What My Liberal Friends Never Understood...
...about Barak Obama. The New York Times reports: The decision to ask Mr. Clinton to the White House, and then to have him make a public statement, reflects the desire by the White House to counter the anger among liberal Democrats, who have accused Mr. Obama of caving too quickly on the tax deal.
Yes, the Obama White House is apparently under the impression that Bill Clinton is part of (or is well regarded by) the liberal wing of the Democratic Party.
Now, this should not come as a surprise to anyone who actually paid attention to the Democratic primaries in 2008. Candidate Obama's theme was that the (Clinton-era) Democratic Party was too left-ish and should move towards "the center." Why the liberal activists in the party decided that this was their guy remains a bit of a mystery to me*. But, in any event, President Obama seems to be under the impression that Bill Clinton is in a position to give him political cover on his left, which is somewhat revealing about where Mr. Obama imagines himself to be, on the American political spectrum.
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* Actually, I'm being coy: I know exactly why the liberal activists anointed Obama as their standard bearer: the vote on the authorization of the use of military force in Iraq. In 2003, Senator Obama did not know that he would be running for President in 2008; Senator Clinton did. So Clinton cast a self-protective "yes" vote, and Obama cast a do-whats-right "no" vote. And by 2008, the left was absolutely obsessed with Iraq. The fact that Obama opposed, say, the idea of health care reform with an individual mandate, or that his position on the Iraq war was quite explicitly that we should concentrate on the war in Afghanistan instead (not, you know, ending both wars), did not seem to enter into the political calculus.
Yes, the Obama White House is apparently under the impression that Bill Clinton is part of (or is well regarded by) the liberal wing of the Democratic Party.
Now, this should not come as a surprise to anyone who actually paid attention to the Democratic primaries in 2008. Candidate Obama's theme was that the (Clinton-era) Democratic Party was too left-ish and should move towards "the center." Why the liberal activists in the party decided that this was their guy remains a bit of a mystery to me*. But, in any event, President Obama seems to be under the impression that Bill Clinton is in a position to give him political cover on his left, which is somewhat revealing about where Mr. Obama imagines himself to be, on the American political spectrum.
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* Actually, I'm being coy: I know exactly why the liberal activists anointed Obama as their standard bearer: the vote on the authorization of the use of military force in Iraq. In 2003, Senator Obama did not know that he would be running for President in 2008; Senator Clinton did. So Clinton cast a self-protective "yes" vote, and Obama cast a do-whats-right "no" vote. And by 2008, the left was absolutely obsessed with Iraq. The fact that Obama opposed, say, the idea of health care reform with an individual mandate, or that his position on the Iraq war was quite explicitly that we should concentrate on the war in Afghanistan instead (not, you know, ending both wars), did not seem to enter into the political calculus.