Reply #351: Not quite

[Robb]

Creating the picture that he's distancing himself from the far left is not the same.

I think, like most things Obama has done, this serves two purposes. First, surrounding yourself with people who disagree with you is good management. Second, by putting them there, he draws fire from (some) on the left. He puts them there anyhow, "showing" he's not beholden to, well, anyone. Which a lot of people, including on the right, admire. Which increases his support, which increases his political capital, which allows him to get a lot more potentially marginal ("just barely passing") stuff done. And that's the kind of stuff we (we leftist kooks) all want him to get done.

There's a lot of theater here, but the great part -- the typically Obama part -- is that it's not just good theater, it's good governing style. He sank a lot of long putts during the campaign, I don't believe he's gone all potty now. :)