... And when it comes to climate change, the Republicans have dug themselves a six-footer. Jonathan Chait lays out the politics of the final months before the November midterms.
Here is where the politics of climate change stand at the outset of Obama’s new climate offensive. The scientific consensus is stronger and more urgent than ever, while the political consensus is weaker than ever. Republicans are not even considering the notion of asking Americans to spend money to mitigate climate change, and are increasingly uncertain about the notion of even saving money to mitigate climate change. And into this simmering pot of reflexive opposition and anti-empiricism Obama will plop a highly ambitious and not very cuddly scheme to clean up the power-plant sector. It has already drawn strong opposition from the major business lobbies. It is likely to become the major point of conflagration of Obama’s second term.
As recently as a few months ago, it was preposterous to imagine that the midterm elections would revolve around anything but Obamacare. But the law, which last fall lay ailing while conservatives spoke openly about pulling the plug, has, to their dismay, bounded out of bed. It still polls badly, but not as badly as the Republican stance of repealing it. ...Chait,DailyIntel
Still, that doesn't mean the Dems have an easy coast.
First of all, as Chait points out, progress with climate change doesn't give candidates nice photo-ops, as Obamacare does -- "no heartwarming stories of long-suffering patients seeing a doctor for the first time in years." Not much you can do with a photo of a glaciar that's not melting as rapidly. Stopping climate is moving a lot less dramatically that climate change over the past decade.
It's a political issue for Republicans. It's a moral issue for the President.
And this is why, unlike carefully selected election-year issues like the minimum wage or equal pay, Obama is not picking this issue to help his party save Senate seats. He is doing this because, given the enormity of the stakes for centuries to come, there is no morally defensible alternative. ...Chait,DailyIntel.
For those of us who have stood on the left-hand side of American politics for most of our lives, one presumption has survived the test of time. The left has a far better sense of what the short-term issues are and -- more crucial -- far better instincts when it comes to discerning the big issues coming at us from around the corner. Climate change is a good example but far from the only one.
