Doug Henwood wrote:
Right now, the Reps represent a provincial petty bourgeoisie, largely confined to the South. Obama comes into office with high approval ratings, a big Congressional majority, and high expectations. If he played it right - and he could, given his political skills - he could roll over the Reps. He could portray them as the obstructionist great-grandchildren of Herbert Hoover. But unlike the Reps, he wants to be post-partisan and doesn't really believe in much of anything.
But isn't that exactly the role of the Democratic Party? The Republicans keep pushing from the right and the Democrats keep making compromises, making the center shift several degrees to the right each time.
As far as the implicit notion that Obama has the political capital to roll over obstructionist neo-Hooverites, this assumes that he somehow could be "forced" by historical circumstances to rise to the occasion. At this stage of the game, given his cabinet appointees, this seems excluded.
I do think that Obama has strong beliefs, however. They are reflected in the editorial pages of the NY Times.
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