From my column this morning:
In fact, what is sad is not the spin war. This happens after every election. The partisans and pundits race for the election results like kids charging the disgorged contents of a piñata, claiming convenient facts like candy and shouting, “Mine!” It’s always an unseemly process.
No, what’s sad is how far Obama’s defenders have had to move the goalposts just to keep up their morale.
They might be right that the elections don’t mean all that much for Obama and the Democrats. I very much doubt it, but even having the argument represents an enormous defeat for self-styled progressives.
Almost exactly a year ago, liberals insisted that Obama was going to be FDR 2.0 and that this was the dawn of a new progressive era. Countless magazine articles and newspaper columns were dedicated to the idea we were poised for a “new New Deal.” Filmmaker Spike Lee declared that we will henceforth measure time B.O. (“before Obama”) and A.O. (“after Obama”).
Newsweek became so obsessed with Obama as a redeemer-saint-Jedi reincarnation of both FDR and Lincoln — and also the sexiest man alive — it’s a wonder the Secret Service didn’t issue a restraining order.
Nearly a year later, Newsweek’s November 2 cover story is a “survival guide” for liberals who seem on the verge of self-immolation given their disappointment with Obama.
If Obama is the new FDR, it might be instructive to go back and look at the elections in 1933, one year after Roosevelt was elected.
Dr. K covers similar turf this AM.
Update: From my probationary anti-capitalization guy:
cruel but a usefully provocative analysis….
….in the spirit of constructive critique, i think your essential argument is made stronger by the observation that the more people ‘learn’ about government-defined
health care ‘reform’ and ‘cap™,’ the less enthusiastic they appear to be…
…this was certainly not true of the wpa and other big ticket FDR initiatives and while medicare absolutely alienated the traditional medical care establishment, the larger
public was more warm than wary….
….as i’ve mentioned in earlier emails, it’s astonishing how well your ‘lf’ template serves to offer culturally and historically powerful analytical ammunition vs ‘obamaism’…
do you occasionally wonder whether president hilary would have sold more or fewer books for you…?
🙂