David Gregory to Axelrod: 'Shouldn't Obama Move to the Center?'
Where exactly is the middle in American politics?
MR. GREGORY: Let me move on to domestic matters and that pretty extraordinary appearance on Friday in Baltimore at the House Republican retreat. The president came there, a kind of British style question-and-answer period. He even gets the blueprint for the Republican agenda from the House side. I wonder whether the decision to accept that invitation-- was there recognition on the president's part that if he wants to be more than a one-term president, he's got to govern from the middle?Obama has hardly governed from the left as the left of his party have not seen, for example, a public option in his healthcare bill. So why do people like Gregory insist on implying that Obama is somehow too left wing?
MR. AXELROD: You know, David, I'd say a few things about that. First of all, the decision to attend was not a last-minute decision on our part, it was, it was, it was on the calendar, we were aware of it. The Republican caucus had been good enough to extend that invitation. And this is something that--we had visited the caucus before. But it's interesting the way you asked the question: Does he, does he--did he do it because he wants to be more than a one-term president? We don't sit around in the White House making calculations on that basis. The president of the United States has one concern, which is how do we move this country forward, how do we get people back to work, how do we lift incomes, how do we build some security for the middle class who have been facing economic challenges not just through this recession but for a decade or more? And, and that's what he's thinking about. And if we can get some cooperation from the other side to do that, we're going to be a stronger country for it. That's why he went to the caucus, and that's why we're going to continue to have a dialogue with Mr. Boehner and others.
MR. GREGORY: Does he feel, does he feel like he has to move to the middle to achieve?
Republicans seem to insist, as they did shortly after Obama was elected, that America is "a centre right" country and that the only way a Democrat can successfully run the country is if he adopts the very policies which the public rejected at the election.
There are no polls which support this position, with many stating that Obama is actually not going far enough with his proposals.
And yet, the American MSM continue with this babbling about Obama being too left wing.
If only....
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2 comments:
The center in America rests somewhere to the right of McCain and the left of Obama. Most people just want get rid of all the obstructionism and get down to fixing the problems.
There is no way to move to the center in the sense of pleasing the Liebermen. They don't so much have ideals, they have ambitions. The only way to please them is to put them in power.
They don't so much have ideals, they have ambitions. The only way to please them is to put them in power.
Thank you, SP. That perfectly sums up how I see a lot of politicians.
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