[Cross-posted at The Left Coaster.]
Markos Moulitsas says the Democratic Party has a base problem, it’s no surprise at all when the Obama Administration releases data resulting in graphs like this:
Mathew Yglesias commented that this "agonizing glide of unemployment" must have been implemented to produce Republican "officeholders," since Reagan presided over the worst employment record in modern history, but Obama seems determined to out-misery him. Whether Obama could lose his job with a Republican president in 2013 Yglesias didn’t specify.
That flat-out incredible scenario makes absolutely no political sense, no President would ever deliberately implement policy he knew would cost him his survival. Obama should see the immediate dangers to his brother and sister Congressional Party members on the election block with these employment numbers, but apparently doesn’t.
Martin Longman described the pathetic chump Republican opposition to Obama as "a problem," here it is in all its thunderous clapping of pathetic employment failure: Obama is pursuing obtuse, core principle-betraying policies that profoundly squat on his little people Democratic Party heritage and naturally produce vast amounts of painful failure, yet because the Republicans have absolutely no one but laughable pathetic chumps to run against him in 2012 Obama must have kryptonite confidence he can do anything his first term.
Make no mistake, this outrageous sniveling and pussyfooting around by a Democratic President in the face of this roaring employment horror is, at its most base, profoundly embarrassing and shameful, I’m surprised anyone self-identifies with the Party after this. We’re setting up ourselves to be worse than Reagan on employment, God.
The President could have put a liberal Democrat in charge of the Fed who could have pulled all kinds of Econ strings to help get our people back to work, but instead put a lying inflation-weenie Republican in such a critical policy position. The President could have given up on sullying the Democratic brand with those stupid stimulus tax cuts, spending the money instead on real jobs, but he didn’t. The President could have led for a robust $200 billion jobs bill he could be signing today, but went to Hawaii on vacation instead. By setting himself and us up to be worse than Reagan he in fact demonstrated he’s not a very good Democrat, leaders from the past never would have left out little people hanging like this with so many easy steps for a fix that are obviously good politics too.
Noted that Congressional Democrats barely make a peep about it themselves, I wouldn’t go so far as to use the word enable in this awful scene, the President leads the Party, but their obsequious silence certainly doesn’t help.
How is it possible President Obama and the Democratic Party have so lost their way on such a bedrock principle of the Party? Democrats are for the little people, their lives and their jobs, it has always been so, even if we Americans eschew the classic Labor label for our side of the fence. Now, in 2010, all of sudden we don’t give a shit, how is that supposed to sell in 2010 and 2012? It won’t, obviously, elections that should have been total cakewalks over a Republican political partly just as much a political corpse as John McCain just four months ago are now in total jeopardy. Jesus Christ, only Democrats could pull this off.
Solutions require political scapegoating of the stinking unfeeling assholes who got us into this horror show, the Republicans. Can’t do that if you’re the New Messiah of Bipartisanship. [spits] We could forget about weenie tax credits, God I’m so sick of that Republican half-assed business butt-kissing solution to anything and spend money on Americans directly just like the assholes do with the defense budget, but oh no, that would be, well, liberal. We could appoint Democrats to the Federal Reserve since, you know, we have Democratic leadership of the entire government, but we don’t how to lead, we’re incompetent, Democrats in the 21st century are flat-out not-very-good politicians.
I understand the possible tactics Digby mentions, that engaging Republicans "elevates" them for some mysterious reason, or that Democratic base members are being "triangulated," screw our little people endlessly and The Left are supposed to be hissing kung-fu fighter motherfuckers (see how reasonable I look?), but I don’t buy it for a second, tactics like this require subtlety and intelligence our Democratic chumps just don’t have.
By all means, wonks, pundits and most especially politicians, go on out there and prove me wrong, tell me how 10% unemployment is good Democratic Party politics that well deliver for us in 2010. Go for it, we’re all listening.
Many thanks to Brad DeLong for the graph image. h/t Atrios for the Delong link.