I give the honeymoon period about two, three weeks tops, after Obama is sworn in in January.
Then, it’s payback time – there’ll be political revenge, consolidation of power and normalisation of political harassment, and a ‘punish the rich’ (or more likely, the middle-income earners) effort the likes of which the USA has never seen before, even in the dark days of the Carter administration.
Or....will he turn out to be another Tony Blair, and disappoint his hard-left followers by moving immediately to the centre to hold power?
It’s going to be an interesting four years...
I think the media have become so emotionally invested in Obama that his political honeymoon will last for a couple of years, and all his mistakes will be blamed on Bush's legacy.
ReplyDeleteGod, that's a depressing thought!
ReplyDeleteWell just think how long it took the media to start treating Tony Blair critically, for two years he had almost complete adulation.
ReplyDeleteLet this be a lesson.
ReplyDeleteThere aren't enough people like you to win an election because the "silent majority" you envisage doesn't exist.
This is why Camoron's election would be one string of disappointments for the far right, & as much as I dislike him he'd be closer to my views than yours.
I hope you'll be happy when this disaster doesn't materialise.
This won't happen Julia. Unlike Britain, America is not an elective dictatorship. Obama's presidency will still have to deal with Congress and as we saw with the bail-out, Congress actually listens to its constituents now and again.
ReplyDeleteObama isn't a British-style socialist anyway.
"Obama's presidency will still have to deal with Congress.."
ReplyDeleteDemocrat-controlled Congress.
And in two years, they elect a new Congress...
"Obama isn't a British-style socialist anyway."
"This is why Camoron's election would be one string of disappointments for the far right, & as much as I dislike him he'd be closer to my views than yours."
Who cares whether the 'far right' are disappointed. There's only a handful of 'em!
It's the real conservative majority (the one that prefers government not be used as a combination sinecure for luvvies and trust-fund hogs and agency for 'social change') that'll be disappointed in a Cameron premiership.
So, what is he...?
Bah, cut 'n paste fail! That last should read:
ReplyDelete"Obama isn't a British-style socialist anyway."
So, what is he...?
There isn't a "real conservative majority", not here or in America.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be surprised if Obama introduced some redistributive tax cuts but I'm still convinced he'll hog the centre-ground.
ReplyDeleteObama is - like Blair in 1997 - a blank slate on which people of all political beliefs wrote their own manifesto. He'll have a honeymoon stretching well into his second term when, whatever he does, the wheels will come off his presidency. Why? Because his only motive (like Blair's) for gaining political power is to reach the top of the greasy pole and enjoy his pre-eminence there. His "policies" are - like Blair's - feel-good non-policies and (as ross writes) he will be able to write off all his early failures as due to the Bush legacy. It's going to be a very expensive and, in the end, rough ride for the US and, by extension, for the world.
ReplyDeleteWhat I want to know is this: if conservatism is such a marginalised ideology, how come the left is so anxious to to route everything via the courts/quangos/satanic cults etc, rather than via the democratic process?
ReplyDelete"if conservatism is such a marginalised ideology"
ReplyDeleteAs I understand it Barack Obama's 5% win over McCain proves that conservatism is moribund and that the country wants 'change', whereas when Bush won by 3% in 2004 it demonstrated how divided America was. The 2% difference is crucial apparently.
The 'heads we win, tails you lose' mentality yet again...
ReplyDelete