Marshalling Their Forces – Hullabaloo (2/4/09):

I think the administration thought they could be mediators between the two parties rather than leaders of the Democratic party. That just won’t work, particularly when the Democrats aren’t very good at battling the Republicans in close combat and the Republicans can make those who stay above the fray seem lightweight and insubstantial, which is what they’ve managed to do. They’ve showed they don’t respect Obama and are unimpressed with his mandate — the administration needs to accept that and strategize with that in mind.

He said today that bipartisanship for bipartisanship’s sake is not desirable. He should just drop that whole schtick. He can have the cocktail parties and the get togethers and talk to them all he wants. And if they happen to have a good idea (very doubtful) then fine. But they are going to represent their narrow interests because that’s what they believe their constituents want. That’s the way the system works. They aren’t partners, they’re political adversaries and they remain adversaries even when there is an emergency at hand. Accept that and fight it out on the merits.

Paid the (Opportunity) Cost To Be the Boss – 1115.org (8/11/08):

People can support the candidate of their choice, no matter how silly it may seem to me. But logic is logic. No one has been able to defend the idea that the solutions to the problems we face will come from taking input from the same people who willfully screwed everything up in the first place. I’ve asked the same question of every single Obama supporter with whom I’ve corresponded: “What part of the Republican agenda has worked/do you support?” No one has been able to come up with an answer, but even if someone could, there is simply no one in a position of power on the Republican side who is interested in compromising on anything, something a quick look at the Congressional minority leadership, right-wing talking heads/op-ed writers, Republican Governors etc. will show.
[...]
It’s simple really: The Obama Brand is more important to Obama than his party is, and it’s also more important than being on the right side of the issues.

Think about how many Americans simply don’t follow politics but for a few months every four years. These people know that the economy has been destroyed and our security endangered by the reckless policies of the Bush administration. Since we have a Democratic nominee who is supposed to be such a great communicator, why isn’t he out there selling a package of strong Democratic ideals rather than vague nonsense about hope/faith/compromise?
[...]
As the nominee, Obama is, for all intents and purposes, in control of the DNC, an organization that ultimately speaks, raises money, and plots strategy for the Democratic Party as a whole. Shortly after becoming the nominee, he installed his strategist Paul Tewes at the DNC, essentially taking the body over…Political parties are by definition partisan. Not only is the Democratic party now being run by a man who has based his campaign on compromise with the opposition and bipartisanship, and who refuses to identify himself as a Democrat in his own fundraising materials, that same man has completely disassembled and choked off money to Democratic outside organizations. The Democratic party is a brand, and it stands for some specific things no matter who its standard bearer happens to be at any given time. When Obama’s brand runs up against the Democratic brand, it’s Obama who should yield. Otherwise, we have a party tasked with electing a man who has promised that if elected, (and with big majorities in both houses of Congress) he’ll immediately start ceding ground to the other side.

No one could have predicted…