“I mean in a way Obama’s standing above the country, above — above the world, he’s sort of God.” (Evan Thomas of Newsweek, June 5, 2009)
Mr. Thomas must have been smiling last Wednesday night.
There was President Obama delivering his latest and most interesting sermon to Congress. As usual, the president did not disappoint in presentation. It is clear this president’s telegenic appeal is unparalleled in the television era. A terrific speechwriter, calm demeanor, clear delivery, and command of his audience (if not the precise facts) make for an efficient presentation.
Was it effective? Only time will tell, as the daily polling and vote counts begin in the halls of Congress.
However, Obama’s speech, and the response from his critics, sealed the coffin on a notion advanced in the early days of this administration: that the president’s rhetorical talent signaled the rise of America’s first post-partisan political leader, a leader possessing such intellectual credibility that his policies were somehow post-ideological. Such leadership, the theory went, would heal the great congressional divide of recent years and a post-partisan peace would reign in a new progressive era.
There was always one glaring problem with this political fantasy: Presidents (and governors) make decisions that affect real people in the real world, and they spend billions of taxpayer dollars in the process. In the last few months, Obama has spent $1.1 trillion dollars on a so-called stimulus, sent thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan, appointed dozens of unconfirmed “czars” to powerful positions in government, and sought to remake 16 percent of the American economy in one monumental piece of legislation.
Further, to the surprise of no one who bothered to listen to Candidate Obama, the administration is actively lobbying for an expensive cap-and-trade carbon tax, pushing the so-called “card check” union-organizing bill, and allowing his attorney general to investigate CIA operatives involved in aggressive detainee interrogations in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. These moves accurately reflect the Obama campaign platform. They are decidedly left-leaning and fully consistent with Senator Obama’s voting record and campaign rhetoric. What they are not is “post-ideological.”
Post-partisan? Rarely does the president miss an opportunity to show his disdain for the budget deficits and wars he inherited from his successor. “Tax cuts for the rich” is a mantra familiar to all by now. Egalitarianism defines the economic creed of this administration. What, you thought the “Joe the Plumber” incident was an accident? Not even close. It was a defining moment for the Obama campaign. The president let us know about the higher taxes we were in for. It would have been far better (and certainly more professional) if our friends in the national press corps had done the same.
Rep. Joe Wilson was wrong to shout at the president last Wednesday, but his outburst reminded us that dissent matters in a democracy. Some recoil at the mere mention of loyal dissent, and polls reflect the public’s dissatisfaction with partisan bickering. But I saw dissent work quite well during 20 years in public office. The welfare reform initiative of 1996 — the most enduring and important legislation of the decade — emerged from brutal debates between Bill Clinton and a Republican Congress. The federal budget was balanced (imagine that thought), not through post-partisan stargazing, but through the work of tough-minded partisans in Congress and the Clinton White House. Maryland’s first-ever charter-schools bill passed five years ago after ugly, frustrating, but ultimately fruitful debates between state legislators and my office. Seven thousand students, most of them from low-income households, were the beneficiaries.
One final thought: If by some miracle the loyal opposition was dispensed with, and a post-partisan leader appeared on the national scene, which media outlet would be the first to bemoan the loss of our most sacred freedom?
— Robert L. Ehrlich served as governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007.