Bill Clinton tried to create a Third Way. President Obama is doing it. This is exciting, but also disconcerting.
Exciting? Welll. Disconcerting? On some issues. What it should not be is surprising. It always surprised me that vehement Clinton haters could so easily embrace Obama. One of the leading Clinton haters was Booman. His reaction to Dionne's column is interesting:
I like E.J. Dionne. I think he's on to something in his latest column. He's basically saying that President Obama is creating a center-left liberal establishment in Washington that is reminiscent of what we saw in the glory days between 1933-1968. Here's where I think Dionne is wrong. It's not really Obama who is creating this.
I think that is right. Obama did not create this political moment. George Bush did. Booman continues:
[George W.] Bush was (s)elected without winning the popular vote or the Electoral College. He initially had narrow majorities in Congress. Yet, he governed as if he had won a giant mandate. He pushed as hard as he could to make as much change as he could and he pushed a hard-right agenda. This polarized the country and ultimately led to failure in every major field of endeavor.
This is inaccurate. Bush's pushing for his policies did not lead to political failure. It was the POLICIES that did that. They were terrible policies. In other words, Bush's political style is not what did Republicans in -- it was Bush's governance that did Republicans in.
In my view, stated many times before, Obama and Democrats will have continued political success based on the efficacy of Democratic governance, not based on Obama's political style. Booman writes:
What is the point of power, after all, if you don't use it when you have it? That's one side of the argument. The other side is that the Democrats can do more good in the long-run by building a ruling coalition. In beating the Republicans down to a tiny rump party, the Democrats ensure that we won't be faced with periodic Republican resurgencies that cause serious and lasting damage to the Republic.
Obama didn't create the center-left Establishment, but he is doing everything he can to protect and consolidate it. Whether his efforts bear fruit depends in large part on two factors. He must create a national health care system that fundamentally changes the contours of debate in this country by moving it far to the left. And he must avoid letting Afghanistan become this generation's Vietnam.
(Emphasis supplied.) Even Booman recognizes that building long term political success for Obama and the Democrats requires governing success. He focuses on health care and Afghanistan as the key issues. Others will focus on other issues. The point though is that it will be governing success that builds a long term Democrat governing majority, not political style.
The Barack Obama Presidency was possible, in part, because Bill Clinton governed successfully. It become inevitable when George Bush governed as badly as any President in history.
Whether another Democrat will follow Obama and whether there will be Democratic congresses for the near future depends on how well President Obama governs.
Speaking for me only
