By Tim Price, originally posted on Next New Deal.
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Obama's hope and change 2.0 (WaPo)
E.J. Dionne writes that President Obama's speech sought to dispel any lingering notion that changing the country was ever going to be an easy lift. Instead, it argued that if we all put our backs into it, we might just be able to drag it across the finish line.
Obama Gives Up on Demand (Slate)
Matthew Yglesias notes that while the president talked a lot about his broad vision for the long-term economy last night, the best he had to offer the millions of currently unemployed Americans was that even if they're screwed, maybe their kids won't be.
Cleaning Up the Economy (NYT)
Paul Krugman agrees with Bill Clinton that the GOP left Obama up to his neck in garbage and forced him to serve as our janitor-in-chief, and while he could have used a much bigger shovel, he still deserves credit for getting the mess down to knee level.
The Choice: Obama's Weak Record vs. Romney's Worse Alternative (The Atlantic)
Derek Thompson argues that given the dismal economic record of the last few years, Barack Obama is long past the point of promising sweeping change and a daily double rainbow, but he has a stronger case to make if he runs as Lesser Evil 2012.
How Democrats Can Get Back on Offense (HuffPo)
Though President Obama gave a rhetorical nod to FDR's "bold, persistent experimentation" last night, Mark Green and Gary Hart write that Democrats will be strongest if they pursue some big, concrete ideas beyond "We're definitely not Republicans."
Clinton Touts Welfare Reform. Here's How It Failed. (The Nation)
NND Editor Bryce Covert offers a FACT CHECK of Bill Clinton's speech that doesn't rely on non sequiturs about Monica: while millions escaped poverty during his administration, welfare reform turned it into a super-max prison for those left behind.
Bill Clinton's Forgotten Class War (NY Mag)
Jonathan Chait notes that many Americans have come to remember the Clinton years as an era of bipartisan cooperation, but they gloss over the impeachment, murder accusations, and attempts to portray him as Marx with an Arkansas accent.
What are we cheering for? (Salon)
Roosevelt Institute Fellow Matt Stoller argues that while Democrats put on a good show and the Republican convention... happened, the spectacle shouldn't fool us into thinking that we're being presented with a real choice in a true democracy.
Democrats give labor the cold shoulder (WaPo)
James Downie writes that despite some recent token recognition of unions, Democrats at the DNC avoided mentioning the plight of Charlotte's public workers like it was their secret phrase of the week and the loser had to buy all the delegates a round.
Who Built That? (NYT)
Simon Johnson writes that Why Nations Fail shows that the strongest developed economies have been those with a good balance of individual freedom and government support, and "unbalanced" is certainly an apt description for the Ryan plan.
Tim Price is Deputy Editor of Next New Deal.