Everyone in politics is guilty of spin and the American people are tired of it. It becomes even more painstaking when the spin involves unemployment, which affects the very livelihood of many Americans. Today on Fox News, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz did just that type of spinning that I, like so many others, is tired of hearing:
Actually that started as a spin leading into a spin. The fact of the matter is that unemployment did go up since President Obama took office. There is no arguing that, but Schutz’s response was troubling. She is trying to ignore that unemployment went up because it is now within one percentage point of when Obama took office.
This is something that can put a lot of voters off. We are talking about an extremely important issue here and that issue deserves absolute candor without all the spin. Schultz should have admitted that unemployment did go up since Obama took office and should have pointed out that a big part of that was most likely because of the obstructionism President Obama has faced from the Republicans in Congress. I say most likely because no one can know for sure what would have happened if we had a real stimulus package put in place instead of the water-downed version that had to be put out to get past a Republican filibuster.
Politics in America is changing and it looks like it’s for the better. People want honesty. In my previous post on the new CBS poll we see that in the numbers, particularly on the blame of the economy question. A lot of pundits and politicians have tried to spin the economic collapse into being a post 1/20/09 occurrence, when it actually happened apexed in October of 2008, when Bush was still President (and started in 2007).
I think another indication of this change is Ron Paul’s recent increase in numbers. I am in no way a Ron Paul supporter. I believe his policies would be absolute disaster for this country and verge on extremism, but one thing I will say for Ron Paul is that he is genuine. The man says what he believes and sticks by it. It’s truly refreshing to see someone like that in Politics. He isn’t like Romney or Gingrich, who will change positions one day to the next.
If Democrats want to win next year then their best bet is to remain completely honest with the people. Try not to spin things and instead just talk about what the Republicans did and continue to do. That right there will blast a hole in any spin the right tries to throw out there and it’s something the people demand. Honesty can be brutal, but it also can be the greatest ally of the left in this changing political environment.