I wasn't going to write about politics today, especially not after an e-mail I received from one reader who was so outraged over the "leftward direction" of National Underwriter that he threatened to cancel his subscription. Even Ronald Reagan was to the left of someone, so I couldn't take the threat too seriously. Still, I thought, why not write about something else? This being an election year, our collective fatigue over political writing is sure to hit a saturation point. For most people, it is around noontime Jan. 2, and who can blame them?
So there I was, researching an article that will likely appear early next week, and I came across a remarkable bit of political character assassination. It is a 30-minute attack ad against Mitt Romney, hammering at his track record while at Bain Capital. It is one of the harsher bits of political flak I have ever seen. You can judge for yourself at the end of this article. But before you watch it, know that the video wasn't created by the Obama campaign or some left-wing outfit. It was created by a fellow who used to craft attack ads for Romney himself a few years ago, and who made this film and shopped it around to the various camps of GOP primary hopefuls. Eventually the film was picked up by Winning Our Future, a super-PAC dedicated to getting Newt Gingrich the GOP nomination.
This is not the first time we have seen harsh infighting among a party out of power during the primary season. It happens every election cycle, and it is a handy way of ensuring that only the strongest candidates survive to the extremely trying head-to-head contest of running for President. This is why we have already seen some pretty nasty campaigning between the current GOP front runners. But there is fierce internal competition and then there is fratricide, and "When Mitt Romney Came to Town" definitely seems to be in the latter camp.
I say this while recalling how, for the most part, Ronald Reagan liked to abide by the Eleventh Commandment: "Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican." I suppose such a sentiment would be see as a naive sign of weakness in today's political arena, but Reagan's time wasn't so long ago, really, and regardless of party, it would be better for all of us if those who sought the Oval Office did so on the back of successfully selling their vision of a better tomorrow rather than in the aftermath of the last-man-standing effort to destroy all rivals, friend and foe alike.
For those who would rather not see a second Obama administration, I can only imagine videos like this one leave a very bad taste in the mouth. After all, this is the age of social media. It is not like YouTube will stop hosting the many different copies of this video once the primaries are over. And when it comes time for the GOP nominee to take on Obama, whoever that person is might not be happy that so many land mines were strewn on their side of the battlefield before the real contest even began.
This matters to the life and health insurance industry because through its trade groups, and individually, its professionals contribute substantially to various political efforts, many of them pro-business and usually in line with the GOP platform. As it does, and to the extent that it contributes to one side of the presidential race over the other, it might consider the unintended side effects of helping to underwrite attack campaigns such as this one, which are so internecine in their nature as to provide the opposition with plenty of free ammunition. After all, when it comes to determining a chief executive who will shape economic, legislative and judicial policy efforts, many of which will have a substantial impact on the way in which this industry conducts its business for years to come, which is more important–winning the battle, or winning the war?
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