dagblog - Comments for "The president turns left"

I found it quite interesting

artappraiser — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 20:12:56 +0000

In reply to AA, I find 99% of the links

I found it quite interesting to see him saying this. Especially as he was the one called in to see Bill Clinton into a second term at a time when there were a lot of similar things going on. That is all.

The opinion is suspect, but

Donal — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 12:22:36 +0000

In reply to AA, I find 99% of the links

The opinion is suspect, but the fact that he is attacking even the barest indication that Obama might swing the tiniest bit left makes me wonder how close we are to a bursting bubble.

AA, I find 99% of the links

Obey — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 08:09:32 +0000

In reply to The president turns left

AA, I find 99% of the links you throw up pretty useful. But ... Morris? Really?

Since you put it up, I read it, but frankly that piece is just tripe. So now wondering out loud about derivatives speculation, not attacking Medicare and raising one little tax counts as .. tacking left?

Absurd premise. And it just goes downhill from there.

Not that I doubt Obama is in trouble. But I don't think the death blow will come from his speculations over speculators in the oil market or leaving Medicare alone. It'll depend on the economy, a possible bond-market revolt, or another big screw-up in the ME wars. Not very ideological stuff there, just objective reality - up-or-down vote on success vs failure.

The problem with a leftist

Lazy KGB — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 06:28:25 +0000

In reply to The president turns left

The problem with a leftist strategy is that the vote share a Democrat can attract with it has a very low ceiling — in the low 40s. Economic populism just doesn’t play that well outside of the Democratic left.

You and I both know Dick Morris can read a poll. Every poll taken since at least last December shows strong support for the exact "hard left" populist positions he highlights Obama having boldly staked out. Rather more than 40% of the nation views protecting Medicare and raising top-end taxes to a more-permissive-than-Regan rate positively (Obama - you bold, bold man!).

As such, my biggest takeaway here is that apparently any reality one doesn't like can just be blithely misstated without remark if one's head is firmly planted far enough up insider Washington's ass. Establishment insiders hate liberal policy and twist themselves into mathematically unsustainable knots to try and assert the majority agrees with them. By and large people seem to like it just fine - far better than they like the presented alternative when compared policy-for-policy and ignoring idiot-league questions like "RU iz bein conzervitvez or librulz or in teh midlez?" and "Doze U lk reprsentativz to git alongz, or fightz?"

I'm not surprised Obama is trying to make a bit of a leftward move. There hasn't really been much statistical support for the "center-right" narrative since he's been elected. I thought for sure he'd do it before last Oct. to save as much of congress as possible ... but apparently the wider party wasn't so important (I suspect his inner circle was still cashing in the pre-2012-scrutiny favors so they could head back to Chicago with properly papered nests).

And for bonus points: What president since Truman TRIED to win a second term through the use of overly partisan rhetoric and playing to populist anger - and failed as a result (granting the absurd assertion this accurately describes Obama's recent actions)? Hell - who in the entire last century? Either Dick Morris is an idiot or he thinks people who read him are. He definitively predicted an Obama loss in 2012 ... with Donald Trump as an apparent front-runner in the GOP field? Asshat.