FleaInNYCbanner.jpg

? The longest year | Main | If it starts to swing, run ?

January 21, 2010

The party of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama

Lanny Davis, who is deficient in some way, claims the Democrats' loss in Massachusetts was not about the messenger but the message. Fair enough but there is still the issue of which messenger brought which message.

Somehow, in the last 12 months, we allowed the party of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama to morph into the party of George McGovern (or more accurately, his most ardent supporters) and Howard Dean, who called for the defeat of the Democratic health-care bill if it had neither a public option or Medicare buy-in.

You read that right. There are still Democrats who believe Barack Obama is a centrist. After all, he clearly explained himself in a keynote speech on the subject in 2004.

Then, in 2008, Barack Obama added something extra: a commitment to a "new politics" that transcended the "red" versus "blue" partisan divide. He explained this concept clearly in his 2004 Democratic Convention keynote speech and during his 2008 presidential campaign. It meant compromise, consensus and bipartisanship, even if that meant only incremental change.

Ed Morrissey links the same piece at Hot Air. He allows the Clinton/Obama comparison to stand but offers the best metaphor ever as he describes the Left's urge to double-down on their progressive agenda after their defeat in Massachusetts.

They seem convinced that the only way to rescue themselves from the trap in which they have caught themselves is to chew off the foot that’s still free.

Posted by Ghost of a flea at January 21, 2010 08:35 AM

Comments

Post a comment

Thanks for signing in. Now you can comment. (sign out)

(This comment system is not reliable. Half the time it won't let me comment on my own blog. Please don't take it personally if it does not work for you. Alternative suggestions would be welcome but best remember I am technologically incompetent. Thanks for your patience.)


Remember me?