Spare me the change
by digby
It’s been a subtle alteration but an alteration nonetheless. In his past two campaign speeches, President Barack Obama has adopted a construct that puts particular emphasis on how his 2008 promise of change has resulted in practical life improvement.
At a fundraiser Wednesday night in New York City, the new line was on display, with the president deploying the phrase “Change is” on a dozen occasions.
“Change is the first bill I signed into law — a law that says you get an equal day’s work — somebody who puts in an equal day’s work should get equal day’s pay.”
“Change is the decision we made to rescue the auto company from collapse, even when some politicians were saying we should let Detroit go bankrupt.”
“Change is the decision we made to stop waiting for Congress to do something about our addiction to oil and finally raise fuel-efficiency standards for the first time in 30 years.”
“Change is health care reform that we passed after a century of trying.”
And so on.
“Change” is like a song that I once loved but has been so overplayed that I switch the station every time I hear the opening chords. It’s a song I don’t ever want to hear again.
Seriously, I think this is a bad idea. When he said change in 2008, I think most people saw it as a promise to change the way politics worked. It was a fatuous premise to begin with and now it’s even moreso. Our politics are as broken as they can be.
The fact that the campaign is clinging to its glory days is yet another sign that they truly believed their own hype. To try to recapture that moment with a laundry list of legislation is actually kind of sad. The president has to run on his record and of course he will tout the highlights. But the “vision thing” has been sorely tested and came up very short. People disagree on the extent of his responsibility for that, but there’s just no question that the “hope and change” of 2008 is no longer operative. For their sake, I hope they aren’t under the illusion that they can revive it. They need to re-tool for reality.
On the other hand, maybe they don’t need to do anything. After all, the Republicans are apparently deserting the field:
Donald Trump is pairing up with Newsmax, the conservative magazine and news Web site, to moderate a presidential debate in Des Moines on Dec. 27.
“Our readers and the grass roots really love Trump,” said Christopher Ruddy, chief executive of Newsmax Media. “They may not agree with
him on everything, but they don’t see him as owned by the Washington establishment, the media establishment.”Mr. Trump’s role in the debate, which will be broadcast on the cable network Ion Television, is sure to be one of the more memorable moments in a primary season that has already delivered its fair share of circus-like spectacle.
It’s hard to see how President Obama can lose with this competition. I almost wonder if they aren’t throwing it deliberately.
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