Henninger’s comic-book analysis, Kimberley in Wonderland,
On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal opened a new phase in its all out attack on GOP voters.
It was Daniel Henninger, chosen for the lead-off hitter.
Mr. Henninger’s opening shot on behalf of the Republican establishment is only semi-snarky according to the Journal’s current standards of commentary regarding the 2016 presidential campaign. Be assured though that it’s going to get much nastier and much more pretentious. Wait ’til the paper’s “Mr. Nasty”, Bret Stephens takes his turn.
Mr. Henninger notes that Kasich is the last governor standing of the six who started the 2016 race for the Republican presidential nomination. The Journal columnist helpfully advises readers that when Governor Kasich reminds us endlessly during the debates that, “folks, I’ve done it” and “I know how to do this”, it’s true.
Henninger reports that, based on his Washington and Ohio experience, Mr. Kasich “…is trying to fashion a case for the political ‘art of the deal’, which he believes is distinct from Ted Cruz’s Senate career of dealing with no one and Mr. Trump’s real-estate deals.” (emphasis ours)
Mr. Henninger also disclosed to the Journal’s readers that, if Governor Kasich’s quest for the nomination fails, the “idea that political experience matters disappears from national politics, replaced by the Marvel Comics model of political life, in which ‘Captain America’ and the ‘Incredible Hulk’ saves the entire nation–by himself. (The columnist leaves it to the reader to determine, between Mr. Trump and Senator Cruz which is ‘Captain America’ and which is the ‘Incredible Hulk’.)
The Journal’s assault on voter preference continues in Thursday’s edition with columnist, Kimberley Strassel batting second.
“Alice in Establishment Land” Strassel offered her view “through the looking glass”: up is down, left is right, failure to win is failure to lose, etc.
She notes that John Kasich’s quest for the White House faces formidable obstacles. Prominent among them, according to Strassel, seems to be that voters have this odd concept of “winning”…as in “coming out on top in states’, and “earning lots of delegates”.
She charges that Trump and Cruz are actually encouraging this mindset…can you believe it?
Kimberley advises readers that this is a real challenge for Mr. Kasich. “He’s got to convince a whole load of GOP voters to look at the race in an entirely different way.”
Kasich, she explains, must make the case “that this race isn’t about any one man, but about the cause.” He must argue that the goal is to win the White House for the Republicans!
And here’s the clincher: “The upside for Mr. Kasich is that, technically, he’s right. The Republican Party rules were in fact set up to benefit the cause (the party), not the man. The downside is that few voters know that, and many may not agree. (emphasis ours)
(Our question to Ms. Strassel: is the goal to win the White House for “the Republicans”, or is it for the Republican, perhaps even the Washington, “establishment”? Does anyone at the Journal or at the RNC or in the Kasich camp consider in their strategy calculations the concept of winning for the American people?)
So, there we have the “Strassel in Wonderland” analyses of the Kasich challenge. Convince those silly voters that ‘losing’ is really ‘winning’ and all these cute little primaries and caucuses are just in fun.
And now, on to the next challenge for Kimberley: Convince March Madness fans that this Tournament thing is really not set up for the fans or the participating teams…it’s for the “cause”, the NCAA. They will decide the real “winner”. These games are just a fun way to get cash for the cause!
As Ms. Strassel would say, “technically, that’s right”.
DLH
*see earlier V’PAC article Kasich — shill-gotten gains from Soros?
