I found this political cartoon that is not only relevant to what is going on now in our economy, but is also something we learned about in class. Clinton's '92 campaign strategist first said "it's the economy stupid!" In fact, not only did he say it, he made it the main point of their campaign that essentially led Clinton to the presidency. It represented what was really important to the people of the United States. I think the carton is referring to the fact that with all of this health care business Obama has lost track of what it is the people are most concerned about. Maybe he could learn from Clinton's campaign and the famous words of James Carville before the midterm elections.
3 comments:
I agree, I think this is a very thought-provoking cartoon. I think that, mired in what has become the incredibly partisan and selfish (on both aisles, as well as state-to-state) conflict of health care, politicians have lost sight of what people really want. I read about the final push for health care in Congress this week, and how many are staking how Democrats fare in this year's elections on what happens, and am disheartened about American politics. The push for health care reform may have started out with the best intentions, but now it's just a struggle to save some face, IMO.
"...politicians have lost sight of what people really want."
While it may be true that the best thing Democrats can do politically right now is to pass the bill already, we shouldn't lose sight of the tremendous amount of good this will do for a lot of Americans.
Plus, if you really look at the polling, while healthcare reform as a whole may be slightly unpopular, when you really tell people whats in the bill, it actually is popular. Thats because the American public's perception of the bill is "a 50,000 page monster the evil Democrats are trying to shove down your throat." Also "an evil socialist communist Nazi fascist plot to kill grandma." (thank you Sarah Palin)
I will honestly be glad to see health care reform over, so that the Democrats can pivot their message to jobs. Not that there hasn't been a strong focus on jobs in Washington. The Senate is expected to pass the first in a series of jobs bill with a bipartisan vote later this week.
I completely agree with Ari. While health care is something that needs to be addressed, passing a mediocre bill in order to claim success is disgraceful. Furthermore, the reason behind it is just as bad. You should not need 60 votes in the senate to pass legislation.
At the same time, I do not think it fair to criticize the Obama administration for their efforts regarding the economy. I feel like this is simply advancing the false assumption that the presidency is responsible for all government action. The power of the presidency in altering the economy is very limited. Obama put a lot of pressure on congress to pass the bank bailout and stimulus bill. It is now in the hands of congress to use the money well.
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