President Barrack Obama, Distractor-in-Chief

On 18 Feb 2011, I wrote a blog entry stating my opinion that fiscal conservatism should be the focus for American Conservatives especially in the run-up to the 2012 presidential election. I argued that the economy was what is most important and if Conservatives could regain control of the White House and the US Senate, social goals could be achieved through control of the the purse strings.

As the election unfolded however, liberal Democrats successfully shifted the discussion from the Obama Administration's disastrous economic record to social issues such as the bogus 'war on women', Sandra Fluke and birth control, abortion, gay marriage, health care, the rich paying 'their fair share', etc. and to my dismay, Republicans allowed themselves to be drawn into these distractions. This was a winning formula for Democrats as they went on to keeping control of both the presidency and the Senate.

Since his second inaugural address to the nation, President Obama has continued to try to keep the American public's attention focused on social issues and away from the economy. In an unbelievable bit of irony, the President disbanded his jobs council on the very same day that the country learned that the GDP growth for the previous quarter was again anemic and unemployment numbers creeped up a tenth of percent to 7.9%. Not that it makes much difference since the council hadn't met in a year. And for the fourth time since becoming president, Mr. Obama failed to submit his budget proposal by the February deadline and the Democrat controlled Senate have not passed a budget in four years. Instead of tackling our pressing economic problems, the President and the Democrats have added gun control and gays in the Boy Scouts of America as top agenda items for Mr Obama's second term. We can expect the willing press to move this agenda forward by continuing to question Republicans about these issues and neglecting to challenge the President on the economy.

At this point, what Conservatives must do is redirect any questions posed to them back in terms of the economy. They should say things like, "We are very interested in the president's ideas on gun control and how they are going to help reduce unemployment." or "We look forward to hearing the president's thoughts on the Boy Scouts and gays especially how he anticipates this will help get government spending under control." These responses of course are blatantly back in your face but that has to be the point. The media has to be forced to acknowledge that what the Obama Administration and the liberal Democrats are focusing on are not priorities. They continue to manufacture crises and respond to sensational headlines instead of addressing the 800 pound gorillas in the room - the debt crisis, sequestration, and our unsustainable growth in entitlement spending. The only way to get these issues back in front of the American people so they can demand answers is to force them into every conversation. Otherwise, liberals will continue shape the debate through distraction and the critical issues facing the nation will never receive any serious attention or solutions.