David Brooks, the personification of beltway-insider quackery, is absolutely apoplectic about President Obama acting like a real Democrat. He is beside himself with disappointment that President Obama has taken positions that are popular with the American people rather than continuing to placate the received wisdom of a Washington pundit.
Just listen to him wail:
Yes, I’m a sap. I believed Obama when he said he wanted to move beyond the stale ideological debates that have paralyzed this country. I always believe that Obama is on the verge of breaking out of the conventional categories and embracing one of the many bipartisan reform packages that are floating around.
But remember, I’m a sap. The White House has clearly decided that in a town of intransigent Republicans and mean ideologues, it has to be mean and intransigent too. The president was stung by the liberal charge that he was outmaneuvered during the debt-ceiling fight. So the White House has moved away from the Reasonable Man approach or the centrist Clinton approach.
This statement reveals the folly of trying to please the Washington establishment. By being the "adult in the room," President Obama received praise and adulation from David Brooks. The fact that this approach failed to win any support in Congress, damaged the president's standing with the public, hurt his party in elections, and put his prospects for reelection in serious jeopardy is irrelevant to Brooks. He wants the president to sacrifice himself at the altar of the Washington establishment so that one day a one-term President Obama will come for cocktails in Georgetown and they can swell their chests about how "centrist" and resonable he was. Yes, David Brooks just pines for a president who will fight the good fight for the elite and lose elections. If only both parties were willing to turn their backs on the people who elected them and do what the Washington establishment wants, then and only then will Brooks be happy.
David Brooks has no clue of what the center is. He seems to think the center is wherever Republicans were ten years ago. David, the center is wherever the majority of the American people are. It really is that simple. And it is perfectly clear that the majority of the American people do not care about the deficit. They care about jobs. They don't want to cut Social Security and Medicare. They want to raise taxes on the rich and keep those programs intact. They want our troops home. They don't want endless deployments and world policing. They don't care about "bipartisan process." They care about real life, kitchen table, money in the pocket, life and death results. They don't care about being "centrist." They care about success.
Brooks, he tried your approach and it only led to across the board political and economic failure. He barely got any serious deficit reduction. The economy went into decline, again. Our credit rating was downgraded. He dropped 20 net points in the polls.
Yes Brooks, you are a sap. Not because President Obama turned his back on you and your terribly bad advice. You're a sap because you believe you're in the center when you aren't. You're a sap because you believe your recommendations work. And you're a sap because you expect politicians to listen to you rather than the people who elected them.