“It is the reaction of those swing voters - that drives the outcome of the big policy debates.”
The outcome of the big policy debates is decided by the votes in Congress and those swing voters don’t vote in congress.
“Presidents who hope to achieve great things cannot for long rely on using their congressional majorities to muscle things through. That is why a strategy based on the early roll calls and polls is likely to fail.”
Actually, presidents can achieve great things by relying on their congressional majorities to muscle things through. (See Broder’s own words below, where he confirms this.) That’s what Obama is doing right now. It’s called the democratic system where the majority rules. George Bush did it by muscling through some horrible things with his majority for six years and with the collaboration of the Democratic Congress for his last two. Obama’s strategy is not based on roll calls or polling, it again, is based on the democratic principle of majority rule.
Broder says that the Democratic Obama administration must include the Republican policy ideas, the policy of the free market, no regulation of corporations or the financial industry that has caused the great financial collapse we are witness to today, with millions unemployed, the loss of people’s lifetime savings and homes. However, Broder contradicts himself in a column of February 15, “Have Republicans forgotten the Clinton economy?”
Note above where Broder says that presidents who hope to achieve great things cannot rely on using congressional majorities to muscle things through.
Now look at this. In that February 15 column Broder says, “ Republicans have seen to it that Obama has complete ownership of the economic rescue. By withholding nearly all their votes, they are betting that it will fail, just as they did in 1993 when the newly elected Bill Clinton pushed his first budget and tax package through Congress without a single Republican vote.
“Back then, Newt Gingrich predicted the Democratic plan would lead to a ‘job-killing recession’ and Dick Armey, his lieutenant called it ‘a recipe for disaster.’ Even if they had been right, they took the risk of seeming to be betting against something most voters hoped would succeed. BUT THEY WERE WRONG - THE ECONOMY SOARED UNDER CLINTON. Sixteen years later, today’s Republicans seem to have forgotten that experience.” Emphasis added. And, Broder seems to have forgotten what he said just eight weeks ago.
Obama is doing exactly what Broder is so proud of Clinton doing, muscling through his economic policy in spite of Republican obstruction and with no Republican votes, while at the same time Broder is taking Obama to task for doing it. Broder is now against what he was for only eight weeks ago, even though he himself offers proof that what Clinton did and Obama is doing, cutting out the Republicans, worked beautifully, and in spite of the fact as Broder presented it then, it’s always a really bad mistake to listen to Republicans, he’s now for it and the inevitable disastrous results that will result from listening to Republicans, as we see right now.
Another observation about the Republicans. They’re wishing, hoping, saying that the Obama economic policy will fail, so that they can say with glee, “See, I told you so. It failed.” Write this down somewhere for the record. When the economic policy succeeds, when full employment returns, businesses re-open, the financial situation stabilizes and the US returns to prosperity, the Republicans are still going to say, “See, I told you so. It failed.”
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