Suburban Guerrilla

Mar 2nd, 2008 at 7:58 pm by Susie

Looks like there’s something to my theory about Obama - namely, that if you run in a primary from the center-right, you’ll govern even further to the right.

Now Obama’s talking about appointing two conservative Republicans to his cabinet - Chuck Hagel and Dick Lugar.

So why should I assume any SCOTUS appointments he makes won’t be conservative as well?

Posted in Politics As Usual

6 Responses to “Run From The Center, Govern To The Right”

on 02 Mar 2008 at 9:10 pm1Macjazz

“In short, I just don’t see Obama as a transformative progressive at all,” says Bowers.

Well, duh. Of course he’s not. Lefty sites like Counterpunch have been busting Obama on this point forever. He’s NOT a progressive.

And neither is Hillary. As one of Bowers’ commentators points out right away, Hillary has said, “I won’t even wait until I’m inaugurated, but as soon as I’m elected I’m going to be asking distinguished Americans of both parties - people like Colin Powell, for example, and others - who can represent our country well, including someone I know very well.”

Hill and Bill also played a large part in getting Joe Lieberman reelected. As did Obama. Joe Lieberman for Chrissakes! These people aren’t progressives by any stretch - why does anyone imagine they are?
on 02 Mar 2008 at 10:17 pm2Ron

Maybe I’ve been using the wrong definition of change.
on 02 Mar 2008 at 10:35 pm3Henry

Your formula makes the old Guatemalan saying (”Power is like a violin–you pick it up with the left hand and play it with the right”) seem quaint. Our candidates don’t even talk left.

The counterexample, of course, is FDR, who ran as a conservative Democrat but who got pushed left once in office. To quote Wikipedia’s article on him:

Economist Marriner Eccles observed that “given later developments, the campaign speeches often read like a giant misprint, in which Roosevelt and Hoover speak each other’s lines.” Roosevelt denounced Hoover’s failures to restore prosperity or even halt the downward slide, and he ridiculed Hoover’s huge deficits. Roosevelt campaigned on the Democratic platform advocating “immediate and drastic reductions of all public expenditures,” “abolishing useless commissions and offices, consolidating bureaus and eliminating extravagances reductions in bureaucracy,” and for a “sound currency to be maintained at all hazards.” On September 23, Roosevelt made the gloomy evaluation that, “Our industrial plant is built; the problem just now is whether under existing conditions it is not overbuilt. Our last frontier has long since been reached.” Hoover damned that pessimism as a denial of “the promise of American life . . . the counsel of despair.”

Analogies are cheap, of course, and usually misleading. The obvious moral, however, is that we have to organize for real change — universal health care would be a start.
on 03 Mar 2008 at 12:41 am4Snarki, child of Loki

I certainly don’t trust election rhetoric to tell what a candidate will do once elected. Look to their past history, however; it gives you more of a feel for the person’s general attitudes, which don’t change all that quickly.

Yeah, we’d like to think that people “grow” and “change” and “learn”; but it seems to be more the exception than the rule.

How discouraging! How can I convince myself to pull the lever for either of the democratic candidates with a view like that?

I just keep telling myself: “They’re both SANE, unlike any GOPer”, and that alone is reason for hope.
on 03 Mar 2008 at 6:49 am5memyself

oops. You forgot this clear statement from the article:

“However, he has not actually made such a choice yet”

The whole thing is written as speculation based on the fact that Obama has stated that if elected he will pick the best people available for his cabinet, that he considers some Republican Senators to be friends , and the musings of other people.

Rumor mongering is rumor mongering no matter how carefully disguised as thoughtful discourse. The Times Online does exactly the same thing. Read their article carefully. There’s no statement from Obama on any specific individuals being considered for cabinet positions, contrary to the “truthy” headline.
on 03 Mar 2008 at 10:44 am6Susie

Guess you didn’t spot that all-important “senior advisers” trial balloon thing, did you.