From a reader:

Have you ever considered that the American electorate might be thinking now that spreading the wealth is actually a good policy this days? I am saying this implying they are right or wrong, but polling data (and Obama´s consistent lead, no matter how many people call him a socialist) hints that voters might be up for a bit of redistribution, after eight years of being governed by a (in theory) small government, supply side conservative president.
Running against spreading the wealth might be a really bad idea indeed. The “Aha!” moment might go towards voting Obama.

Me: Sure I’ve thought about it. I think for lots of Americans, grabbing other peoples’ wealth is a motivation. Those Americans are misinformed or misguided, in my mind at least, and they should be persuaded by the more conservative of the two parties not to vote based on feelings of entitlement, resentment or envy. I certainly don’t think the GOP should get into a race to the bottom with the Democrats about who is more keen to spread wealth around.