December 03, 2008
Did Obama Even Want a Filibuster-proof Senate?

For the past week or so, I have been pondering if Obama even wanted a filibuster-proof Senate? Why else would he have ignored the Chambliss-Martin runoff in Georgia?

First, to get reelected, Obama will need to govern from the center or center-left of the mainstream American. With a filitbuster-proof Senate, the likes of Reid, Pelsoi and Company will be able to push a liberal and left of left agenda without Obama.

Without the filibuster-proof Senate, they have to work with Obama.

If Obama really wanted to govern from the far left, the filibuster-proof Senate would be just the ticket. And yet, other than his now unemployed fund-raisers, he never helped Martin out.

Off-topic: Chambliss credits Palin for his victory.

Posted by tedtrepanier at December 03, 2008 08:40 AM | Email This
Comments
1. Good post. There has been quite a few people questioning why Obama didn't help out more. This is as good a reason as any.

Posted by: swatter on December 3, 2008 12:23 PM
2. The reason he didn't campaign for Martin is that there was only a slim chance Martin would win. He did not want a "loss" on his record going into office. By avoiding it, and letting Gore/Carter/etc campaign there, Obama can still bask in his victory without expending any political capital.

As for the filibuster proof Senate, don't think that the 42 or 41 the Republicans will have is strong. It's not going to be hard to sway Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe. Democrats will get almost everything they want through the Congress.

Posted by: Palouse on December 3, 2008 02:42 PM
3. I bet that Obama will emulate Bill Clinton's 'triangulation.' That may be one reason he brought on Hillary, so that Bill can advise on how it's done.

Hillary as SOS cries out for explanation too. She's a longtime lawyer whose previous claim to fame was health care, and all the sudden she's a FP expert? She has no military background. As far as I can find out she doesn't even speak any foreign languages.

Posted by: russell garrard on December 4, 2008 01:46 AM
4. Wow!! My first post at SP and I get hit with an ad for a porn site. Pretty exciting (no pun intended) to see that the Delete Comment feature works.

Posted by: tedtrepanier on December 5, 2008 08:33 AM
Post a comment
Name:


Email Address:


URL:


Comments:


Remember info?