President Obama's biggest mistake in office has been in the choice of his model for the role.
John F. Kennedy.
Kennedy is a bad model because Congress was needed to get us out of our hole and Kennedy was horrible with Congress. The only reason his agenda saw the light of day was because he died. Lyndon Johnson passed it.
Tactically, in terms of dealing with Congress, the right role model for Barack Obama was always (wait for it) George W. Bush.
Bush was ham-handed from the moment of his selection, but things got done. We knew who was in charge (Dick Cheney) and his full agenda passed. Even without a Senate majority (following Jim Jeffords' defection) Bush got what he wanted.
Why? Because he was ruthless. He let his party know what was demanded, and he bludgeoned enough opponents into giving him what he wanted. Yes, he created a fake war. Yes, the economy remained decrepit through his first two years. Yet he won the mid-terms. And even though things didn't really get better, even though thousands died and he was all hat, no cattle, he won re-election!.
Dam-m- n.
The problem with W wasn't his behavior in office. It was his ideology. As rigid as any Soviet Commissar's. It gave him no preparation for the new problems of a new time, for the reality of Al Qaeda, or the destruction of Katrina, or the economic shenanigans of a system left with a financial system straight out of 1929.
If Bush could do all he did with mere ideology, bluster and lies, imagine what Barack Obama could do. But he hasn't. He has remained deferential to his party elite, like a good junior back-bencher (like Kennedy), and what has that gotten him?
Blahdy-blahdy-blah. For 14 months Congress has been run by the Senate's 60th vote. President Snowe, President Landrieu, President Nelson, President Joe Fucking Lieberman. No wonder everyone's sick of it. Democrats are as sick of it as Republicans.
The President's priorities are right. The execution is wrong. The President thinks bending builds consensus. Not in this political environment. Grass bends. Presidents use their power to break their opponents.
A comeback starts by firing Rahm Emanuel. He's useless. Hire Howard Dean. Believe it or not, Dean is a better choice because Dean believes in something, and Dean will put the hammer down. He got what Vermont didn't want to give (civil unions), he balanced budgets, he was environmentally correct, he did health care. He ran the most fractious party on the face of the Earth to victories where it had no business competing. Montana! Screw the scream. Stand by the man and the scream disappears.
Then fire Harry Reid. Throw him overboard. He's gonna drown, put a hose in his mouth. Send Joe Biden down the Avenue with instructions to start kicking Senatorial tail. Have him sit in that chair, rule Republican objections out of order, and pass the most robust public option you dare write with 50 votes if necessary.
What Americans demand in a time of trouble is a government that kicks ass, that makes change happen. Lincoln tossed the Constitution and fired the Army's favorite General, George McClellan. People hated him. McClellan ran against him, and would have won had Atlanta not fallen two months before the election. Roosevelt packed the Supreme Court and turned Hollywood into the government's propaganda arm. Many people still hate him. The whole Republican agenda today is an effort to overturn FDR.
You don't judge a President based on his popularity. You judge him based on whether what he does is the right thing for the country. This President's agenda is right-on. It's not socialism to behave as a good global citizen, and to do as right by your people as Mexico does. (Mexico has a better health care system than we do, based on bang for the buck. Mexico!)
President Obama has two choices. He can find his Inner W, or he can go all Nixon on us.
That means abortion becomes illegal, it means guns everywhere, it means the poor can go pound sand. It means we cut spending in a recession, we eat more of our seed corn, but at least he can feed liberals rhetoric, while the hatred toward him grows and he's tempted, ever more, to build an enemy's list and manipulate his opponent's party into nominating a George McGovern at 3 AM in the morning. (Oh, and hide the VP nominee's psychiatric records so she has to make Neil Bush her VP.)
The choice lies in the Oval Office. The President has gotten the spanking he deserved. Let it be a lesson for him.
Kick ass. Be the President we need. Or let the Latin Triangle of the Army, the Church, and the Oligarchs turn us into Argentina, while China dominates the century.
Your choice, Mr. President.
Dana. Spot on. Good blog.
Dana. Spot on. Good blog.