Free Republic

April 02, 2009, 4:00 a.m. Obama, the Other Huey LongThe president is more like the Depression era’s populist Louisiana governor than like FDR. By Michael G. Franc The “Obama as FDR” meme emerged immediately after the elections. The November 20 issue of The Economist noted, in an article critical of the comparison: Washington is currently buzzing with talk of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Members of Mr. Obama’s inner circle are reading up on FDR’s first 100 days. No political conversation is complete without a knowing reference to the squire of Hyde Park. Both Time (on the cover) and the New...

John McCain once referred to Barack Obama's upcoming presidency as the second term of Jimmy Carter.  Obama has provided plenty of support for this observation.  However, as this seemingly endless campaign progressed, and as domestic issues prevailed over those of foreign policy, it has become more accurate to say that Obama's election is the first term of the Huey Long administration. Huey Long was Louisiana's wonder boy; a talented demagogue who regularly appealed to the basest instincts of voters.  The Kingfish, as he was known in Louisiana, managed to be elected in 1918 to Louisiana's powerful Railroad Commission at the...