Posted on 11/20/2008 8:21:22 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Little did we know that “Change we can believe in” really meant “Change that will delight the Right and freak out the Left.” But if the rumors and hints about President-elect Barack Obama’s cabinet picks are any clue, it may be that both conservatives and liberals had Barack Obama pegged wrong.
If several months ago someone had said that the Obama administration would be chocked full of Clinton administration retreads and have a national security team featuring the woman who advocated bombing Iran to smithereens in the event it launched a nuclear attack on Israel, few would have believed it. But that’s what seems to be in the offing.
As for the national security team, many conservatives are elated by the prospect that Hillary Clinton — rather than Bill Richardson or John Kerry — will be heading to Foggy Bottom. During the campaign, she often played the role of hard-liner while Obama played to the netroot gallery. She took issue with then-candidate Obama’s reticence to voice tough language against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. She also backed the Kyl-Lieberman Amendment declaring the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to be a terrorist organization, while he opposed the measure. (He later reversed course in a speech before AIPAC after sewing up the nomination.) This endeared her to conservatives and infuriated the Democratic liberal base.
And, indeed, Republicans ranging from former John McCain aide Michael Goldfarb to Henry Kissinger to Arizona Senator John Kyl have encouraged the nomination. Clinton, rightly or wrongly, was seen as the best hope to steer President-elect Obama toward a more muscular foreign policy and one more inclined to support Israel’s security concerns.
Now word has come that Bush Defense Secretary Bob Gates may stay on. That certainly does not sound like a recipe for immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq or a 25% reduction in defense spending, as Rep. Barney Frank advocated during the campaign.
So if “personnel is policy,” then all of this suggests that the Obama administration will look like the second George Herbert Walker Bush term — sober, tough, cautious, and engaged. The Left might not like it, but Republicans who feared far, far worse could not be more delighted.
There are a few explanations for this. First, it may be that Obama does not care all that much about national security policy and wants to leave it in capable hands while he rushes off to re-enact the domestic New Deal. He will be incurring enough conservative wrath there, so better to leave them pinching themselves with amazed joy on national security policy.
Another theory is that Obama never believed much of anything he was telling the left wingers during the campaign. It was all a carefully devised scheme to capture the nomination. The “cynical” view of Obama’s persona is that he has simply used one ultra-liberal affiliation after another (e.g., Reverend Wright, Bill Ayers’ Annenberg Challenge) to claw his way into power. Now there, he can relax and let his inner, thoroughly conventional and establishment self “loose.”
And yet another explanation is that he is entirely a political creature, devoid of well-thought out policy positions. Clinton was selected to get her out of the Senate. Gates will calm the GOP. Rahm Emanuel will keep a lid on Nancy Pelosi. It is all about power — consolidating it and preventing well-formed opposition.
Whatever your favorite theory, it is safe to say that the emerging Obama administration, at least so far, bears very little resemblance to the Left’s fantasy lineup. As Michael Goldfarb wrote:
What Gates can do is provide Obama with the cover to remove troops more quickly. Gates will be one of only a few voices who can credibly say that the facts on the ground allow for Obama’s timeline — that Obama isn’t threatening the gains made by U.S. troops. But Gates can also help provide Obama with the cover to move a little more slowly than his supporters might like — another voice cautioning, from the inside, against too quick a draw-down.
There’s almost no one who would object to keeping Gates at the helm. As Harry Reid approvingly noted, Gates isn’t even a registered Republican. The usual suspects will whine about how this isn’t the change they were promised, or that keeping Gates furthers the perception that Democrats are soft on defense — in this case too soft for even Obama to find one up to the task of secretary — but that’s all background noise.
Pardoning Lieberman, reaching out to Clinton, and keeping on Gates — perhaps things won’t be as bad as we feared.
If boring Clinton moderates and right/center national security officials are what are in store, it may be that Obama’s greatest problem in 2012 is a revolt of the Left. Now that’s change conservatives can believe in!
If Barack Fitzgerald Obama is anywhere near the center, I will do back flips.
Hell, I’m a man of my word. I’ll even vote for him in 2012 for re-election when he runs against whatever slightly right of center RINO the GOP puts up.
These don’t cheer me up. I was expecting him to pick these types of people. The real “change” comes in lower level positions.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
I’m cheered up about him taking El Napo for Homeland Security; that gives AZ a Republican governor.
I’m not thrilled with Hillary Clinton!
Or Emanuel! The left is thrilled with him.
Or that GOP holdover Gates will stay and can be a scapegoat.
Or pardoning Lieberman, I wanted him to become a RINO!
I’m hardly cheery about the fact that Hillary Clinton will be SOS. Sheeesh!
Me, too, but do you think Butch would do that, allow a Republican to assume the governorship?
Exactly. One less senate seat to defend in 2010 and another GOP governor as an extra bonus!
c’mon, whose he gonna put in his administration? Jimmy Carter officials? Even the ‘rats know that one Jimmy Carter in this administration is enough. Presidents typically put former admin officials of the same party in the White House.
Barack will do the same. He will govern as a moderate centrist during his first term to win a second term so he can govern as the marxist he really is.
He never did say what he meant by Hope, nor did he tell them what he ment by Change. If the idiots voted for him anyway, they're going to get what their empty heads have sown.
Call it karma.
One other possibility is that Obama is out of his gourd
“Clinton moderates”
snicker.....
Rubbish.
It’s looking that way. She probably is happy to leave the budget mess she made to Jan Brewer.
Agreed. I think he’ll gradually, subtley slip through some liberal things in his first term. Then after he’s laid a foundation, he’ll go all out socialist the second if he wins reelection.
I’ll even vote for him in 2012 for re-election when he runs against whatever slightly right of center RINO the GOP puts up.
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Put the mouse down and move slowly away from the computer...
He's definitely bit off more than he can chew. He's just a frigging community organizer for gosh sakes!
That's why he's running for the Clintons. He's probably wearing Depends 24 hours a day now.
Maybe he should watch Oprah and visualize America as just a slightly bigger community
I think Obama just wants to be king.
He doesn’t want to do any work, or get his hands dirty. He will appoint anyone who will do the work and take the blame.
Of course he will KEEP any glory to himself.
you’re forgetting something called the economy. and daschle will be in charge of health care.
This is good news? This is a recipe for Obama/pelosi 2010. I have seen other articles like this. I hated McCain but sure do NOT want Obama taking over america in a socialist lovefest. We need him to select a Joycelin Elders like Clinton had. As I have suggested, we need to subversively stir the left to revolt, demand he keep his promises from both sides, at the same time shoot down the big targets in congress and press.
WAKE UP! Pelosi creamed us by staying below the radar screen 2007-2008. What the hell is our party strategy?
“This endeared her to conservatives and infuriated the Democratic liberal base”
Endeared Hillary Clinton to conservatives? Huh?
I don’t care what she chooses to blather on about when she is pandering to the crowd she is trying to woo, I can’t see her doing anything that would endear her to conservatives.
you can’t just throw some liberal things during what appears to be another great depression. Either you act dramatically or else everything goes down the tubes
If the economy is bad, there will be no tax revenues to feed the beast. What'll they do? Just print more bogus bucks and pretend?
In a way, I'd like to see the economy stay down for quite awhile, because once people learn to stop depending on the useless, enslaving politicians, they won't want them back. If it could be done without good people being hurt, I'd be all for it.
I agree absolutely. look at the gays. look at the enviros vs the unions...and everyone hates a bailout.
maybe they really are radicals. maybe they want to end capitalism completely and we’d just work together in one big communist kibbutz
You know, that’s the impression I am getting too. Like he is all into the glory and admiration, but is seeing what is on his shoulders and probably feels like he is way out of his pay grade.
I mean think about it, he has never had to actually DO anything! Anything at all! He achieved “First Black President of Harvard Law Review” without writing anything. He bungled $50 million dollars in his community organizing. He spent more time campaigning for US Senate while being a State Senator than actually working as a State Senator. Then spent more time campaigning for President than being a US Senator. This is the end of the line. This is the put up or shut up moment and he can’t just move on through to the next destination to deflect from the fact that he is absolutely out of his league.
God help us all.
To a degree. He's a gun-grabbing a-hole. But he is also pragmatic and not a man of the hard Left. He was the architect of Clinton's welfare reform, which is the best thing Governor Goober ever did.
-ccm
But.....but....the hope! The change! He promised.
Well, I think he’ll carry through with that “tax cut for 95% of Americans” but I think he’ll hold off on raising taxes on anyone until term 2.
He’s also an Al Caponeish thug who likes to crush the opposition which includes the GOP rump in Congress.
I'd like a conservative President. Bush gave us 2 young conservative SCOTUS justices and tax cuts. The rest of his presidency including the largest expansion of the welfare state with Medicare Part D and an amnesty bill.
BJ Clinton wasn't a liberal....NAFTA, Glass Steagal repeal, balanced budgets. Not much difference between him and McCain except the letter R or D next to his name.
I just pray that Barack Millhouse Obama is as centrist as Bush.
Its not “Change we can Believe it” its “Change we are Deceived in”
"It won't make any difference."
Holder isn't exactly a stellar choice IMHO.
Xenu help us if the latter is his choice.
Daschle AND Kennedy!
That's the answer.
that tax cut won’t really do much for the economy. Even a supply side tax cut, while helpful, won’t fix the problem.
The problem is that our debt is spinning out of control, especially since the baby boom retirement is coming up and the market has zero confidence in the govt.
Two areas where I can guarantee 0bama will not be centrist: abortion and gun rights.
clinton also had a GOP congress for most of his administration.
I’m expecting the worst and hoping for the best. Maybe he will become a centrist and a mixed bag and piss everyone on both sides of the aisle off like Nixon, Clinton, Bush.
You’re right. They dragged him kicking and screaming towards the balanced budgets.
so what are republicans telling us? That they can only do their job if the prez is a democrat?
IMHO, the moral or the story is that Gubmint can’t solve everyone’s problems. Only they can.
Thus, despite Karl Rove’s best efforts to be all things to all people, neither party will ever have a permanent majority.
The sheeple will vote Obama out when they find that despite voting for him 7 times, they are still stupid.
John Kerry is said to be the new Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee - one of the most powerful in the legislative branch.
Bush also kept us safe!
Oh, yeah the House is coming down from our cheers.
What a load of crap!
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