Battlespace preparation
So much for “centrist” Obama, bipartisanship, “reaching across the aisle,” and all that other happy horseshit:
Democratic insiders say there’s no animosity between Pelosi and Emanuel, who’s leaving his post as chairman of the House Democratic Caucus to become the next White House chief of staff.
But the speaker is laying down the law nonetheless.
In talks with Emanuel and others, sources say, Pelosi has “set parameters” for what she wants from Barack Obama and his White House staff — no surprises, and no backdoor efforts to go around her and other Democratic leaders by cutting deals with moderate New Democrats or conservative Blue Dogs.
Obama hasn’t yet been sworn into office, and we already have the makings of a power play. Somehow, I doubt Team Obama will sit still for this, although they probably won’t get terribly confrontational about it, either. They won’t ask permission to contact members of Congress from either Pelosi or Reid, and they shouldn’t; after all, they have as much right to vent as do the constituents, and a lot more authority behind it.
This does, though, highlight some dissonance in expectations of an Obama administration. Pelosi wouldn’t make this demand if she thought Obama would produce a progressive agenda in line with her own. It seems to indicate that Pelosi is very worried that Obama will move to the center on a broad range of issues and attempt to co-opt the Blue Dogs and some moderates to form alliances with Republicans. If Obama really wants to win re-election in 2012, he’ll have to do some of this, and will wind up defying the Left enough to make Pelosi feel uncomfortable.
For my money, I think Bill is much closer to the mark:
Aha. Obama’s impending post-inaugural lurch to the left will be blamed on Nancy Pelosi, whose constituents (my fellow San Franciscans) will regard it as a badge of honor.
Yep. Looks to me like Obama and his House stalking horse are already working a lot more closely than either would like us to think. Considered along with the gutless mewling mentioned in my previous post, the Obama Regency’s reign of error is gonna be a rough ride indeed for those of us who actually give a damn about Constitutional government, capitalism, and individual liberty. But if you’ve been paying attention all along to this whole sorry spectacle, you knew that already.
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