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A new theme is emerging for the November elections, a repeat from the Congressional elections of 1775, had there been some. A king — President Obama — is trying to tell us what to do, and we — Republican patriots — won't allow it. This was predictable.
Let us begin by watching this advertisement from Texas candidate for lieutenant governor Todd Staples.
This is a pretty zeitgeisty ad (which we saw via Dave Weigel). Gay marriage, guns, the whole thing. But it's predicated on this idea that Obama is a king, which, Staples emphatically informs the president, he is not. "Texans bow to no one," Staples says, reminding people that Obama has sort-of-bowed to people in the past, including kings. Oh, and then Staples says he'll "fight Obama's liberal agenda," illustrated by Staples aiming a shotgun at something (a photo of a king??) in a gun store. The ad ends: "So Mr. President, if you still want to mess with Texas: Come and take it." Will Obama mess with Texas by coming to take Texas? We shall see!
Most of this stuff Staples' ad team had ready to go months ago. But this new frame of the imperial Obama ties it all together, however awkwardly. It's the natural end point of two longstanding conservative arguments: Obama is a snob who thinks he's better than everyone, and conservatives are the real patriots, standing up for the Constitution the way the Founding Fathers stood up to Britain. Make Obama into King George III, and voila.