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- iHaveNet.com: Politics
by Jules Witcover
With the possible exception of Nancy Reagan's pitch to America's youth to "just say no" to mind-bending drugs, simply being against something in politics has seldom yielded much in the way of positive results.
As far back as 1948, Harry Truman was elected to a full presidential term in his own right by attacking what he called a "do-nothing
More recently, when House Speaker Newt Gingrich in 1995 balked at passing spending bills needed to keep the government running, President Bill Clinton called his bluff. He closed down national parks and other public facilities, successfully putting the blame on the Republican leader. The Gingrich Revolution of a year earlier soon crumbled and Clinton was re-elected in 1996.
For the last year and currently, President Obama and the Democratic leadership have been working the same political lode by casting the
Until last month, the Democratic lament had a bit of a hollow ring. Large Democratic majorities in both houses -- 60 votes in the
Then came the special
In his recent meeting with the House Republican Caucus, Obama won praise for engaging in a candid exchange of views, while at the same time using it to underscore the past Republican stonewalling. Boehner and his deputy, Minority Whip Eric Cantor, obviously see a trap in another meeting, with Obama reiterating the obstructionist charge.
In a letter to
"If the starting point for his meeting is the job-killing bills the American people have already soundly rejected," Boehner and Cantor wrote in apparent reference to the Obama economic stimulus package, "Republicans would rightly be reluctant to participate."
But after spending a year pounding out the Democratic plan, the
"He's open to including any good ideas that stand up to objective scrutiny," Gibbs said in continuing the kabuki dance between the two parties attempting to convey willingness to talk, but not much more. What Obama won't do, Gibbs said, "is walk away from reform and the millions of American families and small businesses counting on it."
In this pre-summit verbal sparring, Obama appears to have the tactical advantage. If the high-level meeting on health care is held, the Republicans will be obliged to trot out in detail their own reform proposals, which so far have not been subjected to much public scrutiny.
And in the end, if the
Available at Amazon.com:
The Political Fix: Changing the Game of American Democracy, from the Grassroots to the White House
AMERICAN POLITICS
WORLD | AFRICA | ASIA | EUROPE | LATIN AMERICA | MIDDLE EAST | UNITED STATES | ECONOMICS | EDUCATION | ENVIRONMENT | FOREIGN POLICY | POLITICS
Political Partisanship: Accentuating the Negative | Jules Witcover
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