Obama Falls Between Two Chairs
- Peter Baker, The Limits of Rahmism
When Obama ran for the presidency, liberals saw him as the crusading head of a movement to sweep in a new era of progressive policies on health care, climate change and national security, while independents and some Republicans saw him as a sort of postpartisan figure who would reach across party lines and end the ideological polarization of Washington. Inevitably, of course, he could not be both. Instead he has managed to disappoint both sets of believers. Emanuel’s operation grapples with that disconnect every day — how far to push on stimulus spending, on health care, on Wall Street regulation? One day, Obama is saying he will sign no health care bill without a government-run “public option”; the next, he all but drops it. One day, he is bashing the “shameful” bonuses for “fat-cat bankers” at bailed-out firms, the next he is serving dinner to corporate titans at the White House and saying he does not “begrudge” the big payouts.
Note that both examples are when the supposed liberal goes republican, and fails his liberal followers.
Source: The New York Times
Erratic inquiries of Stowe Boyd, who means well, despite everything.
