random3434
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- Jun 29, 2008
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Clift: On First 100 Days, Obama Gets a B-Plus | Newsweek Voices - Eleanor Clift | Newsweek.com
.Despite the current controversy, Obama gets high marks; not an A, because we still have to wait for outcomes, but a solid B-plus. He has established himself in the office, the country is more upbeat, but the hard decisions are yet to come. The great asset he has is the collapse of the Republican Party. They have neither a credible message nor messenger. They're railing against big government, when the core issue is the failings of capitalism. They call for smaller government and berate Obama for moving toward socialism when people are not hungering for tax cuts. They're looking for jobs so they can pay taxes. Instead of developing alternative policies, they're back to attacking FDR. He won four elections. Politico reports that House Republicans have fastened on a new book, "The Forgotten Man," that celebrates Wendell Willkie and denigrates the New Deal. Willkiea Wall Street industrialist who had never held elective office, was a decent-enough fellow but lost to Roosevelt by a landslide in 1940is an unlikely hero on which to build a new GOP.
At a time of crisis, when Americans look to Washington for help, the GOP has reverted to an outmoded form of libertarianism, calling for government to get out of the way when, if government had been more watchful, we might not be in this mess. There are opportunities for Republicans in the public's apprehension over the rising deficit, and in the discomfort many feel over the various bailouts. But a party is not serious when its headliners are a radio talk-show host and a discredited former vice president. Newt Gingrich is back as a rising star and Republicans are battling FDR, giving the GOP a rather retro feel. That gives Obama lots of latitude looking forward