Rosslyn Smith September 29, 2010
President Obama's carefully crafted get out the vote strategy may not be working as planned. New York Magazine has a short opinion piece titled The White House Will Scold Democrats Until They're Sufficiently Excited About Voting that concludes:
The growing realization that Democrats might just not vote on November 2nd is clearly starting to rattle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, who have embarked this week on an interesting new motivational strategy. No, not passing legislation that would actually please Democrats (and particularly the so-called "professional left"), like a repeal of the Bush tax cut for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans - scolding Democratic voters as if they were spoiled, ungrateful children.
At a fundraiser in New Hampshire yesterday, Biden reminded the "base constituency" to "stop whining and get out there and look at the alternatives." And in a Rolling Stone article released today, President Obama is described as walking back into a just-ended interview with Jann Wenner to deliver this message "with intensity and passion, repeatedly stabbing the air with his finger."
One closing remark that I want to make: It is inexcusable for any Democrat or progressive right now to stand on the sidelines in this midterm election. There may be complaints about us not having gotten certain things done, not fast enough, making certain legislative compromises. But right now, we've got a choice between a Republican Party that has moved to the right of George Bush and is looking to lock in the same policies that got us into these disasters in the first place, versus an administration that, with some admitted warts, has been the most successful administration in a generation in moving progressive agendas forward.
The idea that we've got a lack of enthusiasm in the Democratic base, that people are sitting on their hands complaining, is just irresponsible.
Now go to your room! And don't come out until you're excited about voting! And I better not hear that PlayStation or you can forget about a repeal of the Bush tax cuts ever!
Thomas Lifson adds:
John Podhoretz agrees:
Obama is talking to voters as though he is their boss, or their principal, or their father. He is not any of those things. He is their employee. And employers don't like it when their employees yell at them -- even if their employees have it right.
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