Outsmarting Themselves?
2011-09-13 - by
Democrats are high-fiving President Obama’s “American Jobs Act.” Progressive pundits and editorial/op-ed writers are applauding because he took their advice. He’s taking the fight to the Republicans, they all say: bearding the elephant in its own den.
For months, the pundits have been preaching that Americans don’t care about arcane things like deficits and debt ceilings; it’s all about jobs, jobs, jobs.
But what if that fundamental premise is all wrong?
Suppose, instead, that Americans see our economic problems as all wrapped up in one big ball: jobs, debt, deficits, government spending, bailouts, stimulus, Obamacare, on and on.
Suppose they see the American Jobs Act as the latest iteration of the same old, same old: taking money from “people who work hard and play by the rules” (as Bill Clinton once said) and giving it to people who don’t.
Suppose, more to the point, they don’t think government can do anything right, including – and especially – creating jobs.
If that’s the case, it doesn’t matter how eloquent, persuasive and aggressive Obama is. In fact, the harder he fights, the deeper he digs his political hole.
It’s always dangerous to take political advice from your base, the editorial pages and the op-ed pages. In this case, Team Obama may have outsmarted itself.
Outsmarting Themselves?
2011-09-13/
Democrats are high-fiving President Obama’s “American Jobs Act.” Progressive pundits and editorial/op-ed writers are applauding because he took their advice. He’s taking the fight to the Republicans, they all say: bearding the elephant in its own den.
For months, the pundits have been preaching that Americans don’t care about arcane things like deficits and debt ceilings; it’s all about jobs, jobs, jobs.
But what if that fundamental premise is all wrong?
Suppose, instead, that Americans see our economic problems as all wrapped up in one big ball: jobs, debt, deficits, government spending, bailouts, stimulus, Obamacare, on and on.
Suppose they see the American Jobs Act as the latest iteration of the same old, same old: taking money from “people who work hard and play by the rules” (as Bill Clinton once said) and giving it to people who don’t.
Suppose, more to the point, they don’t think government can do anything right, including – and especially – creating jobs.
If that’s the case, it doesn’t matter how eloquent, persuasive and aggressive Obama is. In fact, the harder he fights, the deeper he digs his political hole.
It’s always dangerous to take political advice from your base, the editorial pages and the op-ed pages. In this case, Team Obama may have outsmarted itself.