Frank says Obama should have been harder on GOP

[Forkboy]

Forget that whole conciliatory, post-partisan message thing. President Obama’s problem is that he’s not partisan enough.

Or so says US Representative Barney Frank, who, rallying supporters recently in Provincetown, said the problem with the Democrats’ reelection message — that things could have been worse — can be traced back to the flawed messaging of the Obama administration.

Frank said Obama made a critical mistake when he took office in January 2009 by being too nice to Republicans and failing to tell the public just how bad things were following the presidency of George W. Bush. That has left Frank and other Democrats vulnerable to Republican attacks that they are to blame for problems facing the nation — from the intractable war in Afghanistan to the economic collapse at home — when the roots of those crises were planted during the Bush administration, Frank said.

“The president was not partisan enough; he did not put the blame where it lay, and so we’re in a tough fight now,’’ he told roughly 70 attendees at a fund-raiser.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/08/15/frank_says_obama_should_have_been_harder_on_gop/

[ThatPoetGuy]

1. Give the man a cigar. nt

[nashville_brook]

2. we gave him a gigantic mandate b/c we agreed w/his campaign rhetoric (it's the system stupid).

and by "we" i mean lots of people who don't traditionally vote democratic. that one message...that THE SYSTEM is rotten...was what made him different. that was his brand. and he's really pissed it away. it's like if BMW started selling crappy trucks -- they'd piss away their brand, so they don't do that, even tho crappy trucks sell REALLY well in the US.

[Enthusiast]

20. Contrast that with Bush claiming he

had a mandate when he didn't even win the fucking election.

[PinkFloyd]

3. Frank was dead-on right about it

The really sad part is it looks like they're coming back. Nearly every poll predicts really strong GOP gains this fall. That means we're going right back to the policies of Bush, regardless of what they say. I wish we elected Frank or Hillary instead of Obama...someone who understands it's impossible to be friends with them.

[indepat]

15. Is not all this tantamount to cutting one's own political throat to watch it bleed?

:shrug:

[metapunditedgy]

36. For a while, the talking point response to Obama's rightward drift has been to blame Congress.

"Obama is unable to be a liberal because Congress won't let him," we are told.

Now some people in Congress are unhappy with that... huh.

[indepat]

43. Like any president, by his appointments and his works he shall be known

:)

[AikidoSoul]

39. The Clintons are close friends with the Bush family

so much for "impossible to be friends".

[fogonthelake]

40. yes, he is right. We got off to a very weak start. But the Dems in the Senate

are part of the blame. They went along with lots of the bipartisanship crap.

I give Pelosi a lot of credit. They got lots of stuff for the middle class passed but then the Senate holed much of it up.

[metapunditedgy]

45. And Obama fought the Senate tooth and nail... oh, wait, that was Obama with his arm

around Max Baucus, wasn't it?

[DirkGently]

4. Yep. People are angry. " Looking forward suggests no one was

At fault, which the door open for the current snowjob being sold that it's Democrats' fault.

[robinlynne]

25. yes. and so many people spoke about the importance of punishing the previous administration

for their many crimes. That's why I voted for Edwards. I didn't agree with Obama's campaign statements that everyone gets a seat at the table. It scared me that he declared himself "friends' across the aisle with war criminals.

[Canuckistanian]

5. Looks like we have a ringer

For the "No shit, Sherlock" Awards.

I agree with Frank completely that the problem is one of "messaging". In other words, framing.

President Obama has been a disaster at framing almost anything, from HCR to Gibbs to Shirley Sherrod.

And it's no wonder he's now losing Independents.

[Ramulux]

6. Frank nails it

It amazes me that Obama and other democrats dont get this.

[kentuck]

7. Not just Obama, but all Democrats should have been saying this...

And they should be saying it now.

[old mark]

8. Barney Frank for President 2016!!!!!!nt

[blm]

9. we ended up with the Clinton2 we THOUGHT we had prevented....so...what DOES happen

when these guys get into the WH?

Do the Bushes EVER get held accountable? Do they ever really give up power completely? Do the fascists have their agenda SO institutionalized that it will never matter who is n the actual WH?

[sendero]

10. Everybody but Obama...

.... knows that.

[vi5]

11. Yes, naivete is the charitable explanation.....

..so yes, let's just go with naivete because the other explanation is far too troubling to consider.

[tomp]

16. no, let's consider this is a well thought out plan....

....because it is.

obama gets no pass from me. this is more typical democratic party bullshit
that's gone on for the last century: bait and switch, bones and crumbs, feed the rich.

[steve2470]

12. k&r nt

[theophilus]

13. Frank certainly appears to be correct. This totally confuses me and

really makes me sick. We hoped Obama would give Dems power for a generation. Now it looks like it will go right back to the folks who will put the final nails in the American coffin. Imo.

[tomp]

17. obama is part of that plan.

do you really think obama is that naive?

the democratic party will always only give you what they can get away with. excusing obama is saying thank you for bones and crumbs.

[Stinky The Clown]

14. He is absolutely correct

[pleah]

18. No shit!

:eyes:

[Doctor_J]

19. Duh

history will show that his appeasement was the final nail in the coffin of the American Experiment. He had a chance to take the country (people) back from the disciples of Gingrinch and Beck. Instead he chose to serve them instead of those of us who elected him. A disaster.

[nightrain]

21. yeah, unless these conciliatory/appeasment behaviors are what Obama wants

and who he is.... Perhaps he's actually showing himself to us.


"One Must Remember That Obama's Rhetoric And Action Are Disjoint
The Rhetoric is alive with hope and change.
The Action is replete with reconciliation and appeasement.
It is as if the man is at war with himself.
How can one so conflicted be expected to stand firm and act?"--by a wise DUer

[LWolf]

22. He's sure not earning any appreciation from those of us who

aren't republicans or republican-like democrats.

[Blue Owl]

23. Why be nice to the fuckers who gang raped us the last 8 years?

Hey there's a topic for the shitstream media windbags to ponder.

[greeneyedboy]

24. continuing the corporate good cop/bad cop routine between the two parties n/t

[valerief]

26. From the "Duh, why do you think we didn't already know this?" files.

It's like the abusive spouse who abuses and then asks for forgiveness, over and over. Political teams do whatever they want and spin it later like, "Gee, I think that was the wrong course." And we're supposed to say, "That's okay. We know you didn't REALLY mean to do it in the first place."

[pgodbold]

27. We Have A Winner!! Barny Frank gets a clue!! No matter, Obama won't listen. nt

[awnobles]

28. So True

Without the antiseptic of day light, the infection persists.

[flamingdem]

29. Nuthin like 20/20 hindsight nt

[Electric Monk]

30. I agree wholeheartedly. I don't know what else to say. nt

[me b zola]

31. K&R

[MannyGoldstein]

32. Meh. Professional left.

Should be grateful for Obama's now-successful fight for gay marriage.

[GOTV]

33. Captian Obvious Attacks!

Bam! Pow! Smack!

[Bluenorthwest]

34. Barney nails it

And it seemed obvious to me that blame would fly, and that if you seem to deflect that blame from the guilty, you are accepting it for yourself. The ONLY time to do that is if you know you can make nearly instant corrections of all the problems, not when you have years ahead of whining about what a mess things are. He told us to turn the page! What a nutty thing to say.

[laughingliberal]

35. It's been frustrating to watch. The American people overwhelmingly threw those leeches out of office

President Obama's willingness to engage them and fight for 'bipartisanship,' has single handedly revived their corpse as we were trying to let it rot.

[grahamhgreen]

37. Duh,f-ing duh, can we jail some banksters now, Barney? nt

[SILVER__FOX52]

38. I wonder if Barney told him that............

I certainly hope so. For such a " smart " guy, he sure blew his Presidency, out of his ass. I'm not even sure if he can save it, now ? It doesn't even look like he is trying. Obama is GD, mystery !

[Jim Sagle]

41. He's no mystery, he's a bankster in training.

1 term is better than 2 because he gets paid 4 years sooner.

[impik]

42. Frank too needs to hang on only two more years

And just like the entire DUs, will get a much better president in 2012.

[amborin]

44. K&R huge understatement by Frank

[Barack2theFuture]

46. Then again, there exists the troubling possibility

that he IS partisan, he's just not on the side some think he is.

I'm not saying; I'm just pointing out a conceptual possibility . . .