Class Warfare

So, that's rich people on the left, and that's everyone else on the right.

So, Paul Ryan crept out from whatever hole he's crawled into to hide from his constituents to label Obama's plan class warfare.  There's a take on it here with a quote.

The more I think about it, the more the GOP's reflexive calls of "class warfare" are really a fine example of the B'rer Rabbit Gambit.

Every time a Democrat raises taxes on the rich, but not on everyone else, we get these yelps of CLASS WARFARE ZOMG!!!!!!1111!!  But what they are really doing is preempting the language.  They are really saying, "Don't throw me in that briar patch."

When Democrats run as class warriors, they do quite well.  When they are depicted as servants of special (read minority) interests, they do poorly.  The public polling couldn't be any clearer on this issue.  It's a huge winner, and tying a tax increase to a jobs program is perfect.  It takes two things that people want and makes them mutually reinforcing.

So the GOP needs to manufacture a freak-out over class warfare, so that "Democrats" like Mary Landrieu and Joe Lieberman and Heath Schuler will get all weak in the knees and drop quotes to the Times and the Journal.  But what Obama is proposing should be so non-controversial and so popular that opposing it on the grounds of "anything Obama's for, we're against" is a sure fire way to lose the debate.  The debate that will continue from now until either the Jobs bill passes or the election is held.

So they are going to try and whip up the Teatards and the Randians with tales of class warfare.  And they will pitch it in such a way as to invoke race, too, because that's where the votes are.

But I have to wonder if that well has run dry.  Right now, rich people are about as popular as Mike Vick at the American Kennel Club.

Go ahead, Paul.  Call Obama a class warrior.

And Mr. President, bring the fight to them.

UPDATE: Interesting.  Frosh GOP from NY state says he agrees with Obama's plan.

Chinks in the GOP facade?