We can all agree that these are difficult economic times. Four years ago, many of us hoped that Barack Obama would be the President who could turn our country around. We hoped he would eliminate the petty partisan bickering that had for so long stifled any genuine political change in the United States. We hoped that he might somehow lessen our national debt, improve our job possibilities, and solidify our shaky economy.
His election was akin to a religious frenzy. But that religious-like fervor has passed…and we still have difficult economic times. It is no surprise that the Republican Party is now frantically searching for the political savior that Obama failed to be.
I’ve personally found the recent Republican campaign antics to be a ridiculously futile attempt of wealthy politicians to relate to the American middle class, let alone to our country’s poor. Some of us still smile at the memory of Mother Teresa gingerly fingering the lapel of President Ronald Reagan’s suit. “Mr. President,” she noticed, “you paid too much for this suit.”
Are we Americans so naive as to overlook the fact that all of our politicians paid too much for their suits? I suppose that’s why we see them sporting jeans and open collar shirts on the campaign trail. I suppose that’s why Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Tim Pawlenty, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, and Herman Cain all exaggerate their humble beginnings. Even the wealthy Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney claim they understand the pain of being poor, since their ancestors were poor…back in the day.
Wake up America. All of our politicians paid too much for their suits. And they all dress down in a feeble attempt to feign camaraderie with the rest of us. There is no conceivable way that Newt Gingrich, who receives $60,000 per speech, can even remotely understand what it feels like to be poor.
I refuse to ever accept as a political savior, anyone who has to dress down in an attempt to relate to me. I refuse to accept as a political savior, anyone who was not born in a stable, amongst the stench and dirt of reality. My savior was more poor than wealthy, more refugee than ruler, more ridiculed than elected.
My savior didn’t have to dress down to relate to me. And for what it’s worth…my savior was more political than any Republican or Democrat will ever be.
