Quote:
Originally Posted by BroncoInferno
Obama is a pragmatist. Principles are great, but governance is about deal making, and that means you have to give ground to get things done. Take the Affordable Health Care Act. Progressives howl because it isn't single-payer. Well, Obama had a choice. Stand his ground on single-payer and suffer the same fate as the Clintons while getting nothing done, or come up with a more conservative proposal that the Blue Dogs would agree to vote for. He chose to comprise to get something done. The AHCA is not perfect, but it's a lot better than the status quo, and I think Obama views it as the first incremental step needed to make towards total reform. That's the problem with the approach you want the President to take. It won't get anything done. Reform will come in ripples, not waves. He's doing the right thing. That's not "selling progressives down the road," it's being a pragmatic realist.
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Right now we live in a nation where the threats to secede the nation and the racist cries of foul play are heard bitterly in red states. Obama is an amazing poker player. What kind of cards you think he has to play when members of his own party betray their best interests?
Obama gets dealt a 2 of clubs, a live grenade, and a bowling ball. Anybody else would call that a bad hand. How he pulls out three twos is amazing to me. How he is still at table with so many unreliable allies is fascinating.
Obama is going to have to completely change a lot of key advisers and try to do this quietly. He is going to have to get smarter about who his enemies are. The problem is now that he knows the game and is experienced what is he really going to accomplish? It should be interesting.