David Brooks
Kathleen Parker
Stuart Taylor
David Gergen
Today it's Clive Crook....
On this page last week I argued that Barack Obama’s first budget showed him to be more of a left-leaning liberal than I and many others – sceptics and admirers alike – had previously supposed. People I respect have accused me of going off the deep end about this, or of neglecting Mr Obama’s tactical finesse, or both.
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This message comes through loud and clear in the budget taken as a whole. Mr Obama is not a centrist – unless the second point is correct and I am underestimating Mr Obama’s tactical intelligence. His political skills are undeniable. Yet I find the view that you make a phoney offer and aim to be bargained down difficult to credit.
The question is, who is Mr Obama supposed to be bargaining with? If the answer were a Republican-controlled Congress, this theory might be worth entertaining. Scare conservatives with a pitch for social transformation – a new New Deal – then settle for a judicious nudge to the left. But the bargains Mr Obama needs to strike are not with Republicans, who for the moment are clueless, leaderless and powerless. The people he needs to do business with are members of his own party – and unless I am much mistaken, those people are liberals.
If Mr Obama were a centrist he would be positioning himself to the right of the congressional Democrats, with a plan to be walked back in their direction. In fact, his budget has delighted the left of his party. Far from pulling him to the centre, most Democrats will resist that move if he tries. Or am I missing something?
Yes, you are missing the fact that you are an idiot!
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