Daley’s Demotion: How Washington Elites Got Obama Wrong - By Jonathan Chait
Daleys Demotion: How Washington Elites Got Obama Wrong
By Jonathan Chait
....................
But the interesting legacy of Daley's tenure is not his mechanical performance. It's that he conducted an experiment based on the Washington elite view of the Obama presidency. That view, shared by business leaders, centrist pundits, and other elites, holds that Obama's main problem has been excessive partisanship, liberalism in general, and hostility to business in particular. In December, 2009, Bill Daley wrote a Washington Post op-ed endorsing precisely this analysis. After the midterm elections, Obama - pelted by Daley-esque complaints - appointed Daley chief of staff. "His moderate views and Wall Street credentials make him an unexpected choice for a president who has railed against corporate irresponsibility," reported the Post. Republicans like Mitch McConnell, Karl Rove, and FedEx CEO Fred Smith raved.
Daley, pursuing his theory, heavily courted business leaders. He made long-term deficit reduction a top priority, and spent hours with Republican leaders, meeting them three-quarters of the way in hopes of securing a deal that would demonstrate his centrism and bipartisanship. The effort failed completely.
The effort failed because Daley's analysis - which is also the analysis of David Brooks and Michael Bloomberg - was fatally incorrect. Americans were not itching for Obama to make peace with corporate America. Americans are in an angry, populist mood - distrustful of government, but even more distrustful of business.
Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/11/obamas_daley_blunder.html#ixzz1izmikBEw
Response to kpete (Original post)
Solly Mack This message was self-deleted by its author.
Hawkowl
(5,213 posts)Maybe, just maybe, Obama might get a fucking clue before November and avoid having his ass kicked.
suffragette
(12,232 posts)http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/the-difference-between-jack-lew-and-bill-daley/2011/08/25/gIQAtts3lP_blog.html
But Daley was actually demoted in November. Pete Rouse, who served as Obamas chief of staff in the Senate and remained a close adviser in the White House, took over some of Daleys portfolio. But Rouse, who many including Obama have wanted to see assume the chief of staff position, has been reluctant to formally accept. The elevation of Lew suggests that Rouse was, again, resistant to stepping into this position himself. (Daley will co-chair Obamas reelection campaign.)
Demeter
(85,373 posts)but it would improve matters if someone (anyone) were navigating through the field of icebergs....
yurbud
(39,405 posts)BlueMTexpat
(15,373 posts)Remember Me
(1,532 posts)I just don't get it.
And Obama was so worried about losing touch, being in a bubble, yet he's among the worst.
kpete
(72,014 posts)You can be an outsider from Washington for the last 10 years, or you can be an outsider to Obamas inner circle, said one senior Democrat, summing up Daleys tenure. But you cant be both.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71254.html#ixzz1j1Rnhb2z
johnnyplankton
(352 posts)Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)with corporations & business as usual.
Interesting.
Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)bashes everything and everyone Democratic. Where's the "opinion" bashing Repuke corporatism?
We need a forum for those who insist on reading and catapulting fascist propaganda.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,361 posts)and Chait is broadly liberal. The title of this thread is the New York mag one, not 'American Thinker' (yes, that is an awful RW rag, that rarely raises itself up to the level of 'thought', rather than kneejerk rants). Why kpete linked to the American Thinker page, I'm not sure.
The Doctor.
(17,266 posts)I'd want to see some CEOs thrown to the lions. In the run up to the election, of course.
GeorgeGist
(25,323 posts)flipping, flopping, one dimensional chess Mr. Chait is playing.