The Obama Bloc

[babylonsister]

http://www.politickerny.com/2822/obama-bloc

The Obama Bloc
By Steve Kornacki


Something funny happened last Friday, when Barack Obama detailed his plans for Afghanistan and Pakistan, which include an increase of 4,000 troops to train Afghan security forces: the most outspokenly anti-war Democrats in Congress kept their mouths shut - or even, as in the case of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, embraced his vision.

snip//

Granted, things are different in the Senate, where Mr. Obama's agenda has faced and will continue to face serious challenges. Some of this is due to the higher concentration of moderate and conservative Democrats, who demanded the stimulus bill be pared back and who are now handling the budget the same way.

But the real obstacle Mr. Obama faces in the Senate is institutional. Senators from both parties take seriously their chamber's role as a deliberative safeguard against the imprudence of the people's House. They cherish their traditions and prerogatives.

Thus, when some Republican senators pushed to junk the filibuster rule in 2005 to sidestep Democratic opposition to some of George W. Bush's judicial nominees, seven Republicans were willing to defy their party to prevent the move. And now, with some Democrats seeking to avoid G.O.P. filibusters by invoking "reconciliation" for every major Obama maneuver, they are meeting resistance from their fellow Democrats. This is how the Senate works, no matter which party controls the White House.

Even so, Mr. Obama is winning plenty of cooperation from Senate Democrats. All of them backed his stimulus package, and while there will inevitably be (perhaps significant) revisions, few doubt that Mr. Obama's budget will mostly be adopted. This, again, is a far cry from '93, when six Senate Democrats sided against Mr. Clinton's budget, while a seventh, Bob Kerrey, threatened to join them by casting the fatal 51st vote against the plan until literally moments before the roll was called.

His party's congressional forces undoubtedly cause Mr. Obama headaches, but it could be much, much worse for him.

[HopeOverFear]

1. kick and rec'd

[Aloha Spirit]

2. this part was interesting:

"Because of the trouble Messrs. Carter and Clinton encountered with Democratic majorities, it's become fashionable to accuse Democrats, as Jonathan Chait did this week in The New Republic, of being "a congressional party that is congenitally unable to govern." But that is no longer the case, at least in House, where the Democratic Speaker commands obeisance from a cohesive party caucus."