Howard Dean on Mourning Joe

[ChairmanAgnostic]

Making a lot of sense. Calm, collected, factual, and complaining that Obama is not leading.

[polichick]

1. Yep - he was dead on. nt

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. Gregory just added to the mix.

You have to hand it to the Jo Crowd. They keep showing the bad polling numbers for Obama and Congress, as though repeating it makes it so.

If only the Democrats would learn from this kind of repetition and PR.

Sigh.

[polichick]

3. Interesting what Savannah Guthrie said about the prez supporting...

...offshore and nuclear power without getting any concessions on the part of Republicans for cap and trade, which Obama still wants.

That's just flat-out stupid - it's as if he simply refuses to learn and to lead.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

4. And that lack of leadership shows up in the polls.

Where is he getting this bad advice? I thought he was smarter than that.
Rahm?

The thing about power is weird. If you reach for it too quickly, you lose it. But if you fail to use it, it goes away on its own. Right now, no one in congress is in fear or has respect for the president. Why? Because there is not pain/reward equation present. They can and do tell him no, and there is no response. If they try to work on his behalf (Cue to HCR last June, July and August) the White House provides no reward.

The Ds in congress have been left out in the cold by the White House, and there is absolutely no reason for it.

[polichick]

6. It's stunning, but I don't think it's bad advice - he's the boss and he's doing...

...what he wants. Problem is, he's either a lot less intelligent than it first appeared or his real agenda is very different from what he led voters to believe.

[blm]

7. Rahm was in Clinton WH - capitulating to the GOP was standard operating procedure

It is a MYTH that Clintons fought the Republicans - they were actually LEADING the Dem party down this road of capitulation to GOP economic (and Bush1's global) policies all the while they were CLAIMING to be leading the opposition.

Rahm is obviously telling Obama that he can look successful using this same ploy, too.

[DURHAM D]

8. Rahm was fired by Clinton. Get it? nt

[blm]

10. Rahm was part of Clinton WH that capitulated too often to GOP policies in the guise of triangulation

that was standard operating procedure for Clinton and his staff.

What is it that you want gotten, DurD?

[Sebastian Doyle]

11. Sounds like Bill had the right idea that time.

Obama should take the hint.

[ProSense]

14. "Emanuel became a senior advisor to Clinton at the White House from 1993 to 1998."

After serving as an advisor to Bill Clinton, in 1998 Emanuel resigned from his position in the Clinton administration and became an investment banker at Wasserstein Perella (now Dresdner Kleinwort), where he worked until 2002.

link

[DURHAM D]

15. He was fired for running his own agenda out of the White House.

Sound familiar?

[old mark]

9. Repeating is DOES make it so, at least in the minds of the target

audiences - the GOP learned that from Adolf Hitler.

I'd love the Democrats to have at least a bit of favorable media coverage..don't they think it's necessary?


mark

[LatteLibertine]

5. What's disappointing

and often frustrating is despite all the rhetoric nothing gets done.

Our nation really does have the best government money can buy.

[quantass]

12. VIDEO...

http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/dean-gop-didn-t-lift-one-finger-for-jobs/6ibvgfw

Howard Dean explained it well. I agree. We need some Bush in Obama and his administration to get things done otherwise this is all looking like a joke.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

13. thanks, and you are right. er, I mean correct. (give head slap to self)

[Raine]

16. Dean...TOTALLY on point

telling it like it is. I love Dean, he's the only one I really trust anymore. :thumbsup:

[Yavin4]

17. The Problem Is Rahm and Axelrod

A presidency is not about one man. It's a collection of advisors. Obama relies heavily on his advisors to guide him. I still believe that in his heart, Obama is a progressive, but he's listening to Rahm who tells him that he has to protect the "centrist" Dems and Axelrod who tells him that he has to please independents, even if it means ruining good policy to do it.

Look at sports. A great talent can be hemmed in by his coach. The old saying is that only Dean Smith could contain Jordan.

[hulka38]

18. Get real with yourself.

[Hippo_Tron]

19. Except that the President can fire his coaches

The presidency is indeed not about one man but a large part of being a good President (in fact I'd say 50% or more) is about appointing good competent people. If Rahm and Axelrod aren't doing their job as they should be then that's the President's fault for not appointing somebody else.

But quite frankly I don't assign blame to Rahm and Axelrod because I don't believe what I read in the gossip papers so I have no way of knowing what decisions they actually make. For all I know the President is getting his political advice from Malia and Sasha and Rahm and Axelrod don't influence him. I'm not saying that's likely to be true, but the crap they print in politico isn't a whole lot more likely to be true IMO.