It's the Chinese, Stupid

Are Democrats so afraid of getting crushed in the midterm elections that they've turned to demonizing China?

BY MAX STRASSER | SEPTEMBER 29, 2010

It's a political strategy as tried and true as stump speeches, barbecues, and baby-kissing: When times are tough in your district, find someone else to blame. With U.S. midterm election campaigns now in high gear, the boogeyman of choice in regions with high unemployment and sluggish manufacturing is -- unsurprisingly -- China. And with President Barack Obama struggling to cajole an apathetic base, Democrats have been playing the red-menace card more than their Republican opponents.

Democrats in the rust belt -- the part of the country hardest hit by the downturn in steel, auto manufacturing, and other heavy industries -- are making a concerted effort to blame unemployment on outsourcing, painting their Republican opponents as pro-corporate politicians who care more about maximizing profits than they do about keeping jobs in Michigan, Illinois, Pennsylvania, or Ohio. But in a year when many Republicans are shedding the establishment mantle in favor of Tea Party populism, it doesn't seem to be working.

Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher

Running for: U.S. Senate

Quote: "Congressman Rob Portman knows how to grow the economy ... in China"

Strategy: A television ad with this tag line features a map of China over opponent Portman's name, as well as a slightly sinister black-and-white shot of Chinese factory workers. As Fisher, Ohio's lieutenant governor, has told the Associated Press, he thinks that "This election will be about a choice between the past and the future... It will be a choice between made in America and made in China."

Ohio's job market has been in a 10-year recession as industrial jobs have fled the state; the Senate race this year has been all about who can get more Ohioans back to work. Fisher blames liberal trade policy for sending jobs overseas, while his opponent, former U.S. Rep Rob Portman (R-OH) blames the incumbent Democratic legislature. Every single trade agreement "should be reassessed ... and then determined whether or not it should be renegotiated," says Fisher. But Portman counters that most of the jobs Ohio has lost have gone to other states, not foreign countries. So far, the strategy doesn't seem to be helping Fisher. A recent Reuters poll puts Portman ahead with a 13-point lead.

Ohio.gov; JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images; Alex Wong/Getty Images; Wikipedia; Jeff Haynes/Getty Images

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Max Strasser is an editorial researcher at Foreign Policy.

MARTY MARTEL

7:40 PM ET

September 30, 2010

Democrats don't have to 'demonize' China

Democrats don’t have to demonize China when Chinese themselves are doing such a fine job of it.

China’s ‘pretend’ revaluation of Chinese currency has been exposed as a ‘hoax’.

China’s bamboozling of Japan has woke up many an East Asian countries.

China’s stoppage of exporting ‘rare earth materials’ to Japan has exposed the base meanness of China’s business practices.

China’s creative law system can invent a law to imprison any foreigner at will.

China weaves an intricate web of industrial policies to benefit Chinese businesses.

How long can this one way trade last where China keeps exporting and piling up huge trade surpluses with US and EU?

How much forex reserves China has to amass before the world including US/EU says ‘enough is enough and no more‘?

How long can China keep piling up huge trade surpluses with so many countries including US/EU before those countries say ‘enough is enough and no more‘?

This can NOT last forever and at some point in time, the world has to revert to old-fashioned protectionism and discard WTO.

 

BILL888

2:23 AM ET

October 1, 2010

You are demonizing China

Marty, do you know any Chinese history within the last five hundred years? Or are you just an elementary schooler?

 

NICOLAS19

4:22 AM ET

October 1, 2010

you don't need democrats to demonize China

China is being blamed for all the evil in the world in the US media, democrat or republican. They are blamed for Japan boarding and taking hostage foreign ships. They are blamed for Iran's nuclear program by not falling back in line with the unilateral US embargo. They are blamed for the very existence of North Korea. 3 out of 5 FP articles are about how bad China is in comparison with the almighty US.

 

THE UNIVERSAL CURMUDGEON

11:14 AM ET

October 4, 2010

Marty's Insightful Comment

MARTY SAID - "China’s stoppage of exporting ‘rare earth materials’ to Japan has exposed the base meanness of China’s business practices."

***** You might want to take a look at some of the US' trade practices in the 1930s and 1940s with respect to Japan in order to see how America has never done anything even remotely similar

MARTY SAID - "China’s creative law system can invent a law to imprison any foreigner at will.

***** You might want to remember that the US' creative law system allows the President of the United States of America to order the murder of any American without all that messy and bothersome "trial" stuff - and without upsetting the person to be killed by letting them know that their murder is being considered.

MARTY SAID - "China weaves an intricate web of industrial policies to benefit Chinese businesses.

***** And the US doesn't?

MARTY SAID - "How long can this one way trade last where China keeps exporting and piling up huge trade surpluses with US and EU?

***** A question that was never asked when the country "piling up huge trade surpluses" was the US

MARTY SAID - "How much forex reserves China has to amass before the world including US/EU says ‘enough is enough and no more‘?

***** A question that was never asked when the country "amassing the ForEx reserves" was the US

MARTY SAID - "How long can China keep piling up huge trade surpluses with so many countries including US/EU before those countries say ‘enough is enough and no more‘?

***** A question that was never asked when the country "piling up huge trade surpluses" was the US

MARTY SAID - "This can NOT last forever and at some point in time, the world has to revert to old-fashioned protectionism and discard WTO.

***** If the economic situation is favourable to every country except the US, why would "the world" HAVE TO "revert to old-fashioned protectionism and discard (the) WTO"?