What in the world is he thinking? A liberal critique of Barack Obama

[Laelth]

An essay that addresses Obama's mystifying political strategy, as seen from the left. It also explores the nature of both the Democratic and Republican parties and tries to explain why neither party really represents the interests of the people that elect them.

For those who are interested.

Kissing Butt and Taking Names: Obama’s Winning Political Strategy

December 18, 2010

What in the world is he thinking?

Liberals have been asking themselves this question about Barack Obama and his administration since the day he was sworn into office. On issue after issue, in ways both subtle and overt, Obama has acted in ways that alienate and marginalize the political left, such as it is in America today. Assuming that Obama needs the energy, money, and political support of liberals in order to be re-elected, liberals have been left scratching their heads by this President, trying to figure out exactly what his game plan is and trying to understand why he would risk alienating his political base.

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Given all of this, liberals are supposed to believe that Obama has liberal instincts and intentions, but that he has been stymied by Republican resistance? Republicans didn’t force Obama to take any of the positions he took on the long list of issues cited above. The argument that Obama is some kind of “liberal pragmatist” is patently absurd.

So who is this guy? What is he thinking? He’s not inept, nor is he unintelligent. Stupid people don’t get to be the editor of the Harvard Law Review. He’s not weak. Weak Presidents don’t enjoy the record of legislative successes that Obama has managed to compile. He’s not some kind of liberal pragmatist. His record shows that he’s ambivalent to liberal concerns on a whole host of issues, and it doesn’t take any Republican pressure to make Obama stab the left in the back.

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And here we come to the only explanation that makes sense when trying to understand Obama’s political calculus. What Obama understands, and what most liberals do not, is the extent to which liberalism, as a political philosophy, has been discredited among the American political caste. Obama can not govern as a liberal, nor can he even appear to be a liberal, because doing so would make him a pariah to the political caste, and that would doom his ambition to be re-elected in 2012.

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-Laelth