Comments on: Obama’s Netroots Problem

By: Commentary » Blog Archive » The Netroots Are Rattled

Commentary » Blog Archive » The Netroots Are Rattled — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:26:14 +0000

[...] progress. The official blogospheric announcement has been made. Obama, it seems, has a “Netroots Problem:” Obama won a decisive victory and Democrats picked up seats in the House and the Senate. The [...]

By: ew

ew — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:57:45 +0000

the liberal illuminati are the ones who have the most power right now. It will be interesting to see how long and how much they're going to argue about amongst themselves. Nothing will probably be PC enough for a while.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:18:00 +0000

The Clinton administration, including the Clintons themselves, came in with hopes of a far more lefty agenda-- and they got screwed for trying.

I get really tired of people on the far left blaming Clinton for the loss of Congress in 1994 and for being too centrist. It was the leftist part of his agenda that cost us Congress in 1994 in the first place- so as far as I am concerned, you can only blame him for one of those things. You cannot legitimately blame him for both.

And you better believe Obama won't try to be anything but a centrist over the next few years- maybe the next four. Get over it.

By: Ottovbvs

Ottovbvs — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:54:03 +0000

To start with let's get a little perspective here. The netroots of left or right are nowhere near as important as they think they are. That said, while all the comments about Obama cherry picking and being disciplined are entirely correct, I have little doubt that in terms we can recognize Obama is going to move the country in a decisively leftward direction. This will in general terms leave his netroots much happier than the GOP's. None of this is really surprising surely, since this is what he was elected to do. Furthermore, it will all be done with considerable skill and competence by Mr No Drama himself, and a cadre of politicians and technocrats of left and moderate right that he has appointed to his administration. There will be a few slips but nothing of significance and the country will be dazzled by the contrast with his predecessor. At the end of the day most of the right are going to acquiesce in this as they have acquiesced in every other leftward shift of the past 100 years. Despite all the huffing and puffing, no one serious on the right suggests eliminating Social Security and Medicare; the EPA, the Pentagon and the alphabet soup of other federal agencies; or regulation of financial markets. To do so would be political suicide. The far left netroots are only important in their own minds and are a none issue in real terms

By: Bithead

Bithead — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:43:34 +0000

I'm pretty sure there are more Republicans in Congress than members who fit the above criteria.

Perhaps.
Then again, the Republicans in Congress have been all too willing to go along with the congressional Democrats... moreso, in fact than the Nutroots, as a rule.

By: Dave Schuler

Dave Schuler — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 14:01:39 +0000

Obama’s going to cherry pick policy ideas that he thinks will work and be popular, to the consternation of Republicans and the left wing of his own party alike.

I think the first clause of that is right but I'd construe the second clause as predicting the likelihood that President Obama might well be indifferent either to the discomfiture of Republicans or progressives within his own party. I think that's about right. However, preferences and fleeting popularity don't necessarily mean that the issues he'll pick will be the issues that most need addressing or that the approaches he'll favor will actually resolve. The facts on the ground have a way of reducing all presidents.

By: Alex Knapp

Alex Knapp — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 13:38:28 +0000

To the extent he has a problem, then, it’ll be disaffected progressives who are greatly disappointed.

I'm pretty sure there are more Republicans in Congress than members who fit the above criteria.

By: odograph

odograph — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:50:15 +0000

Does the left wing have that kind of issue, are they making that kind of demand, right now?

Or is this yet another blog/media argument in anticipation of a situation which has not actually occurred?

A lot of bits and ink are being spilled on things that might happen ;-)

(I like Matthews, but he's a bit hit and miss. Or maybe he changes stripes and is inflammatory enough to please different audiences in turn. I mean maybe there is some inside the beltway vibe he's channeling here ... or maybe he's shaking things up the way he likes to do.)

By: just me

just me — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:18:51 +0000

I am not a Matthews fan but I think he is right. The GOP will certainly stomp their feet over some proposals at times, but they pretty much have no power.

The reality for Obama is that if he screws up it will be the democrats that are to blame, and as the guy in the white house he takes the hit. Obama proved he has no qualms when it comes to tossing people under the bus, and I don't think he will have any problems tossing the left wing of his party under the bus if he thinks it will help him stay in the white house and his party stay in power.

I think Obama will play it safe for the next two years and won't take on much of anything controversial unless he has to.

By: Dave Schuler

Dave Schuler — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:15:22 +0000

They didn’t want to bring it up and it came up as the first issue

??? President-Elect Clinton brought it up in the very first press conference he held after he was elected. That strikes me as a very strange sort of reluctance.