October 2, 2011
THE UGLIEST THING ABOUT THE ATTACK UR...
Is 'fighting' good for reelection? (Michael M. Rosen, October 1, 2011, Politico)Recall that when a younger Obama waxed rhapsodic at the 2004 Democratic National Convention about overcoming red-state/blue-state divisions, he appealed to something more broadly American than rank partisanship. During his 2008 campaign for the presidency, Obama ran, in Westen's terms, as "a unity candidate who would transcend the lines of red and blue." And while in office, he has cultivated this sense of being above the fray, unsullied by politics.
This temperament is the key reason Obama remains personally likable. As Ben Smith noted earlier this month, the latest POLITICO/Battleground poll reveals that one of the few bright spots for Obama is his lasting personal popularity: 74 percent of respondents strongly or somewhat approve of Obama as a person.
If, however, Obama takes a more aggressive tack in his reelection campaign, calling out the GOP and attacking the character of his eventual opponent -- neither of which Obama focused on in 2008 -- he will squander this otherwise very potent weapon and risk driving down his personal likability, along with the remainder of his poll numbers.
Personal attacks against hopefuls like Mitt Romney, as Smith and Jonathan Martin reported last month, run the risk of increasing voter sympathy with the attacked candidate -- a backlash Obama can ill afford.
Yet beginning with the jobs plan, just such a damn-the-torpedoes approach appears to be in the works.
...is actually suggested by Byron York, 'Soft' America: What Obama really meant (Byron York, 10/02/11, DC Examiner)
Look at Obama's speeches in the last couple of months, and he has repeatedly scolded audiences for not working hard enough and for not sacrificing enough to achieve the goals he has set for his administration. He's done it with both supporters and with adversaries. With friends, his message has been: Nobody told you this would be easy, and you've got to work harder to enact my agenda. With adversaries, his message is: You've had it too easy, and you've got to make sacrifices to enact my agenda. Obama's "gotten a little soft" remark fits into that theme: A soft America is one that is insufficiently willing to work and sacrifice to enact the Obama agenda.
Except, of course, that he has no agenda. What he's scolding us for is our lack of enthusiasm for him personally. There are no ideas that he is fighting for. Nor, given the lack of concrete policy alternatives from the current GOP field, any ideas he's defending against. He's just fighting on behalf of himself, the only thing he's ever cared about. Fighting us because we don't care as much about him as he does is a losing proposition.
Posted by oj at October 2, 2011 8:58 AM
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