Mistresses and Pre-Nups in American Politics
Louise Annarino
April 25,2011
American political campaign’s are a difficult courtship between candidate and electors. Each candidate puts on a good face and woos the public with promises made during romantic events orchestrated to convince his or her audience that this is someone special. This is the one we have waited for our entire lives. Eventually, we meet the entire family, get to know their friends, sometimes even get a look at their tax returns. We cringe when big daddy media questions our beloved too closely. We really prefer not to have our bubbles burst too soon. The wooing seems to go on forever, and at great cost, especially after the wedding date has been set.
Four years after the wedding the other woman shows up to call into question our fidelity, the new candidate’s very presence a reminder this marriage has at best another 4 years. But the new candidate urges us not to wait. “Dump the bum, now! can’t you see what he has done to you?” Please, we know this routine. We have faced it every four years for over 200 years. Yet, we have short memories. Too many of us fall for this every time. And each of us has a great aunt Bertha around to tell us “I told you so”.
But, no honeymoon lasts 4 years. Not every campaign promise can be easily kept. And, in fact, as in any marriage, there is really only one key promise – to uphold the marriage itself. The key political promise is to uphold the Constitution and the laws of The United States of America, to uphold the country itself.
Mitt Romney has many mistresses: ALEC, The Koch brothers and other multi-millionaire SUPERPAC owners, Karl Rove, the TEA PARTY, and Grover Norquist who requires Republican candidates to make THE PLEDGE to him of no new taxes. This pledge has grown so large it now overshadows the marriage itself, undermines governance, and causes Republican members of the House and Senate to forget their greatest pledge to uphold government itself. I don’t trust anyone who needs a pre-nup before committing to me their lives and sacred honor, to love and cherish me, and to be faithful to me.
I don’t want a relationship with a candidate who brings his mistresses along on our dates, who makes promises to them more absolute than his promise to me. I certainly would never marry him, nor elect him president. I’ll keep the man I’ve already got. He has remained true to me even though he can’t always give me everything I want. I’ll keep Barack Obama.
annarino writes 