The latent ethos of self-reliance in the American experience has, in my opinion, enabled the Republican party to meld the disparate factions of the wealthy and modest income whites into a successful coalition for the past thirty years. But Romney's broad definition of "victim" includes many in the Republican party who consider themselves to be self-reliant. Like oil and water, self-reliance and victim-hood are not miscible.  

According to Romney a "victim" is a person who receives government benefits---which then must include many modest income whites upon whom the wealthy Republicans have depended to maintain power.  Romney has put the Republican base in a predicament. As victims they are not the strong and self-reliant persons who in such beliefs steel themselves against the reality of their declining incomes and job opportunities. If they are not victims, are they self reliant enough to vote against their own benefits?   

What does it mean to be self-reliant? I can describe it from my own experience solo back-packing in the High Sierras--being completely alone and with no more resources than what I carried on my back. The sense of the immediate, the instinct for danger, the unspeakable glory of a sunrise, the gratification of catching a brown trout and cooking it for dinner, the fears in a tent at night when bears can be heard nearby---these are the constructs of one who is completely and utterly dependent on his skills and wits. It is the feeling of being in the moment. It's an exhilaration. Alternatively, when one considers himself not self reliant, but a victim, he most likely will become one, especially in the wild.

Democrats have failed to understand the full meaning of self reliance and thus have not been able to weaken the Republican stranglehold on modest income whites, especially in rural areas. The last thing a rural white wants to hear is the offering of another liberal "program". They don't need any more programs, especially those redistributing money to lazy others. Traditionally, the self-reliant Republican voters have, imo, skipped over the reality of such programs as Social Security and Medicare, and even Medicaid---which, it seems, pays for nursing home care once elders have run through the last dime of their savings. In their case only, those benefits have been earned---mostly through responsible working careers. Until now they have not been labeled as victims by their own party Presidential nominee.   

Ahh,---enter the Romney fund raiser tapes and the revelations of what the Republican Establishment really believes about modest income people who depend on government programs. It seems that many Republicans are part of the dependency culture which Romney's wealthy contributors despise so much. If the the wealthy can just turn around enough people who are disappointed with Obama, they can tear the safety net to shreds. Then the poor and the middle class would be self reliant---just as the rich are. What a bargain. To the Romney donors: do you mind throwing in a trip to Vegas for our vote?

I think the Republican rank and file will stick with their nominee this time around, but there won't be enough of them to actually elect Romney. Then the Republican Party will have to face the civil war within itself. Social Conservatives, in my opinion, really wind up with very little from the national Party---unless you conclude that all of the failed Republican gestures on budget balancing, Person-hood Amendments, and the never-to-be-enacted employer based contraception exclusion mean something. Why should social conservatives give up benefits if at the same time they are not achieving their social agenda? Hope springs eternal---especially for the self reliant.

Having received no social issue advantages from their Republican votes---in fact because of extreme positions from people like Akin, it appears that public opinion is cascading against the social views of the Republican base---the modest income Republican voters appear to be in limbo. A person can't be both a victim and a self reliant American.

I have many friends and family who are Republican Values Voters so I phoned my daughter and walked her through the victim/self reliance conundrum. No dice. She's voting for Romney and Todd Akin.