Obama Breaks Little New Ground On Policy

Washington Post: Democrat Has Not Emphasized Any Signature Domestic Issue

(Washingtonpost.com)  This story was written by Perry Bacon Jr..

---

Already famous for his speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama entered the Senate with more than the usual aspirations about the impact he could have.

So in 2005, he had his office arrange informal seminars so that experts on health care, the economy, energy and education could brief him. "I'm not running for president," he told a group of experts at his Capitol Hill office in the spring of 2006. But he said he had a "national voice" and wanted to use it.

When Obama changed his mind and decided to run for president after only two years in the Senate, however, he effectively dismissed the importance of policy proposals, declaring in one speech in early 2007, "We've had plenty of plans, Democrats," and in another: "Every four years, somebody trots out a white paper, they post it on the Web." He cast his "new kind of politics" in terms of his ability to transcend divisions and his unique biography and offered few differences on issues from Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and the other Democratic presidential candidates.

But now this approach faces a new test from Sen. John McCain. The GOP candidate is making an aggressive appeal to independents by emphasizing his past and present stances against party orthodoxy, particularly his proposals to combat global warming.

Obama has not emphasized any signature domestic issue, or signaled that he would take his party in a specific direction on policy, as Bill Clinton did with his "New Democrat" proposals in 1992 that emphasized welfare reform or as George W. Bush did with his "compassionate conservatism" in 2000, when he called on Republicans to focus more on issues such as education.

Obama's campaign is "clearly politically transformative, it's clearly from a policy standpoint been cautious," said James K. Galbraith, a liberal activist and economist at the University of Texas at Austin who had backed former senator John Edwards in the early primaries.

"The change that Senator Obama has promised is one of tone and leadership style," said William A. Galston, who was a domestic policy adviser to President Bill Clinton and is backing Sen. Clinton but who said he would enthusiastically support Obama if he is the party's nominee. "He has not dissented from party orthodoxy in the way Bill Clinton did on the way to the presidency in 1992," Galston added.

Heather Higginbottom, who runs Obama's policy office at the campaign's Chicago headquarters, cited education as one area in which Obama offers ideas that are not traditionally Democratic, arguing that the problem is not all about schools or funding, but about parents who let their children watch too much television. She said his proposal to give teachers bonus pay if they receive special training or if their students score high on standardized tests is an idea that some liberal-leaning teachers unions oppose. And she said the campaign has brought "fresh thinking" on many issues, particularly on one of Obama's favorites: increased government transparency.

But Higginbottom said the campaign's emphasis is on practical solutions, not ideological points. "I know it's interesting from a political perspective to look left, right and center, but we want to put forward ideas that will move forward in Congress," she said. "And we have the potential to engage people in a way they haven't been engaged recently and give them the tools to participate."

David Axelrod, Obama's top political adviser, said that the campaign will devote more staff members to policy (there are now seven) and that the senator's speeches will increasingly highlight his proposals.

"The next six months is going to be about competing visions for this country," he said. "Obama is looking forward, and his policies will reflect that."

Obama's domestic policy proposals, including expanding health care to all Americans and offering tax cuts for the middle class while raising taxes for those who make more than $250,000 a year, differ little from those that Clinton and other Democrats have proposed during the primaries. His ideas for solving the nation's housing crisis are similar to those of congressional Democrats, offering aid to people who cannot pay their mortgages and proposing a second economic stimulus package.

Obama, like many congressional Democrats, has pushed for more education funding, a cap-and-trade system to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, and immigration legislation that would create a path to citizenship for people who are now in the United States illegally.

In part, Obama's approach reflects the broad consensus that has developed during the Democratic primaries. Unlike Republicans -- many of whom disagree with McCain on issues such as global warming and immigration -- Democratic presidential candidates, the party's leaders in Congress and Democratic voters largely agree on an agenda. There is little of the left-center divide of the Bill Clinton era. Self-identified independent voters broadly favored the Democrats' approach over that of the GOP on Iraq, health care, the economy and dealing with the federal budget deficit, according to a recent Washington Post poll.

Jared Bernstein, a liberal economist at the Economic Policy Institute, praised him for offering a more progressive agenda than the past two Democratic presidential nominees, former vice president Al Gore and Sen. John F. Kerry, neither of whom proposed a universal health-care plan, as Obama has. "There's a recognition that small-bore approaches to solving the big challenges is not sufficient," Bernstein said.

Obama's policy ideas reflect the group of mainstream Democratic advisers he has surrounded himself with, many of them younger colleagues of experts who had held top-level positions in the Clinton administration and ended up working for the former first lady's campaign.

Jeffrey B. Liebman, a Harvard economist who advises Obama on budget issues, had been a top aide to Gene Sperling, President Clinton's top economics adviser, who now works for Sen. Clinton's campaign; Michael Froman, a Citigroup executive who advises Obama on Wall Street issues, was a top aide to former Treasury secretary Robert Rubin, another Clinton backer.

Obama also brought in people who were not in the Clinton orbit, but most of them are not new to Washington. The advisers say that what drew them to Obama was not his embrace of their policy views but rather his potential appeal for getting things done.

"His message of uniting people and trying to do something new was apparent from the beginning, and so he sort of had me at hello," said University of Chicago professor Austan Goolsbee, Obama's top economic adviser.

The campaign, however, has distanced itself from more controversial views, such as Goolsbee's description of Obama's opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement as political rhetoric. Goolsbee denied the account of what he said at a meeting at the Canadian consulate in Chicago, and Obama has kept his anti-NAFTA rhetoric.

Looking forward, Galston said that while Obama and McCain would each seek to emphasize independence from their parties on "second-tier" issues such as teacher pay or global warming, on the big issues, such as the Iraq war and the economy, they would hew to party orthodoxy while at the same time arguing that the other is even more tied to his own party.

"The Obama campaign will argue on those issues McCain is, if anything, more conservative than Bush," Galston said. "The McCain campaign will argue although Senator Obama has campaigned on a promise to bring us back together, that in fact he is not a moderate, despite his tone, but is a liberal."

Bruce Reed, who also was a policy adviser to President Clinton and now supports Sen. Clinton, said it is important for the eventual Democratic nominee to show some break from the party, to burnish centrist credentials. "Our candidate will need as many proof points as possible that we're not the weak-on-defense, big-spending liberal the Republicans always say they are," he said.

Obama aides, however, say their approach will work because most voters are looking not for a new vision for expanding health care but rather for a reformed political system such as the one Obama calls for, one that would solve problems rather than resort to bickering.

Galston said Obama's approach could succeed in a general-election campaign as long as the candidate made sure voters were more familiar with his plans, but he was more skeptical about the approach working if Obama is elected president. "There are many scholars . . . who believe that polarization in the country between the parties is pretty thorough and that a change in tone may not be sufficient," he said.

Staff writer Shailagh Murray and polling analyst Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.

[eroosevelt08]

Obama is running on his abilty to speechify and that is IT!!!!!!!!!

[eroosevelt08]

If Hillary Clinton is cheated out of the nomination, there will be a massive write-in movement for her, whether she says that is what she wants or not.

[eroosevelt08]

What we had with Bill Clinton''s presidency was prosperity. When he left office there was a budget surplus.

[eroosevelt08]

It took Obama until May 31, 2008 to resign from his horrible church, Trinity United Church of Christ. He is a SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWW learner.

[agog2]

Let me see 8 years ago If I remember right didn%u2019t we have a surplus of money in the treasury? I can remember gas as low as 89 cents a gallon; everyone had a good Job, lots of food on the table. Let me see I think that Bill Clinton was the President then. W had over 4000 more young men and women living and more than 36,000 thousand men and women that had both legs and arms and no bad head injuries. Hillary Clinton lived in the white house for 8 years, she knows what it takes to put people back to work, and put money back in the US treasury, Make our US dollar worth a dollar instead of 60 on the open market as it is today. Superdelicates change your votes and back Hillary Clinton for President if you really want to put a Democrat back in the white house. If Barack Obama is the DNC%u2019s nominee you will be putting a Republican back in the white house just like the media wants you to do.

Hillary Hillary yes we will in 08

[agog2]

It%u2019s really ironic how people in this country are controlled by the media, TV News, Radio talk shows, News papers or read in books. Stop to think if you really don%u2019t know something to be a fact yourself by participating in it. The only whey you draw your conclusion to the subject is by what you see on TV, hear on the radio, read in the news papers or happen to read about in a book that someone has written. Don%u2019t you get it about 90% of what you know is controlled by the Media which in turn is under control of the industrial giants and the US pentagon. These two sources in control of the Media can make you like something or hate something. They control your mind how else you get your information. Unless you live in a small community and are dealing with local matters that you personally know to be a fact and can make up your own mind that whey. Other than that you must depend on all other thing by what you HEAR, SEE ON TV OR READ IN THE NEWS PAPERS. If you let the people think that they govern. Then they will be governed. The only why you can tell about a presidential candidate is by asking yourselves. Have I got it better today than I had it 8 years ago, Is this country in better shape financially? Is the cost a living the same, How about gas.

[terrorislami]

HEY HUSSEIN???

WHAT ABOUT YOUR COUSIN IN KENYA AND YOUR RADICAL MUSLIM LUO TRIBE YOU VISITED IN 2006???

ARE THEY NOT COMMITTING GENOCIDE TOO???

Obama''s Cousin Charged With Ethnic Cleansing
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/01/great-obamas-cousin-charged-with-ethnic.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7192958.stm

Obama''s relative linked to Ethnic Cleansing in Kenya
http://libertarianrepublican.blogspot.com/2008/02/obamas-relative-linked-to-ethnic.html

Signs in Kenya That Killings Were Planned
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1957451/posts

Ten Obvious Reasons Why Islam is NOT a Religion of Peace
http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Pages/Top-10-Reasons.htm

Kenya Muslim Violence Pictorial *Warning Graphic*

Africa, Kenya, Muslims%u2026nothing more needs to be said%u2026
http://patdollard.com/2008/01/kenya-muslim-violence-pictorial-warning-graphic/

The Kenyan jihad
http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/433766/the-kenyan-jihad.thtml

nothing new,,, more radical muslims ethnically cleansing non-muslims

19 Burned to Death in Violence in Kenya
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1960644/posts

[obama8years]

Obama has another favorite pastor and has giving more money too, than wright.

you and other mainstreamers have left out Obama''''s deeper connection with this "priest" ... readers should go to the Chicago Tribune for the money connection and I quote: "Earmarks to St. SabinaIn a Tribune story a year ago, Obama defended special budget earmarks for his district while he was a state legislator, including ones that went to programs associated with Pfleger''''s church. Pfleger gave Obama''''s campaigns $1,500 between 1995 and 2001, including $200 in April 2001, about three months after Obama announced at least $100,000 in grants to St. Sabina programs. In that story, Pfleger said he made those donations personally, not on behalf of the church or to win grants." (end of quote from Chicago Tribune) Looks like these two have been in political bed for a long time, going back to Obama''''s Illinois state senate days (for which records are missing). And by the way, political corruption and the use of taxpayers dollars to build a political base over many years is a crime as well as a "real issue" for those who crave to read about real issues. You should demand your news outlets tell the whole story, not the one you''''d prefer to hear. That''''s the better way to do something for your country. Follow the money. Men behaving badly should not be rewarded.

[dante805]

And you thought Clinton is the fairy teller. Obama wins hands down, everday is a new whopper. Obama the GREAT liar: During the Memorial Day speech in New Mexico, Obama suggested his grandfather, the late Stanley Dunham, engaged in combat. But the Democratic senator''s autobiography says his grandfather never saw "real combat." "My grandfather signed up for a war the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, fought in Patton''s army. He saw the dead and dying across the fields of Europe; he heard the stories of fellow troops who first entered Auschwitz and Treblinka. He fought in the name of a larger freedom, part of that arsenal of democracy that triumphed over evil, and he did not fight in vain." Gramps returned from the war never having seen real combat, and the family moved to California, where he enrolled at Berkeley under the GI bill," he writes.

Army records apparently contradict Obama''s claim his grandfather signed up the day after the Pearl Harbor attack. Obama''s 2002 claim his grandfather enlisted in the Army the day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor is contradicted by Army records showing Dunham signed up June 18, 1942 %u2013 six months after Pearl Harbor. And on the Senile front: First it was the "I visited 57 States" , now he''s seeing dead people. Obama saw "fallen heroes" in the audience. The statement apparently was scrubbed from an official transcript on Obama''s campaign website. LOL. What Sheeple.

[metroduck75]

I would Strongly encourage Hillary to start a New Labor Party.

This Country is SICK of 2-party system. Middle Class Americans need REAL representation.

If anyone has the ability to start a New Labor Party, it would be the Clintons.

I would definitely vote for her if her name is on the Ballot in NOV, or else I will vote for McCain.

Hillary - New Labor Party''08!!!