Assessing Obama

I obviously like reading Sullivan, though understand not everyone likes him. But on assessing Obama, I think this is a particularly good post.

"Obama is a liberal pragmatist in politics and a traditional conservative in his understanding of the presidency. Once you grasp this, his first year makes much more sense."

I am continually amazed, as is Sullivan, how both the left and right misunderstand Obama. The escalation in Afghanistan, for example. I am still not convinced that it is a good idea, but it is very hard to be surprised by this given how Obama spoke of this conflict from the beginning of his campaign. In fact, he continually echoed a foreign policy reminiscent of HW Bush.

I have a friend who voted for Obama primarily because he thought he would be best at bridging the partisan divide, and that he would make that his chief priority. I think Obama has done a lot to work with the right, but it is very hard to work with people who think that Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck make sense.

He has also failed to end the cultural and partisan polarization in America. But he has not empowered it. The energy for this polarization has come from the hard left (which is angry at him) and the hard right, which, to a great extent, has gone completely bonkers in the wake of their defeat in 2008. This rabid conservatism - one that seeks more tax cuts as debt spirals, that thinks Gitmo is an asset in the war on terror, that wants no extension of health insurance, no bailouts, no stimulus - may well ride some populist anger to short term success at the ballot box (watch Massachusetts' by-election next Tuesday). But under Obama, the Republicans have become whiter, more extreme, more religious, and synonymous in the public mind with polarizing fugures like Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn beck. This may be a good ratings strategy for a cable network like Fox News, but it's a highly risky one for a party attempting to win back the center.

"Bonkers" may be the kindest word for the thugs on the right who have lost their freaking minds. As I said, Rush Limbaugh just told his Dittoheads not to contribute to Haiti, and there are a lot of the Republican base who think he makes sense.