tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post6092638261958526228..comments2024-03-10T13:59:19.230-04:00Comments on xpostfactoid: Say I ain't dumb, Drum! I bought Obama's rhetoric...and still doAndrew Sprunghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17601269968798865106noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512362.post-66837437101776444982011-12-08T13:54:09.230-05:002011-12-08T13:54:09.230-05:00Great post, and so grounded in what Obama said. I ...Great post, and so grounded in what Obama said. I agree that candidates aim to inspire and aim for soaring rhetoric, but few succeed. If Hillary could've done it, she would have. But few have the gift.<br /><br />One issue you don't discuss is that while he was talking about unity and changing the partisan rancor, he was also giving dog whistles to the left. I remember hearing some, but I didn't record my thoughts at the time, so I have to try to reconstruct what they were.<br /><br />This is what I remember (may contain errors): Obama was getting early and enthusiastic endorsements from George Clooney, Tom Hayden, and other progressives. This seemed to position him to the left of Hillary, though their policy positions were nearly identical.<br /><br />He never joined or sought support from the Democratic Leadership Council, which could easily be interpreted as meaning that he wasn't going to aim for centrist policies.<br /><br />He publicly said that he wanted medical coverage for all people, which could be interpreted as support for a single-payer system, but left wiggle room for mandated health insurance.<br /><br />These are the dog-whistles I remember. These signals, along with the rhetoric that we weren't going to be like Bush, weren't going to be partisan, that we were going to rise above that, it gave unprecedented hope to the left that their ideas would finally have their day.<br /><br />I think that was the emotional atmosphere around Obama's campaign and election. The results have been quite disappointing. This was the best chance for the left since the late 1960's, and this is how it turned out--so much less than what was hoped for, and a political atmosphere that is decidedly downbeat and not supportive of big major initiatives.<br /><br />So Obama may still win, but it's more likely to feel like he's won a few battles in a war that hasn't a chance of ending in glorious victory.ModeratePolihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01721945380057992971noreply@blogger.com