Features » April 3, 2009
Do-It-Yourself Governance
Without new social movements, there will be no new New Deal.By Elizabeth Sanders
When Barack Obama began to run for his party’s nomination two years ago, he could not have seen himself as the next Franklin Roosevelt, the founder of a new Democratic “regime” (to use Yale political science professor Stephen Skowronek’s term). More likely, Obama anticipated that, should he ultimately win the presidency, he would be what Skowronek labels a “pre-emptive” president, one who manages to be elected when his party does not dominate political philosophy or policy expectations, or have a sure place in the voters’ hearts.
Recall that despite George W. Bush’s dismal approval ratings, Obama and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) were running neck and neck in the polls from mid-August through early September. Without the financial crisis, Obama may not have been assured electoral victory, much less a definitive Democratic sweep.
If Obama perceived his presidency as a Clintonian “pre-emption”—another round of triangulating that meant accepting the essential premises of the Reagan Revolution, assumed to still be strong despite the previous administration’s abject failures—that would explain the ambiguity of his campaign appeals to “hope” and “change,” minus a clear repudiation of Republicanism.
Obama seemed intent on reassuring the public that he was not a liberal Democrat, not a partisan of Rooseveltian regulation, taxation and big government. Even after his electoral victory, the reassurance game continued. The transition team and designated economic advisers represented a spectrum from former Clinton officials rightward. ...........(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/4321/do-it-yourself_governance