Obama's a Wimp (So Says the GOP)

President Obama believes in civility. His opposition doesn't. Only days after the inauguration, Rush Limbaugh pushed to the front of the pack to say he hoped Obama would fail. At first Republicans were shocked by his bad behavior. But they soon rallied around Limbaugh and through him rediscovered their hectoring voice.

For the stimulus package, Obama held true to his desire for bipartisanship. He allowed more tax cuts into the bill, even against the preferences of his own party because he wanted to meet Republicans half-way. What he got in return was derision.

The Republicans saw his hand extended in bipartisanship as evidence that he is a wimp.

What Obama forgot is that political opponents happily lie and misrepresent when it gives them an advantage. His opponents aren't just a disaffected group looking for inclusion. They are his antagonists and they are defined by their differences with him.

Joining in the attack on the stimulus package, John McCain picked up his mindless old war cry of "Pork, pork, pork." Ignoring history, Senator Mitch McConnell intoned that government spending on infrastructure projects was the wrong way to stimulate the economy because, as we all know, FDR's New Deal was an abject failure. Not withstanding eight abysmal years of the Bush administration, the Republicans are back to their old messages: Democrats are the party of wasteful spending, government is too large, and the only way to stimulate the economy is to lower taxes.

Obama was caught off guard by Republican bully-partisanship.

Paul Krugman argues that Obama's best impulses may conspire against his intentions. His desire for consensus, his experience as a community organizer, his native goodness potentially make him easy prey for his adversaries. Witness, Mr. Krugman says, the details of the stimulus package. By embracing the changes promoted by the so-called centrist senators, he has in fact allowed the heart of the package to be gutted. Krugman writes:

One of the best features of the original plan was aid to cash-strapped state governments, which would have provided a quick boost to the economy while preserving essential services. But the centrists insisted on a $40 billion cut in that spending.

The original plan also included badly needed spending on school construction; $16 billion of that spending was cut. It included aid to the unemployed, especially help in maintaining health care -- cut. Food stamps -- cut. All in all, more than $80 billion was cut from the plan, with the great bulk of those cuts falling on precisely the measures that would do the most to reduce the depth and pain of this slump.

On the other hand, the centrists were apparently just fine with one of the worst provisions in the Senate bill, a tax credit for home buyers. Dean Baker of the Center for Economic Policy Research calls this the "flip your house to your brother" provision: it will cost a lot of money while doing nothing to help the economy.

All in all, the centrists' insistence on comforting the comfortable while afflicting the afflicted will, if reflected in the final bill, lead to substantially lower employment and substantially more suffering.

But how did this happen? I blame President Obama's belief that he can transcend the partisan divide -- a belief that warped his economic strategy.

Underlying Krugman's question is a larger one. Can a decent man be president? Do the demands of the office require a human being with the ability to conspire, deceive, and manipulate? Can Obama learn to manage the political process and accomplish his policy goals and still remain who he is as a human being?

During the early democratic primaries, I wasn't an Obama supporter. I worried that he was too untried to make it through the slug fest of national politics. In the early debates, Hillary and Edwards got the better of him. They had a better command of the facts and they were more aggressive, more willing to strike for the jugular. Obama looked weak.

And then over the next several weeks and in the subsequent debates, Obama transformed himself. He mastered the facts. He traded blow for blow. He became a candidate of conviction and strength and he beat Hillary in the primaries and then John McCain and the Republican hate machine in the general election.

He prevailed then because he was willing to identify his own failings and learn from them. Now that he is president he is faced with even more difficult circumstances. Until he has a filibuster-proof 60 vote majority in the Senate, he will be forced into compromises with opponents who bear him ill-will. How he balances his emotional needs for bipartisanship with the political realities will determine if he can achieve his policy goals. In the primaries he proved he was up to the challenge, I believe he will do it again as president.

Comments

[ncmom54]

I'm just blown away that a stimulus for the United States (not an oil rich country) actually made it through congress... in such record time... and that our president can articulate important issues to the citizens. The crowd who drove the bus off the cliff knows they wrecked the country & the only thing they can do now is discredit the one who was willing to walk into the fire & rescue us.

[BarackstarObama]

President Obama is such a whimp that the GOP is scared to death of him. LOL

[BPCentrisAmerican]

This war will end badly for Republicans, they showed there insurgency card far to early and they looked petty and small, in response to an economic situation that have people frightened. They my not pay for it with votes in Dixie and the high end suburbs of the mid-west, but than again time will tell. Obama has the ability to make right what Bush got wrong and that can send a powerful message. Republicans aren't a road block there a speed bump and speed bumps get run over.

[streetkid5]

The President is connected, to ALL parts of society. I'm sure he keeps tabs on Limbaugh, Hannity and Malkin. He responded properly to Glenn Beck's legitimate concerns about the use of the 2010 Census. He was very quick to get FEMA aid to the Kentucky ice storm victims and Oklahoma tornado victims as well. He has expressed condolences to the families of those killed in the Buffalo plane crash. He has addressed the issue of steroid use in professional sports. All these have not distracted Mr. Obama from the economic project that is his current main course of action, nor from the international events which break every day. He called Pope Benedict to express consternation over the Holocaust-denying bishop, and is keeping close watch on the Middle East, Venezuela,etc., besides sending HRC to Asia. All in all, the Green Rookie is doing his level best, so far.

[DavidLatt]

Thanks for your comment. You are very right. Obama is at the top of his game. He reaches out to allies and opponents. He genuinely believes that "united" is better than "divided". And he is a multi-tasker, as he said during the campaign. All of that should give us hope that he will achieve his ends, even with the great obstacles before him. His speech yesterday to commemorate Lincoln's 200th birthday was really inspiring. Also if you didn't see Rachael Maddow last night, watching her commentary about Obama's speech was very smart.
The only questions are will he find people to work in his administration who are as good as he is and will he achieve a majority in the Senate?

[Ipanemagirl]

Let's hope that Obama learned his lesson from this experience and will now play hardball with the republicans. if he cannot do this, then we are screwed.
Dems , wake up and fight back!!!

[OB]

Well I didn't support Obama in the primaries but voted for him reluctently, I think all the Dems are lacking in backbone and the congress has been that way since the 2008 election when they took over. I think Reid is TOOOOOOOOOOO soft and Pelosi well what can one say good about her. I hope the dems find their gackbone we need Franken to win in Minn. that could be a bigggg help.
And hey a lot of those Repugnican senators are up for re-election in 2010 and wil soon soften their position when they hear from the folks back home. This recession effects everyone not party affliation needed. I hope Obam finds his guts and gets tough with the bankers( what a boondoggle that is) and the repugnicans!!

[didntvote4him]

Know how you feel dude. Voted for McCain reluctantly.

[BPCentrisAmerican]

I wasn't reluctant in the least. I would have voted for McCain in 2000, but McCain version 08 was just to weired and Palin was the closer.

[rf dude]

He who lets go

the towel first

stays on his feet...
--

[markjuliansmith]

It would be nice if 'Electing Obama was just the start' but sadly it is not going to be the case.

As for fighting for change that"s how we come to were we are now. Fighting only achieves the same or worse.

The question is how do we replace what we have with what we all want?

First it is accepting by electing another politician under the same societal framework is not going to deliver us from evil.

Secondly accepting the notion of self-interest, which we have lauded as the most efficient means of enabling independence for all, is a failure.

Thirdly accepting the only way we can achieve true independence for ourselves is by first seeking to enable the independence of others.

Fourthly change our legislative and societal frameworks to align with point three.

Start by seeing what you can do to assist those closest to you to achieve independence and work outwards.

[fedupinfla]

I think if Obama had done a townhall type meeting sooner and explained to the American people just what TYPE of cuts the Rethugs were asking for (like gutting our schools, our health care system, and aid to the poor so it can reward a program with massive oppurtunity for fraud & abuse like the "sell my house to my mom" provision) he could've developed a groundswell of support for this rescue package. He could've encouraged people to contact their senator & reps to remind them just WHO they went there to represent. Plus there's the added benefit of exposing with crystal clarity the vile & corrupt nature of the GOP. They have no interest in bi-partisanship. They see him as the enemy whether he believes it or not. Steele was a strategic Rovian-like move. He's the wall they're going to hide behind while they throw rocks. And they're willing to sink this country if it means getting the power back.

[BPCentrisAmerican]

I guarantee he will do more of them, his good at it and there no reason a smart president can't field tough questions, he my not win everyone's heart, but he can show he cares, and that's what people are hungry for after Bush.

[billw8017]

Wait and see where the Congressional Republicans stand when they return from the President's Day break and visiting with their constituents. They ARE just gaming the system and have no principles to adhere to. (Maybe Ron Paul is sincere, but those other guys are just embarrassing.)

[Oregondemo]

So true.

[naijaman]

Obama was not caught off-guard by anything. He simply let the GOP hang themselves...have you seen the recent polls? The biggest mistake make is that they underestimate Obama, much to their peril (ask Hillay and McCain).

[tigerakabj]

And the Daley Machine.

I remember seeing some of his former political opponents from Chicago giving interviews about their experiences with him, and they were whining and carrying on about how "Obama is ruthless" and that his "overly disciplined." Just crying a river. I was thinking, "What did Obama do make these grown men cry so much?"

[Oregondemo]

I think you're right. Hey, my money's on the smart guy. He hasn't let me down yet!

[didntvote4him]

Where is Hillary?

[dsws]

Can a decent man be president? Well, can a decent man claw his way to the top of Chicago politics so fast he's still accelerating when he leaves town?

[Jetling]

I like Paul Krugman quite a bit, but he's wrong here.

Obama's kept the Republicans involved in this. They were cordial at first glance, then turned on him. Because they are still acting like children.

If you recall in the press conference, the President alluded to this when he suggested that "maybe" he should have started the bill without any tax cuts rather than offer the carrot initially.

He's established that he acted in good faith, with the intention of getting some buy-in.

I fully believe he's anticipated this among many scenarios. They act like children. Perhaps they will be treated accordingly going forward.

[Evette Wilson]

I am a little sick of Krugman...give a person a Pulitzer and they think they know everything!

[billw8017]

Yeah. Give 'em a Nobel Prize and a column in the New York Times, and they'll think their opinions are wanted and respected. If he's so smart, how come you never see him on Sesame Street?

[Ipanemagirl]

Hey, Krugman IS smart and I wish Obama would hire him, and follow his advice; we could all do better! Dont knock what you dont understand. This economy and crisis is beyond most of us!

[Emlyn]

I can just imagine what is going to happen to the Reps and they don't see it coming.