MSNBC's Howard Fineman's Criticizes Obama On Gov. Intervention, Says Bush Was Not A Conservative

* The president is underestimating—or missing the point about—what the "average voter" (his term) knows about the federal budget. He keeps saying that the "average voter" thinks that most of the budget is composed of "foreign aid" and "earmarks." I'd like to know what recent poll he is talking about. As soon as the White House answers my query I'll let you know. In the meantime, recent polls do show that most "average voters" think that the stimulus bill (a.k.a. the Recovery Act) was mostly an $800 billion waste of money. They also think the $60 billion spent on the bailout of the auto industry was a waste of money. And they are highly dubious of the value of the $1.5 trillion TARP program, even though much of that money has been or will be repaid. And they are profoundly worried about long-term debt—a voter concern that Obama himself cites.

* Obama really isn't an "ideologue" in the sense that he has a dogma he is following—a sacred text, whether it is (to use a shorthand) Burke-Rand or FDR-Steinbeck. But what he doesn't quite get—or want to get—is that, to genuine conservatives, his expansive view of his own duty is itself ideological: an ideology that places government at the center of the social universe. Not enough of these folks are able to admit that George W. Bush was not a conservative, but now they want to correct for their silence by becoming hysterical about the current president. The danger for Obama is that these conservatives are making a strong case to moderate Republicans and independents to join their revolt.

* Obama can't assume that what he sees as the self-evident virtues of government intervention—that it saved us from a second Depression—is evident to all. And even if it were, he has to sell the virtues of government all over again, and in a tough climate.