The Obama Administration draws from the past, in countless ways, when it comes to rhetoric, even though more and more of the population isn’t buying what they’re selling. It’s time for Republicans to borrow a phrase from their past too. It’s time for a new, “Return To Normalcy.”
The original year was 1921. After the “Great War” (World War One), two terms of Woodrow Wilson, staggering taxes, a major stock market crash, double-digit unemployment and countless other shenanigans, Warren G. Harding ran to change the country’s direction. His campaign was deemed, a “Return to Normalcy.” It is time for the Republicans to call for such a return. Now, this is not to say that President Obama is Wilson. Such a comparison would be silly, but the Republicans are not the side who started using historical rhetoric to regain power.
 
So, as long as the left is borrowing from their “glory days,” there should be a rhetorical beckoning to a less “ground breaking” time. Harding’s “Return to Normalcy” speech was both simple and relevant for today, “American’s present need is not heroic, but healing; not nostrums, but normalcy; not revolution; but restoration; not agitation, but adjustment; nor surgery, but serenity; not the dramatic, but the dispassionate; not experiment, but equipoise…” Perhaps these words aren’t as gripping as “hope,” “change” or “yes we can,” but Harding’s words still can find a voice today. Harding, and his Vice President Calvin Coolidge, didn’t run for the executive office to remake the world, or the country, in some grandiose form that only a larger federal footprint could do. The “Return to Normalcy” Campaign, meant to cut the scope and influence of the federal government. The message isn’t sexy, but such a message resonates with a lot of people. Harding, and Coolidge after Harding’s death, cut the size of the federal expenditures, cut taxes, cut regulation and in general left citizens and business the freedom to fail, but also more importantly to succeed, often by persevering through failure.
Republicans, by borrowing from Harding and Coolidge, can be the party of not shaking the ground, while the country is attempting to get back on her feet. Another way of saying this is expressed by Sara Palin who has made a recent phrase, relevant to the current political landscape, it is that the GOP shouldn’t be the party of no, it should be, “the party of hell no.” Sara’s words are catchy like “yes we can” but they are more like “no we won’t.” Republicans should say, we won’t make new tax reliant entitlements, interfere further in business practices, increase the scope and size of the federal footprint and “we won’t” build a lasting self indulgent legacy.
Legacy building policies are exactly what our country doesn’t need. In Shelby Steele’s latest article, Barack the Good, he makes the point, that because of President Obama’s historic Presidency, our first black president feels that he couldn’t just be a care-taker executive, like Harding or Coolidge. Steele implies that the President feels obligated to push policies that would leave a legacy for himself, like “Health Care Reform.” Steele’s point makes sense. Care-taker presidents, unlike legacy builders, are simply there to address pressing issues without creating crises. They aren’t remembered glowingly in history books, they don’t get new monuments on the National Mall, and they don’t get Elementary Schools named after them. In point of fact, because of the lack of “bold” actions, a care-taker president’s lasting affect is not why that leader leads. Care-taker presidents “curb the size and influence of the Federal establishment and demand recognition of the distinction between the powers granted to the Federal Government and those reserved to the States or to the people.”
A “Return to Normalcy,” means that leaders at every level of representative government, just simply want to serve. After their respective term is up, they go home, without the fanfare, without the accolades and without interest for a self serving permanent impact on the country. As I wrote before, it’s not sexy but the people are ready for such a selfless leader.
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