At least Dionne is living in reality

Dionne is as dumbfounded as I am about Democratic obliviousness, as seen on MSNBC and in the liberal-progressive blogosphere.  

Republicans are losing the argument but winning the time war.... From their perspective, the more months we fritter away on these dumb, fake emergencies, the better. As Obama’s clout slowly diminishes, so will his opportunities to press his priorities.

If Washington can be kept in a state of partisan paralysis, Republicans stand to gain more.

Of course they do. And in their cloakroom and country clubs they're laughing at Democrats for taking the bait--for spending countless hours on-air and in print identifying the true culprits of sequestration (cue the self-satisfied snickers: "It was really John Boehner and House Republicans! Gotcha!") as they simultaneously, hypocritically insist that the "Who started this?" game is irrelevant.

Yes Republicans are on the ropes, but it's Democrats being sucker-punched, as irretrievable time is squandered on identifying exactly who said precisely what nearly two years ago; and yet more time is frittered on who's responsible for intransigence now. Republicans are happy to take the heat. They were happy to do so yesterday, they're happy today, and they'll be happy tomorrow. Poof, there go three days, forever, out of Obama's 18-month second term.

Once this squabble is exhausted Republicans can move on to "fixing" national security cuts. That should be good for another couple of weeks of partisan recriminations, plus Dems will suffer humiliation in having to vote for defense restorations while leaving discretionary cuts untouched. Subsequently there's the continuing resolution to bicker over, possibly another government shutdown, and then the crown jewel of pseudoconservative imbecility: a debt-ceiling dispute. Which will ring in the summer, with two desolate seasons behind it.

Again, Dionne:

The sequester game is a contest in which [Republicans win] simply by running out the clock, no matter what the score is.

Same for the CR, etc., etc.

[I]f gridlock retains its icy grip on government, the president will ultimately suffer because it is members of his constituency who will be most demoralized by the failure of their votes to change anything.

The upshot being that evolving demoralization depresses future turnout: see 2014.

And finally, from Dionne, comes the real rub:

Obama can’t just score points. He needs to figure out how to end this game so he can play the one he promised us.

Suggestions, anyone? Dionne hasn't any, and neither do I, and neither does Obama. Short of shredding the Constitution, there is no solution except another election: see above.

Yet Democrats and liberals and progressives seem to think they're winning this thing ... as the seconds of Obama's abbreviated term tick uselessly into oblivion and Republicans laugh their intransigent asses off.

Comments

[DerFarm]

There are no possible "compromises" that don't shred the fabric of current society. The R's will accept nothing but total capitulation from Obama. I'm not even sure if they'll accept that. Nearly every single proposal Obama has come up with so far has been an original R idea from the people WHO ARE CURRENTLY IN OFFICE.

So WHERE pray tell, is Obama supposed to regain "momentum"? What are the MSNBC clones suposed to actually DO or SAY to move the logjam? Who died and made you the king of the Universe?

You are being a childish asshole. Using an impossible situation to take potshots at people whose political methods you dislike.

[Peter G]

You may be wrong. And so might Dionne. I think it goes to the matter of engagement. Historically the Democratic side of the political spectrum seems to have believed that once an election is won you have earned a couple of years of vacation. Except of course the truly hard left which does stay engaged, principally to point out that government is corrupt and evil and Democrats are no different than Republicans. It's pretty much how they roll.
Now I would be the last one to suggest a battle of the loonies to pit the leftist flakes against the right wing nut jobs in some kind of tug of war. Entertaining no doubt but poisonous to the very concept of responsible government. But what if you could get more moderates to stay engaged? What if you could use sophisticated analytics and massive mailing lists, social media not merely as an audience for a message delivered from the bully pulpit but to enlist them in an endless campaign to counteract endless manufactured crises. What if you could get them to do stuff? What if you could overcome the amazing short term memory loss that afflicts electorates by keeping their study material in front of them, so they don't have to, as Truman is said to have observed of the conservative farm vote, have to look over their shoulder to see who is hitting on the head with a shovel? The question you ask is to some degree irrelevant. Both Fox and MSNBC cater to the committed and those networks don't really intrude on the broader electorate. But there are people who matter and there are ways to raise funds specific to issues like gun control and there are ways to get them to engage their congressmen.
If you know how to use a relational database you can use knowledge to specifically target a person's hot button issues and get them to engage on that specific issue. This isn't like an election campaign. It is an issues campaign and that's all you really need to do, win on the issues. You completely by-pass established journalistic media entirely and the demographics of this assault skew beautifully towards the Democrats when you look at who uses social media the most. In summary, if you don't like the Zeitgeist you've been dealt, make one. Fast.

[AnneJ]

Well, I guess he can only do what he's always done, press for what he wants, and by way of executive order and other actions that don't require congressional approval to do what he can, and let the republican accusations fall where they may. But one thing that has become apparent to me, is that even in the face of republican obstruction and outright abuse of not only this president, but the American people, somehow, in small incremental ways, or conservative ways, the progress keeps coming. The change keeps happening, and issues that have been the hard facts of life for too many of us for too many years, are now becoming too hard to ignore and are getting talked about more-or should I say at all. I think just the fact that Obama proposed a minimum wage increase proof of that. So yes, maybe the republicans are getting the last laugh, at least for now by merely running the clock out, but change is coming, is already happening, and no matter how much they try to slow it down, they will not be able to stop it.

[Robert Lipscomb]

Define "winning".

I continue to believe that Obama wants the delay game.

A recent report based on predictions by numerous economists had a consensus that the economy will really take off during the middle of the year. That is consistent with all the metrics I am following. In others words, we will go from steady growth from the private sector at that time.

A nonpartisan economic report today predicts a 0.5% hit in economic growth if the sequester is implemented. That corresponds to my back-of-the-envelope calculation yesterday of 0.6%.

This is not good, but it is not catastrophic. Further, the cuts come from areas which generally condone. Also, the budget can always be adjusted two years down the road.

If unemployment "only" drops 3.5% over that period (a modest prediction), unemployment will be 5.3%.

Obama will get the lion's share of the credit for the ecomic/employment recovery and turning the corner on balancing the budget.

At a minimum, he will have comprehensive immigration reform and and at a minimum significant gun control by then. Plus all his executive actions.

That is a hell of a two years.

If he uses his agenda wedge issues to gain control of the House, he will slam dunk a plethora of progressive legislation in 2015.

If not, they will be teed up for Hillary.

And either way, Obama will be a transformational president.

[ken]

I have to agree with Robert's comment (though I don't see unemployment dropping very quickly, devinately not by another 3.5%) Meanwhile though, with each tick of the clock national healthcare, a truly transformative achievement, continues to take hold. Also keep in mind that if the administration continues to handle the politics well, and the economy does grow, Obama will actually have the wind at his back for the first time since first taking office.