If Obama Moves Right He Loses Everybody -- and Everybody Loses

[ProfessionalLeftist]

The latest Democracy Corps/Campaign For America's Future poll on jobs and the economy has a clear message for the president and his party: Stand up for jobs, and protect Social Security and Medicare. The results couldn't be clearer. Yet it's still rumored that the president's State of the Union will emphasize deficit reduction over job creation, and the White House has refused to assure worried Democrats that the president won't also propose cuts to Social Security.

How many polls will it take to convince the White House that this is political suicide? How many expert analyses will it take to persuade them that its premature to make deficits the priority when the country desperately needs jobs and economic growth?

MORE . . .

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/if-obama-moves-right-he-l_b_810764.html

[DrDan]

1. "If"??

[ClassWarrior]

21. Yes. It's a conditional, two-letter word spelled i-f.

Does that help?

NGU.

[donheld]

22. NO, please be more specific.

:hide::D

[DrDan]

23. ahhhh- yes it does - thank you - the OP should have stated "AS Obama moves right . . . "

wrong 2-letter word used.

[ClassWarrior]

28. Better. Thanks.

:)

NGU.

[somone]

2. This White House is not capable of moving left - it's right turns only

It's a design feature

[xchrom]

5. That was funny. Nt

[Little Star]

9. Design failure is more like it! n/t

[ProSense]

10. Yes, fooled again.

What will it take to snap out of the gullibility trend?

[Major Hogwash]

12. A "U turn"?

Just postulating.

As Letterman says, "and we all know how much that hurts."

LoL

[Edweird]

3. "If"?

[katnapped]

4. He can't get Republicans who will never vote for him

To vote for him unless he lurches further to the right.

We all screwed.

[ProSense]

6. The country has already lost

The President, despite his record, is seen as a center-right corporatist and a failure. There is no hope. He will never be an "angry black man."

Seems like intolerance is becoming a fad.

[Still a Democrat]

7. It's amazing that people like this can't differentiate compromise

and dealing with political realities from the President changing his philosophy.

[Chisox08]

15. There are some things that should not be compromised

Protecting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are a few examples of things that there is no acceptable compromise for.
The reality is people are out of jobs and there are some of us that have almost no chance of finding work anytime soon. We have seniors who didn't get a Cost of Living increase even though the cost of living went up. We have more and more people who needs the social safety nets that are getting cut out from underneath them. We also have two unnecessary wars and a stupid tax cut for millionaires and billionaires who don't need them. Those tax cuts didn't create jobs and it put an even larger strain on our government's ability to help those who needs it the most.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

19. I agree. Bytheway I didn't write the title or choose it.

The author at HuffPost did.

I also agree that "If" is inappropriate for something that has already happened.

[elocs]

16. I wonder, where is all of this equitable compromise from the Party of No?

What are Republicans and conservatives giving up in compromise that is of equal importance to them compared to what is offered as concessions and compromises by Democrats?

Is there no longer any line in the sand for the Democratic Party these days? Is there no longer anything that will not be compromised in the name of political realities?

[sabrina 1]

25. Torture cannot be compromised on

approved of or condoned, in any way.

SS should never be compromised on by any Democrat, no raising of the retirement age, no eliminating cost-of-living raises and defenitely never allowing the liars on the right to link SS with the Deficit.

No, there are some things that cannot be compromised on. Not everything is up for grabs for political purposes.

[Hello_Kitty]

27. What difference does it make that the end results suck?

When I'm deciding between food and medicine in my old age I'm sure the realization that it was because of compromising to political realities will make it feel better.

[Cleita]

8. A "move to the middle" I guess

means going even more right than he already has according to this article. To me, going to the middle would mean he would have to turn left and back track to the real middle IMHO. I hope he and his advisors realize that.

[leeroysphitz]

11. He's already center right. If he moves any further he'll end up giving

a speech at the next GOP national convention.

[ProSense]

14. It took a center-right President

to bring back manufacturing jobs.

[indepat]

18. A good bit of right of center I would proffer judging from the plethora of junior's far-right

policies and actions that have been sanctioned/ratified and reading the tea leaves which connect most of the remaining unconnected dots. ;)

[golddigger]

13. LMAO! When he moves right? LMAO!

[Lorien]

32. Exactly!

He's as far Right as Reagan, if not more so.

[Reader Rabbit]

17. "Continues to move right" would be a more accurate phrasing.

He's already pretty far over in that direction from my point of view.

[FiveGoodMen]

20. If Obama is really working for the same PTB as pukes are ...

He gets rewarded by them...

Their favorite party resumes control of everything...

All their horrible policies will still be in place (because Obama didn't really mean 'change' when he said "change")...

Only we the people lose.

"How many polls will it take to convince the White House that this is political suicide?"

They know what they're doing.

Hint: It's not being done for your good or mine.

[democracy1st]

24. Nothing but a Goldman sachs admin from the word GO!

[Freddie Stubbs]

26. Just like he dropped in the polls after compromising on taxes?

[ClassWarrior]

29. So you believe that Obama should move further right?

NGU.

[Name removed]

31. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ClassWarrior]

33. One more time. "The middle" is a myth.

No Center, No Centrists
by George Lakoff

"Centrism" is the creation of an inaccurate self-serving metaphor, and it is time to bury it.

There is no left to right linear spectrum in the American political life. There are two systems of values and modes of thought -- call them progressive and conservative (or nurturant and strict, as I have). There are total progressives, who use a progressive mode of thought on all issues. And total conservatives. And there are lots of folks who are what I've called "biconceptuals": progressive on certain issue areas and conservative on others. But they don't form a linear scale. They are all over the place: progressive on domestic policy, conservative on foreign policy; conservative on economic policy, progressive on foreign policy and social issues; conservative on religion, but progressive on social issues and foreign policy; and on and on. No linear scale. No single set of values defining a "center." Indeed many of such folks are not moderate in their views; they can be quite passionate about both their progressive and conservative views.

Barack Obama has it right: Get rid of the very idea of the right and the left and the center. American ideas are fundamentally progressive ideas -- the ideas this country was founded on and that carry forth that spirit. Progressives care about people and the earth, and act with responsibility and strength on that care...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-lakoff/no-center-no-centrists_b_60419.html

And for what it's worth, the poster posted eleven words defending Obama's decision to compromise with criminals. How you can get four lines of text out of that, on subjects ranging from DADT to START, then have the nerve to accuse me of "twisting words" with righteous indignation, no rational person will ever know.

But good luck with that.

NGU.

[Freddie Stubbs]

35. No, he should move to the center. It is obviously working for him just like it worked for Clinton

[ClassWarrior]

36. If "it is obviously working for him," he must be there already. So you're saying he...

...should move further to the right.

Unless, of course, you're saying he should move back to the center from the right.

NGU.

[Freddie Stubbs]

37. He should continue to adopt centrist policies

[ClassWarrior]

38. I'll keep posting it until people start recognizing it. "The center" is a myth...

No Center, No Centrists
by George Lakoff

"Centrism" is the creation of an inaccurate self-serving metaphor, and it is time to bury it.

There is no left to right linear spectrum in the American political life. There are two systems of values and modes of thought -- call them progressive and conservative (or nurturant and strict, as I have). There are total progressives, who use a progressive mode of thought on all issues. And total conservatives. And there are lots of folks who are what I've called "biconceptuals": progressive on certain issue areas and conservative on others. But they don't form a linear scale. They are all over the place: progressive on domestic policy, conservative on foreign policy; conservative on economic policy, progressive on foreign policy and social issues; conservative on religion, but progressive on social issues and foreign policy; and on and on. No linear scale. No single set of values defining a "center." Indeed many of such folks are not moderate in their views; they can be quite passionate about both their progressive and conservative views.

Barack Obama has it right: Get rid of the very idea of the right and the left and the center. American ideas are fundamentally progressive ideas -- the ideas this country was founded on and that carry forth that spirit. Progressives care about people and the earth, and act with responsibility and strength on that care...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-lakoff/no-center-no-centrists_b_60419.html

NGU.

[Freddie Stubbs]

39. You can call it whatever you want to, as long as President Obama continues it

It is working.

[ClassWarrior]

40. I call it cozying up to the Rape-Publicans.

NGU.

[readmoreoften]

30. Move to the right? Where would he go?

:shrug:

[opihimoimoi]

34. Obama moves toward whats works best for the Nation/Planet....eom