The LA Times reports that Mark Salter, was one of John McCain's political advisers, is saying that Obama has "'outmaneuvered' Congressional Republicans by appearing more daring on fiscal reforms—and that the GOP has best find another strategy."
His assertion in an op-ed for Real Clear Politics, comes a day after Sen. Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, offered a complex legislative scheme that many viewed as a concession that no deal can now be struck with the White House and that the GOP must instead find a graceful way to rain as much political collateral damage upon the president as possible while ensuring there is no default on the nation's debt obligations.
In his piece, Salter, who was instrumental in McCain’s 2008 presidential run and who has never been known for lukewarm opinions, wrote that that House Speaker John Boehner should not have walked away from the opportunity that the so-called “grand bargain” handed the GOP. That, he said, effectively ceded the high ground to the president. ......As a result of the Republicans’ refusal to engage in large-scale talks, “Obama has, or at least appears to have, put on the table a proposal that seems practical, reasonable and bold -- and which made Republicans appear truculent and small,” Salter said.
Regardless of whether Salter is right, one of the things that has had Republicans in Washington seething is their widely held belief that it was the GOP who forced Obama to become serious about debt and deficits. They point to the first budget offered by the White House for 2012, one that made no attempt to shrink the deficit.
Conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer last week assailed Obama on his fiscal record, but essentially nodded to what he saw as a smart political play: force Republicans to make the first move on entitlement reform (as they did with the Paul Ryan budget in the House), blast them for it politically, then appear to try it do himself in a more “responsible” way.
Obama supporters who have felt betrayed by Obama might well take a look into their own souls. Here are two things we learned during Obama's campaign for the presidency and particularly in his close contest with Hillary Clinton. 1) Obama's campaign was extraordinarily well-managed and politically very deft -- and it had the financial support of a great many "big banks and corporations." And 2) Obama is a centrist Democrat, not a dyed-in-the-wool progressive. That came through even during the campaign, when he was courting everyone. Most strikingly, it was in the words and the textures of his inaugural address.
Tell you what I think. I think on Inauguration Day 2009, we were focusing on ourselves and each other and our excitment rather than on the new president's words.
