticket to folks in the McCain campaign.

He did not mention who some of the folks involved were, and was circumspect about how deep inside the McCain camp his contacts were. That was not his point. His point was that the biggest problem facing the country was partisanship. He was sure of this, and proud to be part of a revolutionary effort to end it. (Aside from being wrong about partisanship being a problem, and wrong about the effect on such of a McCain-Lieberman ticket, he was right on the money.)

Thus defined is the first thread of the psychosis beind Liebermania; the belief that bi-partisanship is the answer to everything. It's sort of a "can't we all get along" driven premise that ignores some very basic hard facts. Chief among them is that history proves we can't "all just get along" and furthermore, the Founding Fathers warned us about getting along...for the sake of getting along. You might remember the Declaration of Independence, a document not frought with the need to get along? Given the doctine of say, Thomas Jefferson, versus the "pony tailed guy" from the famous Richmond Presidential debate, I'll take the old white dude with the marble Memorial as a guide to how important all of this bi-partisanship is.

In the spirit of Jefferson, I proudly choose NOT to get along with those who oppose free market capitalism. I choose not to get along with those who oppose off-shore drilling and energy independence. I choose not to get along with those who are invested in any American military defeat at any time. I choose not to get along with anyone a pay grade short of being able to define the beginning of life. In short, I have no choice but to distinctly NOT get along with anyone who opposes what is clearly in the best interests of this country and its Constitution. 

And all too often, Joe Lieberman is one of those I have a hard time getting along with (in a political sense).  Common sense dictates that there is nothing to gain by pretending to get along with Lieberman now in hopes of getting more Americans to pretend to get along with the McCain ticket in November. You know, all of this "getting along" pretense should have come to a screetching halt last week as Jim Leach, Rita Hauser and Link Chafee decided not "to get along" with the McCain Campaign. Hey, I thought McCain and these three were the poster children for the magnificence of just getting along. How did that work out?

But there's more to the Liebermania than just misguided Republicans trying to be loved. The second thread, or Liebermaniacs 2.1,  are the pundit class who insists on being extraordinarily tone deaf when it comes to figuring out how McCain, or any Republican, can attract the "swing voters" or "Reagan Democrats" and independents. History is clear, Reagan did so by convincing those voters to join him. The massive victories of Reagan were not big tent victorys. They were small tent victorys with very very crowded tents.

But since Clinton (HE Clinton) siphoned off some of these voters by pretending to  go to the center, and Ross Perot further muddied up the waters in those elections, the pundits and conultants have lost their way on reading the tea leaves. They tell us, almost daily, that McCain and all Republicans must move to the center to attract these voters and win. In other words, Mac, and all Republicans must simply take a poll, declare it gospel, and then try and position themselves in the way of which way the political wind is blowing.

This flies in the face of the success of Reagan. It wass not the recipe for the success of the Contract with America congressional election. It is not what made Saddleback a huge success for McCain last weekend in fact.  In all these situations, Republicans simply kept explaining conservatism with certitude and humor and passion until the winds changed. 

Conservatism, explained properly, wins. Liberalism, explained properly, loses. That's why what worked for Clinton is exactly the opposite of what works for Republicans. This idea has not, for some reason, been picked up on the radar of folks like Dick Morris, Fred Barnes and Frank Luntz.

It is, conversely,  firmly on the radar of two very disparate groups of people. One group would be the most successful of the conservative media members...Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, etc. Their massive followings demonstrate the wisdom of their messages daily. This is why you cannot find them among the bigtime supporters of McCain or among the preferred experts by mainstream media reporters.

But another group that understands this would include many in that mainstream media universe and many Democratic consultants (as if you can tell them apart). This group, or groups, of course want Obama to win.  And not coincidentally, these folks seem to push the naming of Lieberman as McCain's Veep running mate the hardest. These are the same folks who kept saying it was "in the best interest" of the Republican Party to nominate McCain. It's just a hunch, but I'm not so sure it's wise to invest a lot of hope in what your enemies think is in your "best interests." These folks represent the third thread of Liebermania, and they are made all the more effective due to the existence of the other groups.

Of course, the key is how many of any of these groups are in the McCain Campaign inner circle. For that matter, when the final decision is made, will it be the McCain of Saddleback or the McCain of the gang of 14 making the call? Will Lindsay Graham be out fetching coffee or will he be seriously consulted? Will pleasing Chris Matthews or winning the election be the highest priority?

All of these are interesting questions, because one thing we know for sure; there is an outbreak of Liebermania in the McCain campaign. It is politically fatal. We can only hope it is contained.