FAIR Media Advisory: Centrism Wins!

[alp227]

With increasing vehemence since the midterm elections, pundits and journalists have recommended Barack Obama move to the right--and now are citing recent polling to suggest that the president has benefited from following their advice. But there is little evidence that Obama's current approval ratings have anything to do with a rightward shift, and the entire conversation rests on the premise that Obama was governing from the left in the first place.

This is nothing new; there is a long corporate media tradition of urging Democratic presidents to move to the right in order to capture the "center." After the midterm elections, many pundits were encouraging Obama to "pull a Clinton"--based on the dubious notion that a liberal Bill Clinton, chastened by defeat in 1994, moved to the right and found success (Extra!, 1/11).

Obama's selection of conservative Democrat William Daley as his new chief of staff was seen as representative of some sort of political shift. The Washington Post (1/7/11) offered this somewhat confused explanation:

His moderate views and Wall Street credentials make him an unexpected choice for a president who has railed against corporate irresponsibility and tried, with limited success, to appease restive liberals who think he has not been tough enough on bankers.

Full article: http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4240

[DJ13]

1. appease restive liberals who think he has not been tough enough on bankers

I've got news for that writer, its NOT just (those dirty) liberals who thinks Obama hasnt been tough enough on the bankers.

He should ask people at random on any city street if they think Obama has been tough enough on them, he might be surprised how many no (or HELL NO!) responses he will get regardless of political leanings.

[ananda]

2. I wonder why appeasing the rational people is such an anathema?

Politicians and officials can be so weak.

[niceypoo]

3. There is no center in a two party system