This is all you need to read to understand why the Republicans have been running the country for the past two years. Obama on the budget issue:
“My administration has already put forward specific cuts that meet congressional Republicans halfway. And I’m prepared to do more,” said Obama.
Yep. Start by “meeting them half way” and then tell them you are prepared to cave even more. That’s a truly effective negotiating technique. In similar circumstances, Clinton made them look like idiots. I won’t characterize the way Republicans have made Obama look.
Addendum: I suppose it will be argued by some that Obama is scoring political points by making himself look good in contrast to the Republicans. He may be. He certainly looks like a lock to win the election in 2012, despite his failure to deal effectively with the economy. But his success and our success are two different things. If the best Democratic strategy is to win every other election by allowing the Republicans, in alternate election cycles, to get everything they want and, in the process, reminding the short memoried public why they voted them out the last time, with the Democrats getting nothing while they’re in the majority, then electoral success gains us nothing but odd election cycles in which the Republican takeover of Washington is somewhat slowed. Obama is already more of a Republican than Bill Clinton ever was, and we are going to have 5 more years of him meeting the Republicans half way, with that halfway point constantly shifting in a rightward direction. That’s success we can’t believe in.
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