Politicians qua candidates should not have political philosophies, strategies, or motives that demand they be treated like an onion, requiring a voter (or blogger) to peal back multiple layers of meaning and subtext to get at what someone really meant when they say or do something.
One of the defenses I’ve seen from people who don’t think we should be bothered by Obama’s comments praising Reagan is that this and other rhetorical and policy moves towards the right are really some sort of political jiu jitsu akin to George W. Bush campaigning as a compassionate conservative, then bolting to the right after attaining office. This may be Obama’s intention. If it is, I’ll rejoice when I see President Obama push for any number of progressive policy proposals to the left what he has offered during the campaign.
But as Obama remains in a Democratic primary which will be decided overwhelmingly by Democratic voters, this strikes me as a very bad idea. It asks progressive partisans and movementarians to take a leap of faith and hope that his comments about Reagan, Krugman, Bill Clinton, and health care mandates are nothing more than political gamesmanship to pull the wool over the eyes of right-leaning voters.
This probably only applies to the harden Democratic base, but I think any candidate whose words and action constitutes a request by voters to take a leap of faith by voting for them is a bad idea. It might work for less committed supporters of progressive values, but it is clearly has prompted serious push back by the blogs.
Hold Fast 
I just don’t leap to old. I will vote for who wins the Demo but there will be No Trust. It won’t be new boss same as the old boss but close unless we all get our rights back for a starter.
jo6pac
LikeLike
The riff I run is this is what Obama “really means.” The OFB wouldn’t have to rush out and explain what Obama “really means” after every dogwhistle to the right if what Obama was saying was clear to begin with. Onions make me cry. Though not Unity Ponies. I love my pony!!!!
LikeLike
Nice Blog Matt. I didn’t know you had started a new one until I came a cross a post at Corrente’s Blog.
LikeLike
Thanks CTMan1, though I just started it yesterday.
Lambert, you are right. I do love my pony too.
LikeLike
I guess it’s called a leap of hope. Good luck on the new blog!
LikeLike
I disagree that BO’s Reagan comment was a big deal. The content of the statement was about the country being ready to take a big step not about how Obama loves Reagan’s policies. That said, his new statement about the GOP as the party of ideas IS exactly what you said was wrong with his first statement: link
If I were a true apologist for Obama I’d try to couch his statement as a critique of Hillary’s record as leader in the Democratic Party, but I won’t go that far. If elected, I believe Obama will lead a strong progressive movement because of his personality but in no way is he responsible for the already ascendant progressive movement that has made his rise possible. To say that until he came along the party had no ideas is stupid.
Anyway, here’s his quote (from the link above):
“The Republican approach I think has played itself out. I think it’s fair to say the Republicans were the party of ideas for a pretty long chunk of time over the last 10 or 15 years, in the sense that they were challenging conventional wisdom. Now, you’ve heard it all before. You look at the economic policies, when they’re being debated among the presidential candidates, it’s all tax cuts. Well, we’ve done that, we’ve tried it.”
I think the proper message is more like, “Democrats have always represented the best interests of more Americans than the GOP. The problem we’ve had since 1994, and really since Reagan, is that the Republicans have been able to cast our ideas as bad and theirs as good and leading Dems have been largely unable until recently to fight back effectively. I am the best candidate [left] to succeed where Hillary Clinton and other 1990s Democrats have failed.”
Can the primary just end already?
LikeLike
Howard – Touche. Look, I think the comment I was making in the first ‘graph of this post is really a generalized one. Candidates don’t do well when they force their supporters to use mental telepathy to find good in their actions.
Austin – No, this primary will never end. Because if it did Chris Cillizza would have to shave and David Broder doesn’t want that to happen, so on it rolls.
Plus, look forward to 2012 primary talk come December 2009…
LikeLike
Nevada called for HRC. I don’t think BO can deny the effects of his GOP outreach this week.
LikeLike