Dan Riehl
RiehlWorldView
3/25/2010
As Ben Smith points out, during the campaign, Obama played down any notion of his opposition as extreme, confrontational, or otherwise divisive. In essence, he didn’t want America to become afraid of him as a candidate due to his being too controversial. But things have changed.
On the one hand, he’s actually being confrontational. That’s exhibited with his Go for it nonsense regarding any repeal effort. He actually said that on the same day a poll indicates 55% of Americans want his bad HCR repealed. A better man would have tried to mend fences, not widen gaps.
Big picture, that’s extremely sad, as he’s willing to insult a majority of Americans as part of what he sees as a winning messaging strategy. It’s impossible to respect someone like that. But it’s what we’re stuck with for now.
At the same time, Dem orgs, officials and office holders have begun, not only playing up any extreme opposition, they’re even exaggerating it – witness the Carnahan coffin caper as just one example. So, what’s going on?
Obama wants his opposition painted as extremist, he just doesn’t want his fingerprints on the artwork. And he knows that the media is not likely to call him out for using his Go for it rhetoric in the face of broad public disapproval. They’re more than happy to carry his water and ignore that his message is actually impacting citizens as a whole.
It’s a repulsive strategy designed to make him look as though he’s in command and above it all, while his critics are portrayed as unhinged. It’s also dangerous given the manipulation of public anger involved. But it seems to be the type of unprincipled so called leadership we’re stuck with for the time being. We need to fight back against his agenda forcefully, but also be smart.
The article continues at RiehlWorldView.