Message to the White House
Nothing new to say here, but I am hoping that the political arm of the WH monitors sentiment in the blogosphere and that if they hear this enough, it will sink in.
You guys have to get back control of the national dialog. You are letting right-wing whackos define the memes for the mainstream media. Yes, the Tea-Baggers are a minority and yes, Rush Limbaugh is hateful and offensive to most Americans. But you are mistaken if you think this is enough to protect the majority in 2010.
The economy is in tough shape; growth is going to remain low and unemployment is going to remain high for a long time; you will not be able to engineer a new bubble (and it is irresponsible to try). This will weigh on Dems in 2010. But what makes it much worse is that you are letting the following memes take hold across the electorate (not just with the Tea-Baggers but across the entire political spectrum):
- The Obama admin puts the needs of the big banks ahead of the needs of ordinary Americans
- The Dem in Congress put the needs of special interests ahead of the needs of ordinary Americans
- Fixing the economy is not the top priority of either the Obama admin or Congressional Dems
Your political strategy since the election has been, I think, to push the Republican party to the far right; you think this will build a sustainable Democratic majority. In better economic times this would work; it is not enough in these times.
You can get health care done. You can push cap & trade forward. You should. But this is not enough. You have to get a strong economic message out there (and please, stop putting Romer out as your key spokesperson on this; she does not inspire confidence). You need to start telling Americans that this is going to be a long recovery but that you have a plan (and you need to spell out the top points of the plan). You need to talk about this ALL THE TIME so that no one can convincingly argue that it is not the top priority. You need to push real reforms on Wall Street. You need a narrative here - not just a bunch of isolated short-cycle topics (e.g. Cash for Clunkers). You need to own the memes.
If you do not get on top of this very soon you are going to hand Congress to the crazies next year. We cannot risk this. WAKE UP!
You guys have to get back control of the national dialog. You are letting right-wing whackos define the memes for the mainstream media. Yes, the Tea-Baggers are a minority and yes, Rush Limbaugh is hateful and offensive to most Americans. But you are mistaken if you think this is enough to protect the majority in 2010.
The economy is in tough shape; growth is going to remain low and unemployment is going to remain high for a long time; you will not be able to engineer a new bubble (and it is irresponsible to try). This will weigh on Dems in 2010. But what makes it much worse is that you are letting the following memes take hold across the electorate (not just with the Tea-Baggers but across the entire political spectrum):
- The Obama admin puts the needs of the big banks ahead of the needs of ordinary Americans
- The Dem in Congress put the needs of special interests ahead of the needs of ordinary Americans
- Fixing the economy is not the top priority of either the Obama admin or Congressional Dems
Your political strategy since the election has been, I think, to push the Republican party to the far right; you think this will build a sustainable Democratic majority. In better economic times this would work; it is not enough in these times.
You can get health care done. You can push cap & trade forward. You should. But this is not enough. You have to get a strong economic message out there (and please, stop putting Romer out as your key spokesperson on this; she does not inspire confidence). You need to start telling Americans that this is going to be a long recovery but that you have a plan (and you need to spell out the top points of the plan). You need to talk about this ALL THE TIME so that no one can convincingly argue that it is not the top priority. You need to push real reforms on Wall Street. You need a narrative here - not just a bunch of isolated short-cycle topics (e.g. Cash for Clunkers). You need to own the memes.
If you do not get on top of this very soon you are going to hand Congress to the crazies next year. We cannot risk this. WAKE UP!
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And get rid of Summers and Geithner!
November 6, 2009 1:27 PM | Reply | Permalink