He needs to give it a chance. If the Republicans continue to demonstrate that their idea of “bipartisan” is “we supply the ‘partisan’ part; the Democrats supply the ‘bi’ part”, they’ll hang themselves with the rope Obama is playing out to them.
Nope, he’s doing just the right thing by reaching out to the pubs. He is coming off as concerned, gracious, urgent and involved, while they are coming off as “The guys who are fucking up my chances of getting a stimulus check to help pay my rent.” as one associate of mine put it last night. I agree that the republicans are playing chicken with the president, but I think that they are way too full of themselves on this issue. If you look at a lot of the issues they are opposing, it isn’t a whole lot better for them politically either. Poo-pooing funds for education and public works projects that will generate jobs in a time of severe unemployment isn’t a good strategy at the best of times. Less so when your alternative seems to be nothing more than “tax cuts” and “money for small business!” without explaining at all how that will directly help us out. Obama has shown in the first week that he’s got teeth and will act swiftly and directly on issues that are important to him and within his power to do something about. He’s also keeping some of his promises and moving fast on them, something that no doubt is making the pubs circle the wagons. What they OUGHT to do is try and out gracious Obama by making concessions and appearing to work for the good of the country. Accept a little blame for the package, and share int he reward. Now if it fails, they’ve got nothing.
One wonders whether all the Pubs who voted against the bill were sincerely against it – or whether they were just playing the role of an opposition party in a no-cost situation, and some of them might have switched their votes to yea if there had been a serious chance the bill would be defeated.
It seems to me that the Republicans missed the news on Nov. 4. They got hammered because their ideas and ways of thinking are way way way out of vogue.
Spot on. If it works, Obama and the Dems get credit, not the Reps. If it doesn’t work, the Reps can claim they told us so. The political upside was all in voting Nay.
No matter what McCain was saying about “Country First”, of course.
And in general, yes, Obama does have to make the effort at least to appear to transcend partisanship, even when he knows it’s futile. It’s helpful to him to let the reflexively-oppositionist opposition continue to appear that way. The mistake would be in making Reid/Pelosi-like concessions to people who aren’t interested in good faith negotiations.
I think Obama is playing a more subtle game here. If the package works, he wins. If the package is perceived to work he wins. If the package does not work or is nor perceived to work, and Obama and the Dems point out that the Reps did not work with them on the bill, Obama wins. Only if the package does not work at all and the public blames Obama for trying something do the Reps get a winning scenario.
Even if the thing is a complete failure, I think most people are going to look at as a failure by government as a whole and then remember that it was Reps who were working against doing anything. Their proposals for more tax cuts just are not going to fly with those out of work or who have lost their house, because it is not taxes that got them into trouble.
One also wonders whether the 12 Dems who voted against it just didn’t get enough of their favorite pork… or whether they too are Against Economic Recovery.
While I cant stand the bitter Republicans trying to torpedo the bill, I’m all for Obama working with them. He’s building and earning political capital, and in Washington, sometimes the way you are perceived is more effective than what you actually are
Everybody now knows that 0 GOP in the House voted for the bill. After such an inclusive candidate won the election, and the fact that even over 50% of Republicans surveyed had a positive opinion about Obama as president, the Reps in the House will be seen not as standing by their values, but as pissy and bitter obstructionists. That will help a lot when Obama tries to pass future bills without Rep support, ones over health care or gays or regulations. He can simply point to how the Reps stonewalled him repeatedly and pass a much more liberal version of the bill
+1 YogSosoth – Your analysis is persuasive. I hope it shall prove correct.
He’s going to have a problem with the perceive to work part. Everything is indicating that the economy will still be fucked up in two years. So even if the stimulus works eventually in say 2012, the pubs are going to say it was a failure in 2010 without giving it any real chance of success.
Geez… this morning even MSNBC is talking about all of the welfare in the bill…and Scarborough is nowhere to be seen. Don’t worry, they’re quick to point out that they are worthwhile programs… just can’t even bring themselves to call it stimulus.
Anybody seen any polling? Fox News has one that I won’t even bother to link to.
Hint… if your afraid of the results, you don’t commission the poll.