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TOPIC: Hillary was right (NY Post 12/11/10)

Jen the Michigander

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Date: Dec 11, 2010

Hillary was right (NY Post 12/11/10)	Permalink

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/hillary_was_right_OGzLCPAu9MCxbqtz6xQW3J When President Obama came un glued like a papier-mache doll in a steam bath during his press con ference this week, I thought perhaps it might be because he lost an old argument with Hillary Clinton. But yesterday, when Obama hauled out Bill Clinton -- Hillary's No. 1 political ally and, secondarily, her husband -- I was sure of it. It's largely forgotten now, but during their lengthy primary battle, the two committed liberals' greatest disagreement wasn't over policy or their shared disdain for George W. Bush. It was over their different visions of the presidency. In a Nevada debate, Obama admitted that he wasn't a particularly organized person. But that was OK because a president's core role shouldn't be organizational but inspirational: "It involves having a vision for where the country needs to go . . . and then being able to mobilize and inspire the American people to get behind that agenda for change." Pshaw, responded Hillary Clinton, the president is really a "chief executive officer" who must be "able to manage and run the bureaucracy." The debate played itself out by proxy in liberal magazines and in snippets of speeches and short outbursts on the stump, with most liberals siding with Obama over Clinton. Some even suggested she was a racist -- or at least race-baiting -- for daring to suggest that all he offered was the ability to give a good speech. Fast-forward to this week. Obama's undisciplined diatribe against the "purists" in his own party who oppose compromise amounted to an abject admission that Hillary was right all along. "Measuring success" by the no-compromise standard, Obama declared, means "we will never get anything done. People will have the satisfaction of having a purist position and no victories for the American people. And we will be able to feel good about ourselves and sanctimonious about how pure our intentions are." But, he suggested, liberals will make little progress. Obama then went on a stem-winder about how "this is a big, diverse country. Not everybody agrees with us. I know that shocks people. The New York Times editorial page does not permeate across all of America." All true. And the Democrats are being foolishly purist, as we saw Thursday when House Democrats voted to reject the tax compromise. But denouncing purists and accepting that significant swaths of America aren't going to be persuaded by your rhetoric is an admission that the Obama vision of the presidency either doesn't work or that Obama isn't up to the job of making it work. Indeed, even on health-care reform, his signature accomplishment, Obama failed to mobilize and inspire the American people to his side. He got that passed with LBJ-like legislative skullduggery and sleight of hand, not "yes we can!" rhetoric. Meanwhile, yesterday's co-presidential press conference was almost a "No I can't moment." Admitting you're wrong is part of growing up, and growing up can be painful. At least it certainly looked painful watching it on TV. __________________ Nobody puts THIS baby in the corner!

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