Ross’s column today on @DavidShor and the Democrats’ woes is a good opportunity to talk through two parts of this debate that have been gnawing at me.
One is on Obama. The other is on what might be called Unpopularism. nytimes.com/2021/10/12/opi…
One is on Obama. The other is on what might be called Unpopularism. nytimes.com/2021/10/12/opi…
First, on Obama:
The popularist effort to remind people that Obama exerted message discipline in 08 and 12 risks underselling the obvious:
Obama was (and is!) Black, liberal, cosmopolitan and in 08, the anti-war candidate. He was a mobilizer first and foremost.
The popularist effort to remind people that Obama exerted message discipline in 08 and 12 risks underselling the obvious:
Obama was (and is!) Black, liberal, cosmopolitan and in 08, the anti-war candidate. He was a mobilizer first and foremost.
It's easy to forget now but the context for Obama was Kerry’s loss.
There was endless debate about how Democrats could win back “the Heartland,” how they’d lost touch with real America.
This was the era of fetishizing Brian Schweitzer and his bolo tie. nytimes.com/2006/10/08/mag…
There was endless debate about how Democrats could win back “the Heartland,” how they’d lost touch with real America.
This was the era of fetishizing Brian Schweitzer and his bolo tie. nytimes.com/2006/10/08/mag…
Obama was a break with that thinking, and he was understood as such.
For all the discipline, even in 2012, 51 percent of voters thought Obama was more liberal than they were, while only 39 percent thought Romney more conservative than they were.
For all the discipline, even in 2012, 51 percent of voters thought Obama was more liberal than they were, while only 39 percent thought Romney more conservative than they were.
Obama’s message discipline is important to understanding him, and I've emphasized it myself, including in our interview earlier this year.
But that's taking Obama in the context of this moment, more than in the context of his own. nytimes.com/2021/06/01/opi…
But that's taking Obama in the context of this moment, more than in the context of his own. nytimes.com/2021/06/01/opi…
Obama's caution was a corrective to the sides of his candidacy that brought liberals out in droves. You have to see Obama as a whole, not as just one of his strategic choices.
I'd add that I think the truly underplayed part of Obama’s politics is his level of rhetorical patriotism, and his genius at wrapping his candidacy in a highly pro-American story.
I think that, more than moderation, is what liberals and leftists underestimate in his success.
I think that, more than moderation, is what liberals and leftists underestimate in his success.
At any rate:
A candidate who mirrors Obama’s message discipline but doesn’t push the ideological and historic boundaries Obama pushed at that time, and who didn't have the ineffable thing Obama had that excited so many people, would not perform like Obama did.
A candidate who mirrors Obama’s message discipline but doesn’t push the ideological and historic boundaries Obama pushed at that time, and who didn't have the ineffable thing Obama had that excited so many people, would not perform like Obama did.
Eh, this thread is long enough. I’ll do Unpopularism later!
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