If Obama wins, will he pull the GOP left or will the GOP pull him right?

[rug]

[scheming daemons]

1. With Obama's coattails, the GOP will have less power.....

For the first two years, anyway. It will be hard for them to pull him right when we've got sizeable majorities in both houses.

If he gets results by 2010, we'll be in great shape.

[rug]

5. Except a lot of Republicans are crossing over to vote for him, not the ticket.

I don't see coattails.

If so, which way will he go if the Congressional majorities are what they are now?

[scheming daemons]

14. There are millions of NEW voters, registered this year SPECIFICALLY because of Obama....

If you don't think there'll be coattails, you're not paying attention.


It's also why a Hillary nomination would be a disaster now. These new voters will go back to being NON-voters if Hillary manages to steal this nomination now.

[rug]

15. This one isn't about Hillary. The question is how many are newly reistered Democrats

versus how many simply changed registrations just to vote for Obama.

The length of his coattails is determined by that answer.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

19. they registered to vote in the Primary only...they will NOT be there in November

[Alexander]

31. Yeah, all those college kids who voted in primaries will be too lazy in Nov.

:eyes:

Get real.

[papau]

18. LOL - cut corporate taxes by 5%, reduce corporate regulation, programs for the left won't pass so do

not worry about them (as said by chief economic spokesperson for Obama to CNBC Kudlow)

Hard to see how much further right he will be pulled -

McCain might pull the GOP further left than this con artist - at least as to defense spending and wasteful defense contracts (Obama remains a better choice in the general - but it is very close for many progressives)

[rpannier]

2. Haven't you been reading the DU posts???

Obama is already on the right

Clinton will intentionally sabatogue his campaign so she can run in 2012

Edwards will jump to a 3rd Party

And half of DU isn't going to vote for him


I think I've summed up some of the posts here

[dogman]

3. I think it will give the GOP hope that they can enact more change.

Compromise is a tool they love. Especially since compromise for them means they get their way.

[rug]

8. What does that mean?

Will his presidential enactments tilt left or right?

[dogman]

11. If it enacts GOP policy, my guess is right.

[Submariner]

4. I hope he gives them the finger and tells them to fuck off for a century or two

[rpannier]

9. Nice pic

I'd prefer to see him picking up IED's by the side of the road in Iraq though

[mtnsnake]

6. Obama's "reach out to republicans" theme is as DLC as it gets. If he wins, we'll become GOP-lite

[sendero]

7. Or might he decide to offer a sharp contrast..

... to the failure that is the GOP.

I think Obama is going to do what John Kerry SHOULD have done in 2004, I think he is going to excorciate the GOP's policies in an effective way, he's not going to have to triangulate.

[dogman]

10. Check his record.

That is not what he did in Illinois. That is why a GOP state senator did an ad for him in the Iowa primary. He is very proud of his ability to work with Senator Brownback.

[sendero]

22. I'm all for working with anybody..

... to get MY agenda passed. I'm not for working with the Republicans the way they usually work, to get everything skewed to their policies.

We'll have to wait and see.

[dkf]

12. He will pull the GOP to vote for common sense

[rug]

13. And how does common sense translate into reality?

Will kind of legislation do you see passed?

[nolabels]

20. If there was a nice majority in congress........

Some REAL voters rights and campaign reform would be a good bet. With the whole thing fresh in peoples mind nothing better than that to demonstrate a need for fairness

[rug]

21. That's the question. How many Obama voters translate into Democratic voters.

[nolabels]

25. Sorry kind of spaced the question....... i would say that would be about 85%

There could be more even new voters showing up in the general. The terrible upcoming economy and a lot of other things could favor the Dems even more. It's kind of hard to tell with the youth coming in, i just hope that momentum can be sustained somehow.

On edit, oh yea that distinct large sucking sound, it's a uncontrollable vortex to the left. The hope of McBush putting down stakes to hold it off seems futile at best :shrug:

[NashVegas]

16. The GOP Will Pull Him Apart

Period. We've got to expect non-cooperation no matter what Dem is elected.

[MethuenProgressive]

17. Wins the Primary? Depends on polling data. The Election? Let's cross that bridge when we come to it.

I think Obama would be as ineffectual a President as Deval Patrick has been a failure as Governor.

[Imagevision]

23. I'm 62 and have registered to vote for the first time in my life because I have to on this one...

[rug]

24. Are you voting Democrat downticket?

[Honeycombe8]

26. His m.o. seems to be: get the facts, discuss w/experts, make intelligent informed

decisions, get bills passed, espouse unpopular views if that's what you believe.

My guess is that he will continue to be the same. Maybe not, but the indications are there that he is what he is, and that's taht. But he does discuss, ask questions, and try to make informed decisions....and that can lead to varying decisions, I guess.

Hillary, OTOH, seems to make decisions based on what is best for HER politically. Not what is best for the citizens or the country. Her. And that can change, if someone exerts enough pressure on her to change her position on issues, so that it's in her best interest to change her position. This is why she and Bill would not help Kerry with his campaign in '04. As we all know, the country and individuals have suffered much since '04. But what the Clintons cared most about was not what was best for the country, but what was best for them politically.

Trust me on this: The Clintons will never be in the White House again. They are too hated by the conservatives and disliked by the Independents and some liberals. And all these groups will go out of their way to ensure they are never back in the White House.

[Occam Bandage]

27. Neither. He'll pull the center left. The GOP will be somewhat marginalized.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

28. I Think He'll Be Who He Is, And Make A Great President.

I don't think anyone could really pull him away from who he is at all. If anything, he would hopefully ease some of the strong partisanship we've seen (albeit, not completely) and bring some tone of stability back to politics. But I don't see him really changing his stripes much at all, once in office.

[mikekohr]

29. Obama will help reset the Roosevelt coalition

With a candidate like Senator Obama, we as a party stand to reset the majorities in the Congress ala Franklin Roosevelt. The result will push the Republican Party to a regional, second rate political power for a decade or more.

Remember when Pig Boy, Karl Rove, just two years ago was talking about a PERMANENT Republican majority? How quickly the worm turns.

mike kohr

[backscatter712]

30. I have confidence in Obama's conscience - he'll pull the GOP left. He'll pull everyone left.

People have had it with Bush. He's the most hated President in history now, and he's dragging the entire GOP to ignominious defeat this fall. The GOP will not only lose the Presidency, but a significant number of seats in the House and Senate.

And Obama's a strong enough personality that he's not going to be tugged right just because some consultant tells him it'll get him more votes.

If anything, the GOP will have to moderate their behavior just to get a seat at the table next year.

[Recursion]

32. Maybe we should look at his much-maligned analysis of Reagan

Assuming he was not making that up, and does want to model his Presidency after Reagan, then it will be something like this:

He will pull the "independents" and "moderate Republicans" fairly significantly to the left (yes, there are still plenty of moderate Republicans, just not many in office).

He will drive a wedge between the social conservatives, who can be fairly progressive economically, and the fiscal conservatives (this is why his biggest vulnerability is Huckabee). To put it simply: he'll get religious people to vote for the poor rather than against women and gays.

The Democratic party will move to the left, along with the "center", and the Republican party will become essentially a minority opposition party (our party controlled Congress in the 1980's but we still had to act like the opposition because Reagan was very good at controlling the narrative).

Now, I'm claiming no particular clairvoyance that he'll succeed at any of these, but given his statement about Reagan it would seem this is at least what he wants to try to do.

To those who claim this is impossible, I point out that it has already been done (in reverse) 30 years ago by Reagan. There's no particular reason it can't be done again.

[JohnnyLib2]

33. I wish I had some certainty about answering your question, Rug.

I see one (1) man being expected to live up to wildly enthusiastic but probably impossible political goals. Some are reflected in this thread.
If nominated and elected, he might do quite well---but, within realistic constraints.