In this Harper’s article, Barack Obama Inc.: The birth of a Washington machine—By Ken Silverstein, is a look at the upcoming Barack Obama, who is “Already considered a potential vice-presidential nominee in 2008”. Ha!
It’s a good article, mostly focused on lobbyists and their relationship with politicians. However, one quote that jumped out at me was this:
Obama said that the “blogger community,” which by now is shorthand for liberal Democrats, gets frustrated with him because they think he’s too willing to compromise with Republicans. “My argument,” he says, “is that a polarized electorate plays to the advantage of those who want to dismantle government. Karl Rove can afford to win with 51 percent of the vote. They’re not trying to reform health care. They are content with an electorate that is cynical about government. Progressives have a harder job. They need a big enough majority to initiate bold proposals.”
You can see Obama’s thinking about Health Care Reform here, even if it is something that so many progressive bloggers object to. That asymetry is unfair and frustrating to the left in the U.S. Howevre, once those bold proposals are set in place, they gain an inertia all of their own and the asymetry shifts in favour of progressives. (Ask conservatives that try to dismantle New Deal programs.)
(And yes I realize that the blogger community is more than just liberal Democrats….hey, this was written ages ago. :))
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