Richard Wolffe: Obama's Plan to Split the GOP

[babylonsister]

Obama's Plan to Split the GOP

by Richard Wolffe


Friday’s showdown with House Republicans marked a new White House drive to force the GOP off the sidelines—and drive a wedge between fiscal conservatives and the Tea Party crowd.

They're calling it Question Time, after the raucous weekly grilling of the British prime minister.

But in truth, President Obama's televised back-and-forth with the House Republicans in Baltimore on Friday was even tougher than a Westminster brawl. At least Gordon Brown can alternate between questions from the opposition parties and softballs from his own MPs.

“On the Republican side, there are a number of pieces in the State of the Union that put them in an awkward spot,” said one senior White House official.

Obama had no safe place to go in what was a mostly unscripted exchange. After his prepared remarks, the president riffed his way through a question and answer session in the lion's den. The White House strategy was to show that he was opening up the conversation, inviting ideas from all sides, and ready to reach across the aisle. After months of being caricatured as a radical socialist doing secret backroom deals, this was his moment to puncture the bubble.

It was a return to the renegade character of his presidential campaign, ready to take a televised gamble unlike any other president before him. President Bush had visited with Democrats in 2007, but the unpredictable questions were not on camera or transcribed for the press.

Under fire, the public having decidedly cooled on him, his agenda stalled on Capitol Hill, Obama has returned to what’s worked for him in the past: He’s gone on the offensive, in a return to the dynamics of the campaign trail. It began with the State of the Union address, and continued with a boisterous event in Tampa on Thursday. The session with House Republicans conjured the familiar dynamics of the 2008 debates. "The calm and level-headed responses, the back and forth with attendees, was actually him enjoying the back and forth," said one senior White House official. "We're all pretty sure he had a good time."

But the shift signaled more than a desire to loosen up and have fun. He’s also more actively engaging the opposition, determined to draw them off the sidelines—the GOP’s “party of no” strategy has clearly been working—and back into the game. Liberals may have faulted him for offering some Republican-friendly ideas in his State of the Union address. But those initiatives will also force the GOP to make choices—choices that will shift the narrative from the president’s troubles in keeping his majority together onto the fissures in Republican ranks.

more...

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-01-29/obamas-plan-to-split-the-gop/full/

[dkf]

1. I want more more more Obama!

Got to admit I find him way more Interesting debating the other guys than giving his town hall campaign speeches.

[Clio the Leo]

2. YES!!! DO IT! DO IT DO IT!!!!

Split them right down the middle!!!!

[glitch]

3. There are still fiscally conservative republicans?

Didn't they all vote in lockstep for the fiscally radical idol Bush?

[elleng]

25. They still pretend; can't help themselves.

[glitch]

26. Their pretense is ALL they have. nt

[greymattermom]

4. tax cuts?

Will he force them to vote against tax cuts? SUPER KEWL

[johnaries]

27. Did you hear his answer to "across the board" tax cuts?

Hepointed out that the tax cuts he already got passed were cuts for 95% of Americans. They emphasized "across the board" and again and he replied "I'm not giving a tax cut to Warren Buffet."

[grantcart]

5. I hope he reintroduces McCain's Immigration bill word for word

and names it after him

That should help Republican fratricide.

[AlinPA]

6. He didn't call the republicans out on their accusations that he is not a citizen of the U.S.

Birthers got a pass this time. I was also waiting for him to mention their "Death Panel" accusations.

[jillan]

9. Menendez (D-NJ) Head of the DSSC is working on that.

[AlinPA]

10. He needs to hang it around their neck.

[treestar]

15. Some things should not be honored with an answer

[quiet.american]

7. Good piece. I'd like to know what is so appealing to voters about the GOP sitting on its hands.nt

[Cha]

11. fauxsn00ze has them believing

they're sitting on their hands to keep down a bolshevik plot.

[jillan]

8. So far - I LOVE Obama 2010-much better than last's years model.

[hisownpetard]

12. It's the same model, but now the pedal's to the metal and he's heading for the freeway!

:toast:

[boppers]

16. You don't floor it right away....

Gotta let the engine warm up, gotta let the turbo (etc.) get fully lubricated...

:evilgrin:

[hisownpetard]

20. Exactly.

[SKKY]

13. I'm liking POTUS v.2 much better than v.1

[Phx_Dem]

14. Walking into the lion's den yesterday was so Renegade!

:headbang:

[hisownpetard]

17. It was a thing of beauty, wasn't it? All the 'lions' were apparently spayed.

[tishaLA]

18. welcome back, David Plouffe!

I think this thing has his fingerprints all over it.

[mzmolly]

21. Interesting thought.

:D

[BrklynLiberal]

30. hmmmmmmmmmm That would certainly answer a lot of the questions I have

about the sudden turnaround to an aggressive and more effective approach to the repukes.

[LatteLibertine]

19. Precisely

Democrats should spend less time worrying about applying purity tests to their own yet encourage Republicans to do it. The Republican plan has always been to sit back and hope President Obama fails while sowing discord in our party. You may invest in what you believe in without continually attacking other Democrats. My time and energy are limited. I plan on expending them in a positive fashion that promotes Democratic issues I choose to align with.

[Ruby the Liberal]

22. "Obama has returned to what’s worked for him in the past"

Um, if it got him elected, why did he abandon it?

As long as I live, I will never understand the DC Bubble.

[depakid]

23. Now they're the party of alternative ideas to consider- as opposed to the party of no!

They're contributing to the process now- not being obstructionists, but fighting for their values and beliefs!

It's Republicans who did (and are doing) the playing here- having already gauged Obama and sized up his nature.

There's a reason why they invited Obama to this dog and pony show in the first place... and anyone who thinks their strategists (as opposed to the stooges they put up front, or the voters they con) are stupid, are themselves woefully naive.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

29. What happened Friday was IMHO Obama's call to the Republicans

to put up or shut up and also to see if he can't appeal to at least a few of them to consider working with him on some issues. IMHO the best part of his SOTU speech was when he called them out for their obstructionism and advised them that if they insist- as they have since he took office-that the Senate should require a supermajority to conduct business and pass any legislation, then they need to participate in the process and that just saying "no" shouldn't be acceptable. If he's ultimately able to peel away some Republicans to help pass his agenda, then we all win. If the Republicans continue to obstruct and being the "party of no", then the Democrats can use that against the Republicans in 2010 (and probably in 2012) to make the argument to voters that if the Republicans aren't going to do anything other than obstruct what is- for the most part- a popular agenda, then the voters need to get the dead weight (Republicans) out of office by voting for increased Democratic majorities to help pass his agenda.
From the way Friday's address and Q & A are playing out so far in the press, I'd say that it was the Republicans who got royally played. I mean, Fox News doesn't just cut away from something they're covering when they are on a real "jag" about something, do they? No, based on what I observed and what has been reported, it seems to have been an EPIC FAIL for the Republicans and for even some freeps to admit as much, it had to have been pretty damaging to them.

[depakid]

32. I hope it ends up that way

but based on previous patterns and Republican discipline, what you're more likely to see down the line is pressure from the right and "agreements" on policies that drive wedges into the Democratic base and alienate our key constituencies.

We can say what we like about Republicans, but they play to win- and the record shows that they get results.

[butterfly77]

24. Richard Wollfe was correct about this...

'He’s gone on the offensive, in a return to the dynamics of the campaign trail. It began with the State of the Union address, and continued with a boisterous event in Tampa on Thursday.

The session with House Republicans conjured the familiar dynamics of the 2008 debates. "The calm and level-headed responses, the back and forth with attendees, was actually him enjoying the back and forth," said one senior White House official. "We're all pretty sure he had a good time."

I think a lot of people who were not paying attention to who he really was during the campaign or they didn't pay attention until he was elected and then they became angry wondering why he won and now I think they see why he won even though some still hate to admit it..

[TexasObserver]

28. The president finally realized: The GOP never stops campaigning.

He has shifted into the mode that was successful for him as a candidate. He recognizes that standing up to the opposition, not ignoring its taunts, is the way to deal with their cat calls. Don't let them howl anonmyously from the back of the hall. Throw the lights up. Engage them. Reveal them for their partisanship.

It's about time he brought back the guy we all supported. Kick their ass to the bargaining table, don't beg them to come.

[DrToast]

31. This is swell, but that was the plan LAST YEAR and it didn't seem to work out too well. (nt)