Obama 2012 Strategy: Run against both the left and the right

In many ways, the next two years will feel like a dull and prolonged version of Bill Clinton’s Sister Souljah moment. The term was coined after Clinton publicly criticized the hip-hop author and activist over her comments about race.

President Obama’s liberal critics are furious, vocal and useful to a White House trying to solve the riddle of reelection.

White House officials who last year viewed the “professional left” as an annoying bunch of ungrateful idealists living in a fantasy world now see Washington’s angry liberal class as a key but unwilling or unknowing ally in the 2012 race.

Obama 2012 will still be about change. It will just be a different kind of change.

Instead of promising to bring both sides together, Obama is trying to showcase his ability to rise above them all.

Administration officials think the political and economic environment will be better for Obama and Democrats in 2012 than it was in 2010, but they know voters will still hate Washington.

Their answer is to spend the next two years running against everyone inside the Beltway, and that means both Democrats and Republicans.

The president’s tone when he announced the tax-cut deal was a public scolding of both parties, and the professional left got another lashing at Tuesday’s press conference.

Recalling the debate over the public health insurance option, Obama blasted them for choosing ideological purity over progressive results.

“People will have the satisfaction of having a purist position and no victories for the American people,” Obama said angrily. “And we will be able to feel good about ourselves and sanctimonious ... and how tough we are, and in the meantime the American people are still seeing themselves not able to get health insurance because of preexisting condition, or not being able to pay their bills because their unemployment insurance ran out.

“That can’t be the measure of what it means to be a Democrat.”

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/obama-rerun/132555-obama-and-the-sister-souljah-presidency

nothing to nobody. His inexperience is showing.

or the other. He wants to be in the middle. The problem with that is that one side (guess who) is taking advantage of that and walking all over him. They get what they want, he becomes a doormat.

Obama can not win without his base, and his base may just stay home in 2012 (as they did in 2010). It's insane to attack your base, and that's exactly what Obama did in his press conference yesterday. He may think he gains something from that, policially, but he's wrong in that assumption. There's a reason you never see the Republicans attacking their base.

-Laelth

His base is not the progressive left--which always has disliked him--and progressives did vote in 2010 it was elements of the Obama base that still remain strong for him: African Americans and young people who didn't in large numbers, which is typical of a midterm election. The biggest group that swung against Dems are independents which supported Obama in 2008 and supported the GOP by bigger numbers in 2010--obviously the Obama camp believes that they are the group which will decide the election, which is what the case usually is.

Obama's support:

Whites: 37%
Blacks: 89%
Hispanics: 68%

I agree that Hispanics and AA can't carry him over the finish line and that he'll need the support of Independents. But, continuously ticking off the base will demoralize it and keep it home in 2012.

It didn't mean a hill of beans in the 2010 midterms, and it won't mean a hill of beans in 2012, either.

-Laelth

Where will those active supporters be in 2012? Obama can't expect that he will have a campaign organization set up and running if the supporters don't show up like they did in 2008.

Why the hell compromise with the hard right when they will never vote for him? He gains absolutely nothing! The country gains absolutely nothing!

the republicans are making hay with this "moderate" president. They will stick together and vote him out in 2012. He doesn't have a prayer if his party stays home. AA and young people are not enough without the rest of the party.

Edited to add: he also loses hispanics (many anyway) when whichever Republican who runs picks Rubio as their VP.

I certainly does appear that Obama intends to run against his base in 2012. I suspect this is a losing strategy (an insane strategy, even) but this may be precisely what Obama intends to do.

-Laelth

“People will have the satisfaction of having a purist position and no victories for the American people,” Obama said angrily. “And we will be able to feel good about ourselves and sanctimonious ... and how tough we are, and in the meantime the American people are still seeing themselves not able to get health insurance because of preexisting condition, or not being able to pay their bills because their unemployment insurance ran out.

“That can’t be the measure of what it means to be a Democrat.” Yes I would have liked to see him fight but I know you have to pick your battles. And on this one we simply did not have the votes. President Obama did the right thing. I am sure some will be angry with my post, at first I was angre, then hurt to the point, I had to stay away from DU. I sat in on a conference call with Senator Sanders last night. and while listening to him, he was as mad as a lot of people here were, and I began to understand where the President was comming from. Obama is still my President.

...standing in Washington D.C.