Obama: The Nowhere Man who Stands for Nothing

A pretty good breakdown of the Obama debacle - and the dangers of posed by the lack of a overall political philosophy in politics. The public does not want "pragmatic government that works" - as if history had ended and there was no longer any need for public debate concerning what constitutes "the good" in contemporary society - it wants an overall philosophy of the role of government in society and the economy. There is no consensus on these matters, only live arguments. Obama has never been willing to make an argument, which is why I have never supported him.

I'm on record from the earliest days of the Obama Presidency (here) stating that Obama's presidency would make that of Jimmy Carter look like a towering success. The Left made a major misstep in not making any demands of Obama. We gotten nothing from him, but a major backlash. If Obama would have felt some push back on FISA, campaign finance, Afghanistan, the public option, etc... he would have got the message that he was going to have to stand for something - which would have left him on more solid ground from which to engage the Right .

Published on Monday, August 23, 2010 by Politico.com

Dems Urge Obama to Take a Stand

by John F. Harris and James Hohmann

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/08/23-0

"Obama's predicament: By declining to speak clearly and often about his larger philosophy - and insisting that his actions are guided not by ideology but a results-oriented "pragmatism" - he has bred confusion and disappointment among his allies, and left his agenda and motives vulnerable to distortion by his enemies.

The president's reluctance to be a Democratic version of Ronald Reagan, who spoke without apology about his vaulting ideological ambitions, has produced an odd turn of events: Obama has been the most activist domestic president in decades, but the philosophy behind his legislative achievements remains muddy in the eyes of many supporters and skeptics alike. There is not yet such a thing as "Obamism."

...

By some lights, however, he and his team became so enthralled with the idea of a personality-driven "Obama brand" that they neglected the need to explain - and, in a modern media environment, to explain and explain again - the ideas behind the personality."