From a NY Times 'news analysis':
Even some of the president’s closest advisers said they were surprised by the ferocity of the Republican opposition.
"It’s kind of a stunning thing to watch the way this has unfolded, at least to date," said David Axelrod, one of Mr. Obama’s longtime advisers. "The question is, how do you break free from these strident voices?"
It's kind of a stunning thing to read, especially from one of the president's closest advisers. The answer is, you break free. You break free.
You don't negotiate with blackmailers and kidnappers; you don't retreat from a nomination fight in a fog of intimidation; you don't abandon another potential nominee to a gathering storm of neoconservative malice; you don't appoint a cool-headed task force to ponder a red-hot problem; and you don't bewilder the populace just before a holiday respite by insisting you've every intention of meeting the lunatics and their ever-ballooning lunatic demands "halfway."
You break free by not budging.
You break free by backchanneled communications if necessary with loyalist sympathizers--otherwise known as genuine conservatives--inside the radicals' congressional camp.
You break free by flooding the airwaves with spokespersons and surrogates carrying the manifold message that you'll by-God fight for a second-term cabinet of your own free choice; that without a day lost you'll fight for the safety of America's children--no matter the political expense; and that you'll fight to reestablish fiscal sanity--not a half-sane policy, not a mostly sane policy, but an entirely and expertly sane policy, because 1) it's what you campaigned on and 2) well, it's the sane thing to do.
You break free by explaining and re-explaining and then explaining again to the American electorate precisely what former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle explained to the Times: "I worry that it’s going to take [a true crisis] to bring people to the reality that they can’t mess around here anymore."
And then you explain that you're fucking through messing around.
1.There is no way David Axelrod was surprised by 'the ferocity of the Republican opposition'. That's complete bullocks.
2. The way to break free is to get back the House and keep GOP out of the majority for a very long time. They do not understand reason. They don't seem to care that they might be blamed for everything because we have a media that's all too ready to shout "both sides".
Posted by: Alli | December 23, 2012 at 10:54 AM
You go, PM!
Posted by: Jim Milstein | December 23, 2012 at 12:13 PM
This comment by Axelrod and the one by Obama ("Call me an optimist") is purely posturing.
The majority of the American public do not pay as much attention to Washington DC as the writer and readers of this here fine piece of a blog. They have some vague notion that DC is in a gridlock and things are not working.
Axelrod and his boss are spinning in a way as to gently show them who the problem is.
If we go off the cliff, wait til the inauguration and state of the union. Things should get interesting.
Posted by: MinneapolisPipe | December 23, 2012 at 01:09 PM
I'm going to disagree. I think what you do is be the voice of sweet reason. The voice of compromise. The voice of real solutions. Even fake ones. And you watch public opinion swing decidedly in your favor. If you're really ruthless you nominate a Republican to be your defense secretary (without actually making the nomination) and let the Republicans reflexively rip one of their own apart. And you keep hammering and hammering about those middle class ax cuts. And you get people like Axelrod to publicly talk about how frighteningly unreasonable your opponents are. In other words you do exactly what they are doing because Congress won't change for two years and you need to scare the shit out of what is left of rational Republicans right now.
Posted by: Peter G | December 23, 2012 at 01:49 PM
Oh and by the way there will be a time to cut throats but until it becomes clear whether or not the Republicans will cave now on those tax cuts or wait and try to combine them later in the new year with debt ceiling stupidity. I'm a firm believer in killing the two issues at once if necessary. Then public support and a truly dismayed business class ought to make It time for Ragnarok.
Posted by: Peter G | December 23, 2012 at 02:05 PM
I believe that the Dems were surprised.
In the midst of the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression, a major political party decided to commit ECONOMIC TREASON against this country.
Seriously?
You all saw that beforehand.
I mean, I think a lot of us came to that conclusion sooner than the Democratic Party did...
But, seriously, folks really thought that the GOP would commit wholesale ECONOMC TREASON against this country?
I thought I had the lowest possible opinion of Republicans, and even I didn't understand how low this group of socipaths would go. I didn't quite understand that they were socipaths..
I do now...but, back then, in January 2009, no, I didn't understand that.
Posted by: rikyrah | December 23, 2012 at 03:58 PM
What Peter G said.
Posted by: MinneapolisPipe | December 23, 2012 at 09:17 PM
Chiming in with the commenters above who say this is part of a long-term strategy to crush the GOP.
Never forget, this is our counterpuncher President:
http://immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2011/12/then-i-will-crush-them.html
Posted by: Janicket | December 24, 2012 at 09:16 AM