A Change We Can't Believe In...

[FOTD]

How the White House Misjudged the Political Landscape


http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/19675


" They still take the Clintonian view that the "left" can be appeased either through a few nice words in a speech, and if that fails, can be crammed down by being told they're wreckers, being told this is the best progressives can get, being told that progressives are irrelevant (even while the WH's defensive actions show they're anything but irrelevant)."

..." The Bush years destroyed those internalized frustrations. Congressional Democratic support for the Iraq War destroyed what existed of progressive acceptance of that Clintonite strategy, and freed the left to actually feel confident in asserting its own values regardless of what the Democratic leadership says, because any trust in that leadership was destroyed in 2002. Obama understood this out of necessity during the primary, when he had to embrace this to defeat Hillary Clinton. But once that was achieved, he went right back to the old Bill Clinton strategy of appeasing the center-right and assuming progressives would simply go along with it – and once elected, Obama surrounded himself with old Clinton hands who espoused the same basic view of politics."





They could have done so much good with the huge majority and Dem prez, instead we got our hearts broken by a corporate shill and an ever-capitulating congress.

[USRufnex]

"the old Bill Clinton strategy of appeasing the center-right"
     = appeasing conservative democrats who were a key to realizing Howard Dean's "50-state strategy"

See, I kinda think it's a good thing.... to capitalize on having a democratic majority by doing what politicians have been doing for generations...... trying to become all things to all people....

Obama didn't campaign as a peacenik.... in his 2002 speech he called Iraq a "dumb war".... but he's also hailed Afghanistan as a just and necessary war....

Obama didn't campaign to bring us "single payer," his campaign insisted that anyone who liked their current healthcare plan would be able to keep it..... a far cry from "socialized medicine" or even "managed care"....

Obama didn't campaign to coddle the NEA..... he took a centrist position on education and Arne "Charter schools" Duncan had been on Obama's team for a long time before he was predictably given the nod as Sec of Education....

At the same time Republicans told us Obama "palled around with terrorists," anti-war activists thought they found a soulmate on closing Guantnamo and conveniently ignored Obama's views on Afghanistan...... at the same time Republicans told us Obama was "a socialist," single-payer advocates mistook Obama for Howard Dean and Bernie Saunders...... at the same time Republicans tried to use scare tactics to link Obama with Rev Wright, liberal advocates of church/state separation failed to recognize that Obama would predictably embrace quite a few of Bush's "faith based initiatives" and offer an olive branch to evangelicals in the form of Rick Warren's invocation at the inaugural.......

Bill Clinton had "triangulation," Dick Morris, an unelected spouse turned healthcare activist, and bimbo alerts...

Barack Obama has likely over compromised in efforts to stay "above the fray" on quite a few issues, but has David Axelrod at the political helm instead of more overt egotists like James Carville and Karl Rove, and has left healthcare to Pelosi and Reid... and thankfully seems to have a relationship with his wife that should serve as a role model....

Sorry far-lefties, but YOU BLEW IT years ago when you naive freaks scared the bejeezus outta Iowa dems with those SILLY ORANGE HATS..... http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2004/01/20/orangehats/


Tough end of the year for Obama on the healthcare mess...... Palin has ironically become a conservative community activist...... McCain's turned into an old crank and mere shadow of his former self..... Huckabee is now DOA as a candidate for 2012........ and the big winner who flew under the radar this year?.....

Mitt Romney.

Who knew?

[guido911]

Obama on single payer health care (one of my favorite lies):

[USRufnex]

If we lived in a land of etch a sketch, maybe....
Yeah, if we could start over, I might be more likely to support single payer.
Hmmm.  Maybe we should also start comparing the McCain of 2008 to the McCain of 2000?
Or the Liebermann of a few days ago to the Liebermann of two months ago....

[guido911]

Maybe we should also start comparing the McCain of 2008 to the McCain of 2000?
Or the Liebermann of a few days ago to the Liebermann of two months ago....

Start a thread and let's get going instead of trying to change the subject. For now, we are talking about Obama and I am sure you don't want to get into the well-documented history of his flips since the campaign.

[Conan71]

Arrogance, pure arrogance. That's why they mis-judged the political landscape.

It's chump change guys, I told you all along. 

Chump change.

One more time:

[USRufnex]

Start a thread and let's get going instead of trying to change the subject. For now, we are talking about Obama and I am sure you don't want to get into the well-documented history of his flips since the campaign.

Once again, you single out Obama because it suits your freeper political hackery.... all politicians change and modify their positions.... Obama proudly touted his 2002 Iraq speech yet never touted that 2003 speech... maybe it's because he changed his mind.... much like I did in the 90s after the Clinton healthcare debacle.....

Obama statements on single-payer have changed a bit
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/jul/16/barack-obama/obama-statements-single-payer-have-changed-bit/

To give you the context, in 2003, Obama was a second-term state senator and beginning a campaign to win the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. The Democratic field was crowded — there were candidates both better known and better funded than Obama — and he was considered a long-shot at best. He ultimately won, but at the time, nobody was paying much attention to him.

In other statements, Obama has spoken favorably of single-payer in concept, but always adding qualifiers.

   * In February 2004, about a month before the primary election in the U.S. Senate race, the Associated Press reported the stance of all the candidates on universal health care. "Obama says he supports the idea of universal health care but does not think a single-payer government system is feasible. He says the government should be the health care provider of last resort for the uninsured." In a rundown of all the candidates' positions, the Associated Press summarized Obama's position as "Support, but 'probably not at this stage,' a single-payer government system."
   * In his book The Audacity of Hope , published in October 2006 when he was a U.S. senator, Obama described single-payer as the hope of the left, while those on the right wanted a market-based approach. "It's time we broke this impasse by acknowledging a few simple truths," Obama wrote, suggesting a system much like the one he supports today.
   * In April 2007, a few months after he declared his candidacy for presidency, the Chicago Tribune reported, "Obama has pledged that, if elected, all Americans would have health-care coverage by the end of his first term. He has said he is reluctant to switch to a 'single-payer' national health insurance system because of the difficulty in making a quick transition from the employer-based private system."
   * At his town halls as president, he routinely answers questions about single-payer by saying he would favor it if he were starting a system "from scratch." But he consistently adds that's not the goal of the current reform. "For us to transition completely from an employer-based system of private insurance to a single-payer system could be hugely disruptive, and my attitude has been that we should be able to find a way to create a uniquely American solution to this problem that controls costs but preserves the innovation that is introduced in part with a free-market system," Obama said in Annandale, Va., on July 1, 2009.

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I think Nathan was right and I've changed my mind about you......

"Trying to have a conversation with you would be as interesting as trying to argue with a dining room table. I have no interest in doing it."

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/08/19-5

[Conan71]

Once again, you single out Obama because it suits your freeper political hackery.... all politicians change and modify their positions.... Obama proudly touted his 2002 Iraq speech yet never touted that 2003 speech... maybe it's because he changed his mind.... much like I did in the 90s after the Clinton healthcare debacle.....

Or maybe it's because he promised all sorts of crazy crap to get elected.  "Let's promise this and worry about the details later".  That's a more apt description of a politician, Ruf.  A shift in paradigms doesn't apply to politicians.  It's all about gaining power and money.

One thing is for certain- Bush's legacy as the biggest spender on non-military discretionary items has been rapidly eclipsed within one year.  Oh yeah, I forget, all this stupid pork-laced deficit spending is due to Bush era failures.  Riiiight.

[USRufnex]

Arrogance, pure arrogance. That's why they mis-judged the political landscape.

It's chump change guys, I told you all along.  

Chump change.

He's delivering on his promises.... sorry YOU never supported any of them.... you remember?
You may not like what he campaigned on, and if memory serves, you considered him an "empty suit."

The Obameter: Tracking Obama's Campaign Promises
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/

So, now it's "arrogance, pure arrogance."
I'll put that statement in the "damned if you do, damned if you don't" catagory.

You resorted to all sorts of cartoonish avatars to portray Hillary Clinton as a commie.... and Obama as a socialist....

Arrogance?  Really?  I mean, who's being arrogant here?

That would be you, Conan, and all the other sheeple of the oil and gas industry who have their collective heads in the sand and their butts in the dark ages when it comes to any attempt to address global climate change....

[USRufnex]

One thing is for certain- Bush's legacy as the biggest spender on non-military discretionary items has been rapidly eclipsed within one year.  Oh yeah, I forget, all this stupid pork-laced deficit spending is due to Bush era failures.  Riiiight.

And I'm SURE you held Ronald Reagan to the same standard when he took Jimmy Carter's budgets way out of whack with tax cuts, causing deficits to explode........ I'm sure you held Reagan's feet to the fire in his first year in office.....?

Riiiight.

[Conan71]

As usual, shift and obfuscate, that's okay Ruf, we know your game.  I simply was amplifying what FOTD was saying about broken promises.  Here's the problem, health care was a cornerstone of President Obama's campaign.  This bill seriously sucks in terms of what was promised and the pile of guano that will slowly excrete itself out of the Senate.

Politifart?? Seriously??  That's got about as unbiased as media matters. 

I swear, I think the house organ of the DNC has become the skin flute.  Sheesh.

[USRufnex]

Shift and obfuscate?
Nope.

Just because you say something sucks or it's a "smile" sandwich doesn't make it so.
Just like the way you argued against the River Tax.

Per usual, you use a combination of political stereotypes, circular arguments, hyperbole, and talk radio conventional wisdom to prove you knew what you thought you knew.....

Nothing knew there.  

[USRufnex]

I swear, I think the house organ of the DNC has become the skin flute.  Sheesh.

Methinks the Conan doth protest too much.  

[guido911]

Once again, you single out Obama because it suits your freeper political hackery.... all politicians change and modify their positions.... Obama proudly touted his 2002 Iraq speech yet never touted that 2003 speech... maybe it's because he changed his mind....

Or maybe it's because he is preaching to a particular audience or for political expediency.  Nahhh. But let's see, he changed his position about accepting public campaign finance, changed his position about rendition, changed his position about single payer, changed his position about earmark reform, changed his position about Iraq troop withdrawal, changed his position about signing statements, changed his position about military tribunals, changed his position about indefinite detention, changed his position about having no lobbyists in his administration, changed his position over the five day public review of bills before signing (that whole transparency thing). We'll just skip over the lies on employment if stimulus passed. The only position that has not changed is yours and Obamas.

[FOTD]

huh? He's been hanging out in Copenhagen too long....