Pains In The Ass

2:40 am EST December 2nd, 2008 | Democrats | 11 Comments

My prediction – and I made the same prediction for John Kerry if he had won – for President-elect Obama is that for the first year when it comes to domestic squabbles the biggest pain in his butt will be from the left of his own party rather than the right.

The current GOP is a shell of itself, wandering around in the wilderness questioning its core values. In 2000 we Democrats had the advantage of losing on a technicality, and even in 2004 if Ohio had flipped we would have won, but the GOP got their rears handed to them a month ago and are coming off of one of the worst presidents in history.

Democrats on the other hand are at an almost New Deal level of power. Even if Al Franken and Jim Martin fall short (as I suspect), Obama has the capital to bend Republicans to his will on top issues – especially economic ones. But the left flank of the party is already grumbling some on the cabinet appointments, and while it hasn’t broken through people who invested more liberalism in Obama than he has are likely to make some noise. Now, if you actually listened to what he said rather than what you want him to say, you would have heard a progressive pragmatist who at the end of the day will have been one of our most progressive presidents – certainly post-Nixon – but is not in the Kucinich/ Nader world (and he wouldn’t have had the support of folks like me if he was).

After Clinton won, the left went after him in a way I believe softened him up for the later assault by the right (and the Clintons didn’t win any friends by trying to ram things like that version of universal healthcare through). I hope we don’t repeat that same mistake, but I’m still expecting those misguided concerns to burrow through anyhow.

Topic: Liberals, President Obama

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11 Responses to “Pains In The Ass”

Carol says:

December 2, 2008 at 7:44 am

That’s what scares me about a lot of the left. They want everything at once without realizing that it takes time to work everything in, and to build political capital.

We have a chance for at least competence and compassion. That’s a good start, not wondering if this is the day everything gets screwed up permanently. We have a chance for restored civil liberties, a better economy, an end to the Iraq war. If Obama can deliver on those promises, maybe there will be time/political capital for other things as well like universal health coverage (especially single payer).
datadave says:

December 2, 2008 at 8:15 am

hmmm, I was around then and much more older so I recall the Left was hardly noticed going after Clinton. In fact, Clinton failed due to his tepid and inadequate gumption in facing the onslot by the Right wing media. He pretended it didn’t exist and got hammered by it. Wall Street Journal and Rush Limbaugh had him hanging in the wind within two years due to his own cowardly responses to it.

Obama seems to be making the same mistakes by being overly concerned about the Right’s love for him. Remember Hillary-care was a huge give-away to the Health Insurance industry while most people wanted universal care, not ‘insurance’. Bill’s kiss-don’t-tell policies on gay rights is another weak-kneed response to the Right. It’s best to marginalize and then destroy the Right. They are a much bigger enemy than Al Qaeda. As Lincoln…who was killed by the Right, should’ve known.

We’ve lost more casualties to the Right than the Left: the American civil war and the WW2 were wars with the Right.
Duros 62 says:

December 2, 2008 at 9:35 am

In 2000 we Democrats had the advantage of losing on a technicality,

That was an advantage?

Dave: I’ve heard it said that Clinton was the best Republican President the Democrats ever had.

onslaught.
Jet says:

December 2, 2008 at 9:43 am

Beyond listening to what he said, simply looking at Obama’s voting record and liberal ranking would show a strong moderate. I hate it when the left buys into the right’s meme. It validates them and makes us look stupid.

As for a level of “New Deal power”, I think Obama will not have that unless there is citizen unrest. I am concerned about Michigan. It is our most vulnerable state, with one in eight families on food stamps already. As Detroit goes, so goes the level of suppport for radical change Obama will wield. If Detroit blows and Michigan sinks like a rock, the ensuing poverty, food crisis and rioting will put pressure on the legislative in the extreme. THEN you’ll see real impetus for change, and Obama will have what he needs.

That will make two states left for dead by Bush policies. Amazing.
Matthew G. Saroff says:

December 2, 2008 at 2:44 pm

Doing a quick Google, I note that you turned 15 in 1992, and your youthful recollections are in error.

I know that at that age, I was wargaming and trying to get close to anything that resembled a girl.

The first people to lead the charge against Clinton were Sam Nunn and Colin Powell over Gays in the Military.

Following that, we had the assault on Bill Clinton from….Bill Clinton in the repeated nanny-gate collapses of Attorney General nominations.

While all this was going on, we had the rest of the Washington intelligentsia, liberals none, engaging in attacks from a position of high Broderism.

The first break from the left wer objections to Clinton’s complete cave on gays in the military.

The second was that the “left” campaigned against NAFTA.

These are both core issues, and the idea that the left “went after” Clinton in supporting their positions is inside the Beltway bull.
Thad says:

December 2, 2008 at 2:59 pm

I disagree with the premise that a serious liberal can’t win an election. I think Kennedy, Clinton, and Obama (and, for that matter, Reagan) won on their personal charisma much more than their actual policies.

Clinton, while hands-down the best President of my lifetime so far (I was born in ’82 and missed Carter), was a disappointment pretty much from the very beginning. I think it’s asinine to blame his failures on the left for criticizing him; bullshit like Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell DESERVED the criticism it got and continues to deserve the criticism it still gets.

When I think of Clinton, I wonder what he could have accomplished if he’d had as little concern for public opinion polls as Bush.

All this is not to say that I have a problem with Obama being a moderate, or that I expected anything else from him. But when he makes a bad call (as he has in voting to renew PATRIOT and give the telecoms a get-out-of-jail-free card for warrantless domestic surveillance), it is ABSOLUTELY the left’s role to call him on it.
hf says:

December 2, 2008 at 4:57 pm

Can you even hear yourself, Oliver? The “center right” is already trying to force ideological conformity on Obama with this whole he’d-better-kick-the-Left storyline. They may be doing this because they know America wants guaranteed health care, withdrawal from Iraq and probably several other positions the media likes to call “leftist”.
Oliver Willis says:

December 2, 2008 at 5:39 pm

The “center right” is already trying to force ideological conformity on Obama with this whole he’d-better-kick-the-Left storyline.

Yeah and they’re being aided by the left who think Obama’s not being liberal enough before he’s even taken the oath.
datadave says:

December 2, 2008 at 9:33 pm

I am glad you’re feeling a little pressured, Oliver, so you can translate it to headquarters.

I’ll agree that the Nation, the leftist magazine, is calling for too much (even though they were endorseing Obama early)…but a Clinton 2 administration is pretty much all we’re seeing (except for Obama’s much more attractive family imo).

Not that we weren’t warned: Robert Rubin is probably more responsible for the economic calamity befalling us than anyone (with possible exceptions of Reagan ‘n Greenspan, GW Bush was just a dumb bystander_)) and yet Obama refuses to throw him under the bus. Larry Summer’s is Rubin’s accolyte. And then Paul Volker? Dr. Doom who tanked the economy during Carter’s time….with massive unemployment and Reagan was the result. With such a team we can expect 20 percent unemployment a year from now. And Obama won’t have any money to help poor innercity men needing work…let alone crazy white guys out in the sticks also w/o income but with guns galore. I include women but at least the ladies are more likely to get help and keep calm…but massive unemployment of men will surely cause are already filled the max prisons to get really nasty. And Unemployment funds will be tapped out by March, ’09 as Wall Streets already taken everything the Govt’s got. I expect by 2010 Obama and Congress will be still bailing out Wall Street Banks with our Social Security funds while 20 million foreclosures go down. Not a pretty picture for Obama, if he lets the Clintonites have their way.

I know Obama’s not even in power yet….and He needs to keep the Clintonites in his economic team to the far right of him and needs to read what really worked in the New Deal and what didn’t.

Ok, Obama’s an improvement over Bill Clinton…not so many bimbos in the wings…and a more experienced cabinet…(hmmm, thx to the Clinton’s giving them some time in power, after all)….but where are the progressive leftists to balance the Rubin-Republican-lite crowd?
Oliver Willis says:

December 2, 2008 at 9:42 pm

so you can translate it to headquarters

Yeah, I just stick the complaints in the pneumatic tube at my front door.
datadave says:

December 3, 2008 at 8:17 pm

Excellent image! thx for the chuckle, Mr. Willis.