Of Etch-a-Sketches and Cadillacs – A Campaign of Trivialities

By Phil Perkins

The Republican presidential candidates and their surrogates have a penchant for spoon-feeding the media (and by extension, the Obama campaign) all of the sound bites they could possibly want for this fall. This includes a steady stream of fodder that in a previous time would be seen for the trivia it is, in order to keep the public consciousness off Obama’s inept performance. In short, they’re making this campaign way too easy for Obama.

Just when Mitt Romney had scored a fairly big win in the Illinois primary and made a victory speech that sounded all the right conservative notes, Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom made the fateful statement in an interview that his boss could “reset” for the general election (translation: stop sounding so darn conservative for those extreme right-wing pests in his base) in the same way an Etch-a-Sketch toy can be shaken up to start a new drawing. Fehrnstrom is either one of the most politically tone-deaf “advisers” in modern history, or he’s secretly on George Soros’ payroll. Either way, to ascribe his candidate’s positions—a candidate notorious for past “flip-flops”—as being analogous to a toy that can be shaken at a whim to destroy the old and create the new is beyond deliciously ironic. It’s the stuff of which the opposition’s dreams are made. And no matter what Fehrnstrom may have intended to say with his remarks, the toothpaste can’t be put back in the tube.

Sure enough, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum could both be seen derisively waving Etch-a-Sketch toys at their campaign appearances last week. Of course, the MSM is giddy at the thought that this could be a defining moment in Romney’s campaign—and they will do their best to make that a reality by not letting it die a natural death.

The Bible makes it clear that in the last days, men will be given over to wicked behavior including deception, malice and slander (Rom 1:29-30). As Obama continues to deceive the public with his every utterance, the media continue their shameless efforts to protect him and hammer the Republican candidates on trivial things. Who cares if Romney or his wife have two Cadillacs if the candidate will make a better, more honest president than the current occupant?

On a less trivial note, I would encourage you to enroll in Hillsdale College’s on-line Constitution 101 course. There is no charge except what you feel led to donate, and the instructors are experts on the subject matter. And, unlike the current White House occupant who fancies himself an expert on Constitutional law as he goes about trashing it, the course instructors actually revere our founding documents. The course is a great reminder of how precious our freedoms really are. And that’s an important reminder as we head into this critical election.