Obama the Uniter?

The Democratic primary battle is coming down to the wire. If you've been following the candidates you know Barack Obama has promised a new style of politics. He seems to say our differences have been manufactured by divisive politics in Washington. If you've been following the discussion on our website, www.redstatebluestatemovie.com, you know this is only partly true.

Our political parties, together with the media, hype red-blue conflict, but they don't create it. The problem Obama will have if he wins the nomination is that he has participated mostly on the left side of this divide.

Here's a good article from the Rothenberg Political Report today, "Obama's Appeal Depends on Your Definition of Change," that explains the inconsistency of Obama's message. And the inconsistency is not only with the reality of Washington politics, but with the preferences of the national polity. In other words, the differences lie with the voters and the parties merely reflect this.

A president can mediate these differences through his legislative agenda, but navigating that minefield requires knowing how to pick and choose the right battles. A president should be guided by a clear political philosophy and Obama has indicated that his governing philosophy pretty much flows from orthodox liberalism of the Ted Kennedy variety. But Great Society liberalism is out of sync with the recent voting patterns of national elections in the US, especially since 1980. Thus, an Obama presidency that mirrors his legislative experience to date would rightly meet some very strong headwinds. The sooner Senator Obama addresses these inconsistencies as a candidate the better his chances in a general election, but if his supporters believe a President Obama will deliver a liberal progressive agenda wholesale, many will be sorely disappointed sooner or later.