The idea that the fix was in started to take shape when I started seeing “Obama as Reagan”
While Reagan’s name was mostly uttered on the republican side – their first debate was at his Library, it was more significantly used in the Democratic election.
I believe it was part of the original deal made with the media.
It was initiated by Obama and carried on enthusiastically by the teflon makers
To my surprise, I just discovered the process started way before the primaries, when Obama was a virtual unknown.
Politico wasn’t too subtle when trumpeting the campaign talking points back in July 2007
Obama models campaign on Reagan revolt
here’s what the campaign wanted them to write:
“Now, it is blasphemy for Democrats,” Obama pollster Cornell Belcher said of Reagan, “but that hope and optimism that was Ronald Reagan” allowed him to “transcend” ideological divisions within his own party and the general electorate.
Primaries ongoing, in February E J Dionne was writing
Barack Obama‘s critics bear a remarkable resemblance to the liberals who labored mightily to dismiss Ronald Reagan in 1980.
Like Reagan’s enemies, Obama’s opponents concede that he gives a great speech. Indeed, both Obama and Reagan came to wide attention because of a single oration that offered hope in the midst of a losing campaign — Obama’s 2004 keynote to the Democratic National Convention and Reagan’s 1964 “A Time for Choosing” address delivered on behalf of Barry Goldwater. But surely speeches aren’t enough, are they?
And it goes on lovingly about both.
Once the campaign started, Obama made headlines expressing his admiration for Reagan, dissing Clinton in the process. Those of us actually watching, went the other way. For me this was where the much vaunted similarities between the two ended: one was a Clinton, the other a Reagan wanna-be
Of course, we still were blissfully ignorant that this was a process on its way probably since before we knew he was a candidate.
But I did figure at the time that this was a win-win for the media – erase Clinton from history, establish Reagan some more
Thanks Paul Krugman for keeping the sanity then:
Now progressives have been granted a second chance to argue that Reaganism is fundamentally wrong: once again, the vast majority of Americans think that the country is on the wrong track. But they won’t be able to make that argument if their political leaders, whatever they meant to convey, seem to be saying that Reagan had it right.
And as I decided to write about this based on past readings, but it’s obviously ongoing as here’s today’s catch:
Is Obama the New Reagan?
Obama may already have the political insulation that gave Reagan the moniker of the Teflon president. He has survived questions about his relationship with a fiery minister and his own controversial comments about small-town American life. In overcoming these landmines, Obama may have demonstrated that he is more like Reagan than many would like to admit.
And that’s where the comparison betrays the fix. Some of us know that teflon is not a naturally occurring miracle, but a man made coating. In presidents – it’s media made.
The media tried its best to teflonize W as well (I remember that Reagan’s Son piece in the New York Times), but it wore off before W’s terms were over. So now, they want to make another.
It was the pollsters who advanced this since the General election began, lately Zogby
Zogby said the race mirrors the 1980 election, when voters didn’t embrace Ronald Reagan over then-President Jimmy Carter until just days before the election.
“The Sunday before the election the dam burst,” Zogby said of the 1980 tilt. “That’s when voters determined they were comfortable with Reagan.”
Seems someone is building a narrative – and I wonder who made the voters so comfortable?
They want, as Zogby recommended – to convince the voters the new guy is acceptable (just like they did with Reagan). They want to teflonize the media installed Obama throughout, offering him the “political insulation” (from accountability) they gave Reagan.
I am not sure if voters have any word in this.
What I do know, it was Reagan who started the deregulation that led to today’s economy (and Obama did express admiration for this idea).
What I know is that at times like these, we need an FDR, not a Reagan.
But the media made sure she was out.
18 comments
October 16, 2008 at 6:55 am
JD
You’re absolutely right. The media were enraptured with the Obama narrative.
With all Obama’s controversial actions and ties, not including his unwillingness to provide his state senate files, college files and even his COLB, the media has given him a huge free pass.
With all we know here in the blogosphere about Obama, very little trickles into the MSM. Even then, they dismiss it with Obama’s talking point defenses.
But, you know what? If you start scratching against that teflon coating enough, sooner or later, it reveals what’s underneath.
Let’s hope it’s sooner than later.
October 16, 2008 at 7:54 am
Grail Guardian
Excellent piece, Edge! America needs to understand that this sham has been in the making for years (basically since Carter, and as you discovered Reagan was the start of it).
History will not be kind to our generation when it comes to politics. We’ll be seen as the ones who let down our guard and surrendered to the enemy within.
October 16, 2008 at 8:50 am
pumaalliance
hi edge. You would be more than welcome to cross post your articles on Puma Alliance, I often quote from you anyway… if you want to contact me by leaving a post on the blog.
October 16, 2008 at 8:56 am
edgeoforever
Thanks. I will!
October 16, 2008 at 9:02 am
bostonboomer
What a wonderful post! This is one of the things that frightened me about Obama from the beginning. When I failed to get answers about Obama’s political philosphy from the Cheeto bots, I actually read The Audacity of Hope. In is book, Obama praised Reagan for deregulating and for cutting social programs. That and the McClurkin episode were enough for me to look for another candidate. But the book is Republican in so many other ways, including Obama’s views on abortion.
October 16, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Judy R
The media definitely love Obama like they loved Reagan but for me, I see no other similarity. Reagan could charm me and Obama NEVER can. I haven’t read the Audacity of Hope, however, so maybe the policy thing is more similar than I realize. Interesting premise.
October 16, 2008 at 11:15 pm
angrynana
No, Obama is the new Hitler.
October 27, 2008 at 10:11 am
The civil right of redistributing wealth; whose civil rights? « Not Your Sweetie
[…] 27, 2008 · No Comments Back in January, when he was in his Reaganesque mode, Obama informed us that he wasn’t all that invested in the fights of the 60s and the […]
November 8, 2008 at 9:32 am
Media & Obama - love or shotgun wedding? « Not Your Sweetie
[…] from now on. And Obama’s darkest moment? Having to apologize to Nancy Reagan. After all, he is the rightful heir (like W once was) Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)I support Obama, and his VP, […]
November 22, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Teachers Squirming under the bus « Not Your Sweetie
[…] education as business is not something that is about to phase the free market advocate, the Ronald Reagan admirer that is […]
December 17, 2008 at 8:05 am
I am as humble as Lincoln, maybe humbler” « Not Your Sweetie
[…] being the new JFK, MLK and a lot through the campaign, Reagan’s son, Obama set his sites on Lincoln as his new “who am I going to be today” game continues. […]
January 11, 2009 at 7:37 am
Lincoln-y enough for you? - playing dress-up « Not Your Sweetie
[…] all those however it was the second coming of Reagan which to me was the dead give away last January that the production of teflon was going through the […]
January 26, 2009 at 9:11 am
Sving Liberalism « Not Your Sweetie
[…] To be sure, the column is filled with every demeaning quote he could find on liberalism. But he is trying to show his bone fides by using the Reagan simile yet again. […]
January 26, 2009 at 9:14 am
Saving Liberalism « Not Your Sweetie
[…] To be sure, the column is filled with every demeaning quote he could find on liberalism. But he is trying to show his bone fides by using the Reagan simile yet again. […]
March 23, 2009 at 7:11 am
The Great miscommunicator - now it can be told « Not Your Sweetie
[…] the most damning of all, from Politico who crowned Obama as Reagan, casting McCain as Carter in the […]
August 3, 2009 at 9:01 am
WaPo: Obama is anti-gay marriage, so there! (and we still hate Clinton!) « Not Your Sweetie
[…] of Obama – which, considering that he ran as Reagan’s son and everyone tried to demean Clinton’s legacy ever since, is a step up. And considering the […]
December 16, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Taxes – who didn’t pay them, who will « Not Your Sweetie
[…] It’s not like he didn’t tell us in his campaign whom he really admired […]
April 30, 2010 at 4:46 pm
Obama scolds the SCOTUS retards « Not Your Sweetie
[…] a sign that elections are coming, Obama is doning the “postpartisan” cloak again, using the Reagan lexicon about the excesses of the 60s and […]