We have a running gag in our household in which I attribute events that are clearly out of the control of anyone in this country (e.g., natural disasters, market corrections in China) to a lack of leadership from President Obama. The point, of course, is that the GOP and the MSM blame him for all sorts of things over which he has little or no influence; the difference is just a matter of degree.
In light of that, it is only fitting that Ross Douthat puts a portion of the blame for Donald Trump on–you guessed it–President Obama.
Here is his deconstructed argument, and my response:
1. The messianic elements of Obama’s 2008 campaign were a foretaste of Trump’s tactics. Yes, some of the 2008 campaign imagery was overblown, but Obama ran a conventional race, well within the Democratic mainstream, as an experienced politician offering specific solutions to policy problems. The overriding theme of the campaign was to bring the country together. Trump is running as a celebrity with no answers to problems (some of which, such as immigration, are imaginary) other than faith in the vastness of his will and dealmaking talents; in addition, he is deliberately dividing his own party, to say nothing of the country as a whole. I don’t see much convergence here.
2. Obama has driven the Democratic Party to the left, particularly on cultural and social issues. That simply isn’t true. Obama was a passenger on the gay rights train, not its conductor. As to his positions on crime, race relations, energy, health care, guns, and so on, they are squarely in the middle of the Democratic Party. No Democratic Party candidate for President in either the 2008 or the 2016 election could have deviated from them and prevailed. Please also note that in places like Kentucky and West Virginia, McCain outpolled Bush; that was before Obama did anything in office.
3. Take our reactionary crazies–please! Ross appears to believe that the interests of the country were better served when the Democrats were more of a class-based party than a coalition of victims. As it turns out, there is a candidate who agrees with him, and thinks issues like guns and race are just symptoms of the real problems in this country. He just lost South Carolina by 50 points.
Is Ross really feeling the Bern?