Obama like Reagan?

Pollster Scott Rassmussen has a great editorial in the Wall Street Journal today that clearly lays out the path for Conservatives to regain the political high ground in America and also lays out President Elect Obama’s real dilemma.

He has promised tax cuts for 95% of the American people and now he must deliver.

Problem is, he has tax raising Democrats in charge of the Congress and they will find it very hard to restrain themselves from growing government (even more than Bush) and raising taxes to pay for at least a part of it. This is Rassmussen’s central point as he lays out the statistics of how Americans favor Reagan and his tax cuts. Hope and change were part of Reagan’s message if you remember.

Reagan is still view favorably by most Americans and his record of cutting taxes is still a positive as demonstrated by polling results. Clinton knew this and so did Obama and they were able to steal that issue from the Republican party which is still reeling from the excesses of 8 years of Bush’s “Big Government Socialism” and who put forward a Presidential candidate who articulated a weaker message on this issue.

However, half of the Democrats polled don’t like Reagan or his tax cuts. So how can Obama fulfill his campaign promise and not bitterly divide his party?

He cant because the tax and spend crowd will demand higher, not lower taxes for expanded government spending and will use the severity of the recession as the excuse to do just that.

Herein lies the opportunity for the Conservative movement to regain lost ground (notice I didn’t say the Republican party) and frame the debate for the future.

There will be millions of disillusioned Obama supporters in the coming years due to his inability to follow through on two of his central promises, ending the war in Iraq and cutting taxes. The tax oriented voters who fit this category will be fertile ground for the us in the Conservative movement to tailor our message to and provides an opportunity to drive a wedge in the Democrat party and the independents who voted with them this time around.

It will be different here in Oregon however, because the Democrats in the legislature now have a tax raising majority, have a growing budget deficit to fill and will have less money to spend in the coming two year budget period. In Oregon, raising taxes is lauded as the “courageous” thing to do as opposed to the concept of living within one’s means. In fact, many Republicans believe this is acceptable and have shown in times past that they are willing to go along with these ideas, instead of even trying to advance the ideas of limited government and reform.

Therefore, there will be little political penalty for raising taxes in Oregon, at least initially. Over time, with a lengthened recession brought on by bad public policy, the voters here will figure it out. But, only if the Conservative movement has the right message at the right time. Like Reagan, we should begin laying the foundation of that message now, much as he did after he lost to Ford in the primary in 1976. His message was just as timely in 1980 as Obama’s was in 2008.

We should immediately begin the process of educating and informing the American electorate about the differences between freedom and socialism, utilizing the time honored issue of taxes as our theme. We should take strong stands on issues and frame the debate with alternative ideas that give the voters and taxpayers hope during a negative atmosphere that is coming under liberal policies.

Only by engaging in this process both in America and in Oregon, will the voting public be encouraged to re examine the failed policies of socialism and vote to restore our nation to the vision of our founders. Limited government.