show his highly partisan POV... The lack of political "Wise Men" is a blind spot that has harmed and will harm Obama in tough times to come... In short Obama's post-partisan mindset was from Chicago, where post partisanship means 1 party politics that demands "my way or the hiway"...
http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/03/barack-obama-white-house-staff-opinions-columnists-dan-gerstein.html >>> What's missing from this group, besides diversity of experience and >>> interests, is a senior adviser or two with an independent point of view who >>> could carry Obama's post-partisan portfolio. Someone who would wake up >>> every day thinking about how to form broad-based coalitions, to deepen the >>> confidence and trust of independents and non-rabid Republicans in >>> government, and push Obama to honor his promise to change politics-as-usual >>> in Washington. Or at minimum, someone not ingrained or trained to think >>> that the Republicans are the enemy. >From what I can tell, this void has left the Obama White House with a blind spot that has hurt the president and his agenda. Start with staffing decisions. The head of legislative affairs, Phil Schiliro, has a deep knowledge of the Hill and is widely respected among his peers. But he is a protégé of the hyper-partisan and far left-wing House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman. No one in his right (or center) mind would ever pick someone with Schiliro's profile to be the president's lead Hill liaison if his goal were to build better relations with the minority, break the partisan gridlock or offset House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's many political liabilities. To the contrary, this hack-stacked White House too often falls prey to the us vs. them mentality of campaigns, which has lowered the president's stature. Look at the so-called war on Fox. Regardless of whether you think Fox is biased or in cahoots with the Republicans, how does it serve the president's interests (let alone the country's) for his White House to be seen to be purposely picking a partisan fight with a news network that is widely watched by voters who help decide elections? I am all for holding Fox accountable (disclosure: I appear frequently on its air), but that task should be left to the DNC or other political allies. The fact that the White House, led by Dunn, couldn't see that distinction is telling--and troubling. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
