Posted by
Shogrensus on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 11:00:19 AM
The women had a very pertinent exchange triggered by Sheryl Crow approaching Karl Rove at the Correspondent’s dinner with Lorie David to raise concerns about global warming:
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Joy: They went up to Karl Rove and they said something about global warming because that’s their thing right now and he said to Sheryl Crow “I don’t work for you” and she said to “You work for me” and Karl Rove said “I don’t work for you, I work for the American people.” Isn’t Sheryl Crow an American?
Rosie: She said that’s what she said: “We are the American people”
Elisabeth: Maybe he meant not just her specifically
Joy: What was he talking about: “I work for the American people, I don’t work for Sheryl Crow”
Elisabeth: Maybe he just assumed “Look, I am not just working for you. I am working for everybody. And everybody may not feel exactly the same way you do
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Karl Rove does not working for Sheryl Crow and really, he is not working for all of the American people. Republicans get caught up in this myth that politicians represent everybody. They can’t represent everybody because there is virtually no policy upon which everyone will agree. Politicians often make strategic decisions about their policy positions. Sometimes conservatives make political sacrifices to do what they think is right and they hope their base will come to understand their choices. Rarely is this true of Democratic politicians.
Republicans have tried, domestically, to meet people in the middle. This may have worked for Bush in Texas, where the middle looks a little different than some of the middle across America. The left of Texas is perhaps slightly more conservative than the left of New York or California or Massachusetts. Not all in the middle or on the left are prone to teamwork.
“No Child Left Behind” is just one example of Bush angering conservatives to work with the Democrats (Kennedy) to create public policy that Bush really believed would help American children being disserved by their local school districts. The conservatives got angry (and still are) and the Democrats openly blame Bush for all of the problems with the program. Democrats never take Kennedy to task- they blame Bush.
Rove and the rest of the conservatives need to understand that they will never make people like Crow happy. She will never meet you part way and she will never vote for a conservative candidate. Even when conservatives do what they want, it will be the conservative’s fault when their programs don’t work. Rove and other conservatives need to make the decisions they think are best for this country, knowing that the other side is rooting for their failure.
Democrats do not worry what the red states think about their policies. They just think conservatives are a bunch of racist, capitalist pigs who selfishly think only of themselves. When Harry Reid says the war is lost, he is not thinking about how he works for the American people. He is thinking about how many more Democratic senate seats he will garner if the ”Republicans” lose the war. He is not thinking about America or the cost to America’s credibility or the risks to Americans if we all lose the war. He does not think about the fact that people around the world will not say the Republicans lost the war. They will say the Americans lost the war. Harry Reid thinks about his Democratic base before he makes any political decision.
Nancy Pelosi is not thinking about the American people when she skips a meeting with General Petreus. She was not thinking about the American people when she met with the leader of Syria, she was pandering to her base.
What would lead someone to believe that Republicans are putting the country first? Bush and the Republicans are pursuing policy that many Americans do not like. Their decisions have cost them politically yet they are staying the course. If these decisions were being made for strictly political reasons, why would they stay on a path that is so costly, politically? They are trying to do what is right, i.e. correct.
I don't agree with everything Rove says or does, but he is right about this: He does not work for Sheryl Crow.