Comments on: Right Wing Hearts Obama?

By: Justin Gardner

Justin Gardner — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 04:28:50 +0000

Spin all you want Jimmy. This is the type of unity government that Obama talked about all along, and it’s making me extremely happy.

By: Alistair

Alistair — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 03:02:50 +0000

For all the talk that Obama was a socialist left wing radical during the election have not really listen to what he was going to do if he got elected which he did. He was going have Hillary Clinton in his cabinet and would have Republicans. While people are questioning some of his picks who were once apart of the Clinton administration, lets not forget that during the Clinton administration the U.S. prosper during economic times and it was a time peace and prosperity unit 911 accure under the Bush administration came to power and you see the result during the last 8 years. It would have been silly for Obama to bring outsiders from Washington to his cabinet and make the same mistake that Jimmy Carter made when he came into office.

By: Mike A.

Mike A. — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 23:02:52 +0000

I believe most people who supported Obama early saw he would be pragmatic rather than partisan. It’s amazing it took this long for those who opposed him to come to the same conclusion.

By: L

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 22:30:28 +0000

To be fair, if he wants an experienced, Democratic White House staff then he almost has to pick people from the Clinton administration. I guess he could go back to Carter’s administration but I don’t even know who any of them are, they tended to be “outsiders” and probably still do not know the ropes of Washington very well.

As I understand it, Carter brought in a lot of outside the beltway folks and didn’t get much accomplished because of it. You want a White House staff that knows the ropes in order to get things done. “Getting things done” seems important to public image. Maybe look for the “change” aspect of his staff in deputies and under-secretaries, etc. so they have a chance to learn the system before being put in charge of it.

By: Jimmy the Dhimmi

Jimmy the Dhimmi — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:53:29 +0000

I guess all that rhetoric about "change" actually meant "change back" to the Clintonian era. Many bloggers did "hope" he would end up being a centerist, despite his political history and his left-wing campaign promises. Still, other bloggers at the Daily Kos and the DU "hoped" he would do what he said he was going to do throughout the campaign. Since he appears to have renigged on all of those promises, your "hopes" may be fulfilled, Justin!

By: Ed

Ed — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:58:32 +0000

Wingnuts are always trying to game the system, because they can’t govern. They are just propping up Obama’s picks to advance this silly “center-right” argument, so that when he takes office, they can start obstructing every piece of legislation and claim that they are doing the people’s work. It’s all about trying to reclaim conservativism after years of failed policy.

By: L

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:42:05 +0000

Pragmatic does not necessarily equal politically acceptable. If he only tries to take on issues he considers politically safe (not “losers”) then he will let down a lot of people, and in my opinion not live up to his full potential.

For instance, a political “loser” might be considered raising the gasoline tax, but many think this is also a very pragmatic policy. If Obama is talking about taking energy in a new direction this is an especially important move.

I like Obama’s cabinet picks, but let’s analyze them in terms of _policy_ not _politics_, because if he is making these centrist picks for politics then he is making them for the wrong reasons.