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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsObama: "I see a straight line from announcement of Sarah Palin as VP nominee to what we see today"
Five Days That Shaped a Presidency
Barack Obama shares with Jonathan Chait a very early draft of his memoirs.
By Jonathan Chait
.............
The Republicans
Lets start with the time in 2010 when Mitch McConnell publicly says that his No. 1 goal is to make you a one-term president. How did that comment strike you? Was it news?
By that point it was pretty apparent by his actions that it was already his No. 1 goal. He validated what I think most of this town knew. When I came into office, my working assumption was that because we were in crisis, and the crisis had begun on the Republicans watch, that there would be a window in which they would feel obliged to cooperate on a common effort to dig us out of this massive hole. Probably the moment in which I realized that the Republican leadership intended to take a different tack was actually as we were shaping the stimulus bill, and I vividly remember having prepared a basic proposal that had a variety of components. We had tax cuts; we had funding for the states so that teachers wouldnt be laid off and firefighters and so forth; we had an infrastructure component. We felt, I think, that as an opening proposal, it was ambitious but needed and that we would begin negotiations with the Republicans and they would show us things that they thought also needed to happen. On the drive up to Capitol Hill to meet with the House Republican Caucus, John Boehner released a press statement saying that they were opposed to the stimulus. At that point we didnt even actually have a stimulus bill drawn up, and we hadnt meant to talk about it. And I think we realized at that point what proved to be the case in that first year and that second year was a calculation based on what turned out to be pretty smart politics but really bad for the country: If they cooperated with me, then that would validate our efforts. If they were able to maintain uniform opposition to whatever I proposed, that would send a signal to the public of gridlock, dysfunction, and that would help them win seats in the midterms. It was that second strategy that they pursued with great discipline. It established the dynamic for not just my presidency but for a much sharper party-line approach to managing both the House and the Senate that I think is going to have consequences for years to come.
Its been documented that Republicans held meetings before your inauguration in which they decided on this strategy. When did you find out that they had had these meetings?
Well, I didnt find out about those until McConnell made that statement, and then some stories trickled in about some dinners with Gingrich and others, but as I said before, by that time, their strategy was apparent. There are two other elements that I think contributed to the Republican approach: The first was that even where their leadership wanted to cooperate, the tenor of the Republican base had shifted in a way that made it very difficult for them to cooperate without paying a price internally. Probably the best signifier of that and I remember this vividly was when Chicago had the bid for the 2016 Olympics. A very effective committee had flown to Copenhagen to make their presentation, and Michelle had gone with them, and I got a call, I think before the thing had ended but on fairly short notice, that everybody thought that if I flew out there we had a good chance of getting it and it might be worth essentially just taking a one-day trip. So we fly out there. Subsequently, I think weve learned that IOCs decisions are similar to FIFAs decisions: a little bit cooked. We didnt even make the first cut, despite the fact that, by all the objective metrics, the American bid was the best. On the flight back, we already know that we havent got it, and when I land it turns out that there was big cheering by Rush Limbaugh and various Republican factions that America had lost the Olympic bid. It was really strange, but at that point, Limbaugh had been much clearer about wanting to see me fail and had, I think, communicated that very clearly to his listeners. Fox News coverage had already started to drift in that direction, and what you realized during the course of the first six, eight, ten months of the administration was that the attitudes, the moods that I think Sarah Palin had captured during the election increasingly were representative of the Republican activist base, its core. It might not have been representative of Republicans across the country, but it meant that John Boehner or Mitch McConnell had to worry about that mood inside their party that felt that, No, we shouldnt cooperate with Obama, we shouldnt cooperate with Democrats; that it represents compromise, weakness, and that the broader character of America is at stake, regardless of whatever policy arguments might be made. As a consequence, there were times that I would meet with Mitch McConnell and he would say to me very bluntly, Look, Im doing you a favor if I do any deal with you, so it should be entirely on my terms because it hurts me just being seen photographed with you. During the health-care debate, you know, there was a point in time where, after having had multiple negotiations with [Iowa senator Chuck] Grassley, who was the ranking member alongside my current Chinese ambassador, [Max] Baucus, in exasperation I finally just said to Grassley, Is there any form of health-care reform that you can support? and he shrugged and looked a little sheepish and said, Probably not.
Much, much, much MORE:
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/10/barack-obama-on-5-days-that-shaped-his-presidency.html
beachbum bob
(10,437 posts)palin was the beginning of the end for republican party
thank you very much for picking her
Vinca
(50,276 posts)I assumed her face would be in front of every camera within a day's flying distance, but she's disappeared. I'm grateful, of course, but there must be a back story.
tRump out palined palin
No light left in that star called word salad sara
UtahJosh
(131 posts)"It established the dynamic for not just my presidency but for a much sharper party-line approach to managing both the House and the Senate"
...and wormed it's way all the way up to seating the Supreme Court, no less!
longship
(40,416 posts)Mostly about Obama's first term. Nevertheless, informative of Obama's thinking.
Recommended click through.
tanyev
(42,564 posts)bullimiami
(13,095 posts)Mamajami
(257 posts)randome
(34,845 posts)Not to quibble but it's not quite a straight line as Romney interceded and wasn't as crazy as Palin and Trump.
But the writing is on the wall. This is when we need to press our advantage, not dilute it by voting third party.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Birds are territorial creatures.
The lyrics to the songbird's melodious trill go something like this:
"Stay out of my territory or I'll PECK YOUR GODDAMNED EYES OUT!"[/center][/font][hr]
brush
(53,784 posts)This site is to help get Democrats elected.
ronnie624
(5,764 posts)We need a head-scratching smilie.
brush
(53,784 posts)I subconsciously added a coma to a phrase that was not actually there.
". . . we need to press our advantage, not dilute it by voting third party . . ."
There is no coma after the words "not dilute it".
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)What motherf***kers! They have no concern for the American people, they are only interested in maintaining their own power and egos. They all need to be voted out. I don't know how anyone could read this and disagree.
Jade Fox
(10,030 posts)Yes there is a direct connection.
NightWatcher
(39,343 posts)It's what happens when two generations of republicans and christians have been told not to think.
Proud Liberal Dem
(24,412 posts)Donald Trump is Sarah Palin........on steroids!
The GOP used to be able to block such extremist "base" candidates from being nominated but with so many people running this year plus Trump's money and wide (enough) appeal (from Sarah Palin "Tea Party" types), the "base" has finally got the GOP candidate they always wanted. The scary thing is that, with some media support and all of the incessant Hillary bashing from both the right and the left, Trump actually stands some chance of winning in November.
HughBeaumont
(24,461 posts)Schtroumpf's nationalistic following was mainstreamed by SarUH Palin. The mainstreamed Republican politicians caved to the nationalists and now they all unapologetically support Trump.
I've noticed in my city, there's a lot of lakefront property which we call "Millionaire's Row". Many of these homes formerly had McCain and Romney signs in this past decade. Noticing a pretty large void of Trump signs. It's hopeful, since the "thinking" Republicans know that he's a patently awful choice and has the stench of "loser" all over him. The wealthy will never support Clinton/Kaine, but they're not showing Trump any love either.