Interesting New York Times' piece regarding the placement of William Daley as Barack Obama's new White House chief of staff.Couple of highlights from the article caught my eye.
Last paragraphs:
In a statement shortly after White House officials confirmed Mr. Daley’s selection, Third Way issued a statement calling the choice “brilliant.” They also released comments that Mr. Daley had made last year upon joining the board.
“We’ve really got to listen carefully to the public. Voters are not re-embracing conservative ideology. But we must acknowledge that the left’s agenda has not won the support of a majority of Americans — and, based on that recognition, we must steer a more moderate course.”
Emphasis mine.
The other interesting bit is the reminder of exactly how many Clinton people Obama now has on staff:
William Daley the new Chief of Staff, Gene Sperling head of the National Economic Council as well as:
The appointments add to the already significant ranks of Clintonites in Mr. Obama’s administration.
The president’s secretary of state is, of course, Mr. Clinton’s wife. Mr. Obama’s budget director, Jack Lew, was Mr. Clinton’s budget director at the end of his second term. Larry Summers, who just stepped down as the head of Mr. Obama’s National Economic Council, served as Treasury Secretary for Mr. Clinton. Rahm Emanuel, who served as chief of staff for two years under Mr. Obama, was a political adviser for Mr. Clinton.
Triangulation is a name given to a political act in which a candidate tries to position him/herself outside of the continuum, balanced in the middle.
Bill Clinton instantly moved to the middle after midterm disaster for his party and as the NYT's piece so aptly implies in their title, Obama seems to be attempting to repeat Clinton's triangulation strategy which many believe was the reason he was able to win his reelection bid.
Despite the liberal left's attempts to claim Barack Obama has not ruled from the far left, the majority of Americans disagree and as of November 2009's Gallup findings. The majority of Americans believed Obama governed from the left and 54 percent said "his policies as president have been mostly liberal."
As of January 2010, 46 percent believed Obama was "too liberal".
As of June 2010, a plurality of Americans, 49 percent, believed Democrats has become "too liberal, with only 38 percent believing the were about right, according to Gallup.
So, is Obama planning to triangulate ahead of his 2012 campaigning for reelection in order to win back the Moderates and Independents he and Democrats lost in the 2010 midterms?
According to Wikipedia, Barack Obama wrote in his book The Audacity of Hope, "It was Bill Clinton that recognized the categories of conservative and liberal played to Republican advantage and were inadequate to address our problems. Clinton's third way... tapped into the pragmatic, nonideological attitude of Americans."
Triangulation, Baby... Triangulation.
Indicators show the Obama White House is going to try to move toward the center and it isdoubtful the far left is going to accept that laying down.
Next up!!!! We wait for the clear-cut no-mistaking-the-intent- Sister Souljah moment.
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