Headline of the day: “Piquing too soon”
That is the headline for Noemie Emery’s hilarious column on the left’s frenzied reaction to Governor Rick Perry of Texas:
Only days after Rick Perry jumped into the race, the Left worked itself into a frenzy of loathing — over his boots, hair, drawl and his devotion to God and his pistol, but mainly over their unrelieved horror that men such as he are allowed to exist.
Calling it pique understates the emotion: It’s not his ideas, it is Perry himself who offends them. And it’s really an old sort of reheated loathing, warmed over from last time, or perhaps from the time before that….
The thing about this is how much they enjoy it, and how they are never without a focus of fury. Bush hatred morphed into Palin dementia, and then to Perry hysterics, without a break in their rhythm, or a skip in their beat. Not since the whipping craze of the late Middle Ages have furies so strange held so much sway among those who think themselves rational people.
My theory is that this kind of irrational hatred works less well than it once did-Bush hatred was behind the election of President 9.1 Unemployment. This kind of frenzy seems to be nothing new in the history of mankind, but I think it’s about to be eclipsed by the unemployment rate.
The passage of Obamacare, which a majority of the voters still don’t like, is another factor that probably overshadows the governor’s personal traits that annoy the left. The Wall Street Journal has an terrific editorial on how the percentage of uninsured people in Texas will play in the upcoming campaign:
The attempt to dismiss the Texas jobs record seems to have abated, at least for now, but the episode shouldn’t pass without mentioning the other great liberal theme: More than a quarter of the Lone Star State’s people lack health insurance, and supposedly this is proof that Governor Rick Perry hates the poor, as well as vindicating President Obama’s health-care plan.
On top of Democratic criticism, we wouldn’t be surprised if Mitt Romney uses the issue to attack Mr. Perry as the former Massachusetts Governor fights for the GOP Presidential nod. The contrasts are instructive, but the factoid that 26.3% of Texans under age 65 are uninsured-compared to the national rate of 17.2%-could use a little scrutiny.
The uninsured percentage can be lowered by extending Medicaid beyond its original purpose, but Perry has not done that. The state can also simply insure everyone as was undertaken in Massachusetts (and this appears to be expanding the state’s expenses). Perry has not gone for this path either. The Wall Street Journal notes:
The point is that there are trade-offs between prosperity and entitlement government. The Texas economy is growing and adding jobs in part because it hasn’t adopted the economic model that Mr. Obama favors: high tax rates on the upper middle class, lots of politically directed investment, heavy unionization and a dominant government role in health care. We suspect most voters would prefer the growth that drives jobs and raises incomes over higher taxes to fund more government services. They certainly prefer it in Texas, as Mr. Perry’s re-election record will attest.
It is issues such as this–not Mr. Perry’s boots and hair–that should be debated during the upcoming campaign. But I am not sure that the left, even with valium, can calm down and talk about these matters.