President Obama is getting hit by both sides. The right calls him a Marxist, a socialist, a fascist, and a communist. The left is angry that he tries too hard to make legislation palatable to Republicans. He ran on the idea that he was going to transform politics and bring people together. He has failed miserably at that. The question is whether or not he deserves to own that failure?
In a word, no. The simple fact is that he has made more than a good faith effort to reach out to the Republican party. They have refused to play along, and yet he has not given up hope that they will come on board. Additionally, he has gotten involved in political games. Republicans try to paint this as scandal and Democrats get disappointed.
There is nothing illegal about a party trying to prevent a primary challenge to an incumbent. It happens all the time. So why is this paragon of post-partisanship engaging in that activity? In a word, pragmatism. During the primaries, New York Times Columnist Paul Krugman wrote time and again that then Senator Obama was a centrist, and if we wanted a true champion of liberal causes we should vote for then Senator Clinton.
The first 20 months of this administration has borne that out. All the outreach to the Republicans, his endorsement of Arlen Specter and Blanche Lincoln, why would he do that? He needs the votes. Period. Senator Lincoln can vote in the Senate (until January, at least). President Obama feels the need to woo as many legislators as he can to vote for his agenda. If Senator Lincoln were not an incumbent, I doubt the President would have chosen sides in the primary.
For all his rhetoric eschewing politics, the requirements of his job force him to be political. When the people lead, the leaders will follow. When enough people demand a more progressive agenda, President Obama will deliver it. And by that time, he will deliver it in 30 minutes or less or it will be free.
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