We’re slightly mystified by the euphoric gushing in the Blathersphere ™ about Obama’s address to the House GOP in Baltimore. So Ezra Klein wets his pants. Chuck Todd breaks monotone and offers rare emotional range beyond a Disney animatronic mannequin. Heavens above ! Pull out the 64 font on Huff Post (and make sure not to forget the daily soft focus picture of Arianna on the page again). Get real.
1) It’s the House. Max Baucus is a senator. So is Snowe, Reid, Ben Nelson, Evan Bayh, Joementum, etc. Obama is posturing to the wrong crowd.
The House minority (margin permitting) is *always* ignored. It was true under Dems until 1994. So with Repubs 1994-2006. That’s what the Rules Committee is all about – majority rules. So Republicans saying ‘No’ in the House to Obama/Dems is irrelevant. That’s the whole point of legislative tectonics in D.C. Everyone *always* goes for the most extreme version of legislation they can get in the House. It’s ultra radical because all know it will go to the Senate to either die or get watered down, before even more compromise in conference. D.C. pros know if a ‘weak’ bill passes the House the ’cause’ it stands for likely will get strangled in the proverbial cradle.
2) They’re House Republicans. Hectoring them is pointless. Purple states are meaningless nostrums. They’re in heavily gerrymandered districts. These members are riding — or hope to ride — the back of the Tea Party/anti-incumbent/Rush/Beck/anti-Democratic tiger. They’re afraid of the riotous, chaotic trip just as much as they are dismounting. Sure they can see the whole anger thing may explode in ruin. But they know for sure that agreeing with Obama and the Dems *now* is polling and focus group death. No matter how professorial, conversationally dominant Obama may have come across via the cable micro audiences. It’s not going to alter the reams of polling data back at the office that says across all tabs ‘screw with him’.
Fox News people long ago realized that *they* are the Rightist ‘party’ now. (Outsiders like Rush tolerated in public but privately derisively labelled by some as ‘the Chairman’). We’d be more impressed if Obama showed up after purchasing one share and took on News Corp at an annual meeting.
Repeating this stunt won’t reverse the situation in November. Just ask President Adlai Stevenson. Obama ( via Rahm) can’t even coral House Dems re the Senate health plan. It was House Dems who passed an irresponsible, hollow ‘financial reform’ bill. Not Cantor. And so on. Which brings us to point three.
3) They’re House Republicans. They’re hapless. We know that. Holding their heads at arms length while they swing at him reaching only air harmlessly loses its impact after 15 seconds. Then it becomes oddly pathetic – for the tormentor.
4) Obama still doesn’t get it. American politics is not a faculty club debate. The ‘wider’ audience he allegedly spoke to outside the room? We suspect they tuned out already. More frickin’ words from ‘The Community Organizer’/Betrayer/’Inside Baseball Guy’. He still doesn’t understand Power and how to use it. It’s not just the nihilist Right who sees this. His own base is disgusted. Once again, his problem Year One was not the House or even Tea Baggers. He was his problem. And Ezra Klein notwithstanding, euphoric media isn’t going to save the House in 2010.
5) Does anyone believe Obama has any core convictions anymore?
Comment says
This goes in the department of non surpising – But the Kerry angle, which is mentioned in passing, illustrates the bipartisan corruption:
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/01/26/cia_man_retracts_claim_on_waterboarding
Comment says
Pretty good:
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/bunch_of_phonies_mourn_j_d
Comment says
We think he is addressing them preciselt because they don’t matter and they – collectively – serve as good foils. Just politics. Funny how the biggest complaint we hear from Obama’s rural critics is his professorial demeanor. Anti-intellectualism meets ‘uppityness,’ provokes some serious reaction.
Meabwhile – here is a Tweety classic – Tweety must be a birther in his heart – We recall him telling his audience that Obama’s Mom was Moslem.
A five million dollar schmuck
http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh012910.shtml
Dr Leo Strauss says
Bayh – Baye – Bye? In all the years sharing with our gang here, it’s almost always that one name out of a roll call of many that we blow on the spell check. And then this little voice whispers over coffee the next morning, ‘You know, that Edwards-esque look, isn’t he really a Bayh?’ Oops.
When Blagojevich was in the House we must have sent out a dozen emails to various clients or constituents with typos – even when we tried to triple check. In his case, it was a get out of jail free thing as his own staff probably did the same.
Major sins in this town (as in most places) because the other words don’t matter as long as the name is spelled right. For the longest time we had a neurological misfire about Old ‘Slam Dunk’.
This name thing should have been on our 2010 New years Resolution List.