Anyway, the Mann/Ormstein piece is dominating polite conversation, which is good. Their criticism - effectively what many bloggers and Krugzilla have been writing about - is being taken seriously because Brookings and AEI aren't bloggers or Nobel Prize winning economists. Or something.
This piece from USN&WR could have been written at Daily Kos, right down to the "Obama is too much of an accomodationist" line.
The problem I have with blaming Obama for pony hunting is that Clinton "fought back" as the piece noted, but that hardly worked any better.
I taught the Clinton Administration in class yesterday, and I was fascinated to note all the similarities between Clinton and Obama. Two things Obama learned from Clinton's mistakes are to A) Stay focused and B) Get Shit Done!
Clinton's rampaging intellect bounced from topic to topic and seemed to be at the mercy of the Fox News/talk radio attacks. He spent a huge amount of time counterpunching.
And to no effect.
Obama has decided to take the high road and not respond to everything by throwing haymakers. Sometimes, this leads to horrible results like Shirley Sherrod getting fired for no good reason. But I think that the idea that somehow Obama's accommodation to the right "emboldens" them is silly. Clinton fought back, Obama doesn't. Either way, the Right attacks.
So Clinton's first term is remembered for raising taxes, cutting spending and welfare reform. Obama's is known for ACA, stimulus, GM and Chrysler and the debt ceiling fight. (And shooting bin Laden in the face.)
By any objective measure, Obama's had more legislative success than Clinton enjoyed. I'm not blaming Clinton, Obama simply learned from his mistakes.
But as has been noted, Democratic Presidents are only appreciated after they leave office.
No comments:
Post a Comment