The "Them-Us" Republican Primary Campaigns

The political Right in this country has always had a Them-Us mentality. It relies heavily on “enemy making.”

Not surprisingly, this doesn’t sit well with “Them.”

As it turns out, “Them” just happens to be in a large majority in this country.

In contrast to the Right, that same majority knows in its heart of hearts that we are all in this together, folks (all beliefs, all races, all nationalities, all parties).

“Them-Us” is a zero-sum game.

What’s happening now in the Right wing-dominated Republican Party is that Mitt Romney is vulnerable to being portrayed as some demonized, alien “Them.” (Harvard, rich, privileged, problem-free, spineless, moderate, non-Fundamentalist Christian.)

In contrast, Rick Santorum matches the Right’s view of itself. Santorum fits the Right-wing Republican “us” simply by being everything that Romney isn’t.

Newt Gingrich, by the way, is so far off the charts that he’s neither “them” nor “us.”

The irony is that all the candidates of both parties are being bankrolled by the very rich, who are about as unlike any of us as they can be. Think: “one percent” without demonizing.

No matter who wins in November, some segment of the super-rich will call the shots.

The good news is that a few of hyper-rich understand that issues like ensuring economic justice, working for peace, and saving the environment will determine the health of their investment in the future.

Whether the view of these few prevails is another question. Financed by short-sighted, self-aggrandizing billionaires and corporations, a congressional coalition of Blue-Dog Democrats and Tea Party Republicans may hold the power. Power and personal riches seem to be the exclusive, shared goals of these politicians and their billionaire backers.

For now, these same Right-wing billionaires and corporate interests are bankrolling the televised rhetoric of the Republican presidential primaries. The commercial campaigns have nothing to do with issues that confront the nation...and the planet.

Instead, the television blitz of sound bites and spooky “visuals” is all about “Them-Us.” The effort is to define who is "Them" and who is "Us."

The approach will only produce a Republican nominee confronted by enemies of his own making.

Be assured that “Them” will be voting in November.