This column by Slate columnist John Dickerson is getting more attention than others making the same point because Dickerson is also political director for CBS News—a fact that has right-wingers (with some reason) apoplectic.
“Washington’s partisan rancor, the size of the problems facing government, and the limited amount of time before Obama is a lame duck all point to a single conclusion: The president who came into office speaking in lofty terms about bipartisanship and cooperation can only cement his legacy if he destroys the GOP. If he wants to transform American politics, he must go for the throat.”
Although there’s a certain amount of rejoicing on the left at Dickerson’s column—much of it along the lines of Booman’s short, insightful post here—it’s also worth pointing out some of the weaknesses in Dickerson’s argument:
- He sets up a false dichotomy between “schmoozing” and “pulverizing” as the only two options for dealing with congressional Republicans available to President Obama at the start of his second term.
- He fails to acknowledge the extent to which President Obama’s (or any president’s) ability to act is constrained by his circumstances and the amount of political power he has.
- He fails to recognize the continuity between President Obama’s tactics since November’s elections and his tactics in the 15 months leading up to that election.
Let’s take them one at a time.
Schmoozing/Pulverizing: Schmoozing is overrated as a political tool—particularly by journalists who overemphasize the important of personality and personal interactions. So is pulverizing. Lyndon Johnson didn’t win passage of dozens of Great Society bills because he was a great political schmoozer/pulverizer; he won because he had overwhelming majorities in both the House and Senate. The same was true of FDR and the New Deal, as well as Ronald Reagan at the beginning of his first term (Democrats had a numerical majority in the House, but conservative Democrats formed a functioning majority with Republicans on budget issues). In October 2016, Barack Obama will still be president of the United States but his ability to schmooze with (or pulverize) his political opponents will be drastically reduced, simply because they know he’ll be out of office in a matter of weeks. (The same was true for his predecessors.)
Political Power: For his first two years in office, President Obama enjoyed large Democratic majorities (including a filibuster-proof Senate for several months), and used those majorities to pass the largest set of progressive legislation since the mid-1960s. After the 2010 election returned a Republican majority in the House, Obama spent most of the next two years on the defensive, trying to blunt the impact of the conservative movement while simultaneously maneuvering to place himself in the best possible position to win re-election. Having won re-election (and with more Democrats elected to both the House and Senate), President Obama then took a harder line in negotiations with Republicans over the “fiscal cliff” and the debt ceiling. What changed (primarily) was how much power Obama had. The more power he had, the more assertive he could be.
Continuity: President Obama doesn’t need to shift to a more confrontational stance towards Republicans with his inaugural address. He already did that 18 months ago. After the debacle (from the Democrats’ perspective) of the summer 2011 debt-ceiling fight, President Obama instructed his staff to put together a jobs bill and to make it big. He announced the American Jobs Act in August, and then spent the fall campaigning publicly for it, repeatedly highlighting Republican intransigence. His re-election campaign adopted the same stance—highlighting his willingness to compromise with Republicans (and their refusal to do so with him) on means, but refusing to compromise on ends (e.g., job creation, economic stimulus, health care, immigration reform, gay rights).
Barack Obama has lived most of his adult life on Chicago’s South Side. South Side native (and fellow African-American chief executive) Gov. Deval Patrick (D-MA) has spoken in recent months about the importance of President Obama “showing some South Side”, publicly (and behind closed doors) demonstrating his willingness to use the political power he has to accomplish the goals he has.
Right now, President Obama is at the peak of his powers for the next four years. It makes sense for him to act, and act aggressively, on his priorities—climate change, immigration, gun safety, ending the war in Afghanistan, implementing health care reform—now. The fact that Washington insiders like the political director of CBS News are finally realizing the degree to which Republicans have ceased to be a functioning political party merely helps the rest of us get a clearer picture of what’s going on.
Crossposted at: http://masscommons.wordpress.com/
