A few years ago, there was a remarkable show on NBC called "The West Wing". It was set in the white house and based around the presidency of a democrat. It was about national politics and all the machinations that go on in Washington DC. The show won 8 Emmy awards in its 7-year run so it wasn't that bad.
Anyway, this morning as I heard about the loss of Kennedy's seat in Massachusetts to a republican, I wondered how Jed Bartlet's staff would have handled the race. Knowing that the democrat's candidate in such a must-win election was running a lackluster campaign, I can just see Jed Bartlet dispatching Toby Ziegler and Josh Lyman to go to Massachusetts and straighten things out. I can see Josh moving in, taking over the campaign and telling the local people how stupid they've been. I know it was just a tv show but I can't imagine that Obama's people didn't see this coming from afar. If they didn't, that's just proof of their lack of understanding of the big picture. There's no way you lose in NJ and Massachusetts in the same election year and not know that it's referendum on your presidency. As it is, Obama is in grave danger of being known as a do-nothing president.
And if you think a president shouldn't concern himself with state politics, you are mistaken. With this loss, the democrats have lost their supermajority (i.e. filibuster-proof) in the senate. Good luck shoving that health care bill down the throat of the GOP without a supermajority.
Anyway, this morning as I heard about the loss of Kennedy's seat in Massachusetts to a republican, I wondered how Jed Bartlet's staff would have handled the race. Knowing that the democrat's candidate in such a must-win election was running a lackluster campaign, I can just see Jed Bartlet dispatching Toby Ziegler and Josh Lyman to go to Massachusetts and straighten things out. I can see Josh moving in, taking over the campaign and telling the local people how stupid they've been. I know it was just a tv show but I can't imagine that Obama's people didn't see this coming from afar. If they didn't, that's just proof of their lack of understanding of the big picture. There's no way you lose in NJ and Massachusetts in the same election year and not know that it's referendum on your presidency. As it is, Obama is in grave danger of being known as a do-nothing president.
And if you think a president shouldn't concern himself with state politics, you are mistaken. With this loss, the democrats have lost their supermajority (i.e. filibuster-proof) in the senate. Good luck shoving that health care bill down the throat of the GOP without a supermajority.
Comments
Post a Comment