Why the Right Hates Obama: He's a Liberal!

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Fri Sep-11-09 02:21 PM
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Why the Right Hates Obama: He's a Liberal!

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/09/11/why-the-right-hates-obama-hes-a-liberal/

Why the Right Hates Obama: He's a Liberal!
09/11/09
David Corn

I believe I may have an insight into why so many conservatives crazy-hate Barack Obama: He's a liberal. A true liberal. An unabashed liberal. Yes, there's a liberal in the White House -- and most Americans aren't disgusted by that. In fact, most approve of him. (His approval rating is on par with that of Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan eight months into their presidencies.) Worse, he's a liberal with an ambitious liberal agenda. And even worse, he might just succeed in enacting it.

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Obama read from a letter Kennedy had written him after he learned he would soon die. The dying senator had told the president that health care reform is "that great unfinished business of our society" and that it "is above all a moral issue." Kennedy added: "at stake are not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social justice and the character of our country."

This kind of talk tends to drive conservatives crazy. And Obama went on not only to praise Kennedy's decades-long effort to achieve health care reform but to celebrate the whole wide stretch of what can be termed Kennedy liberalism. He did so knowing that this entire notion of Kennedy liberalism ticks off plenty of folks:

For some of Ted Kennedy's critics, his brand of liberalism represented an affront to American liberty. In their mind, his passion for universal health care was nothing more than a passion for big government.

But Obama said that was wrong, explaining that Kennedy's passion was born not of some rigid ideology, but of his own experience. It was the experience of having two children stricken with cancer. He never forgot the sheer terror and helplessness that any parent feels when a child is badly sick; and he was able to imagine what it must be like for those without insurance; what it would be like to have to say to a wife or a child or an aging parent -- there is something that could make you better, but I just can't afford it.

This led to an eloquent summation of Kennedy's view that also was one big bear hug of liberalism:

That large-heartedness -- that concern and regard for the plight of others -- is not a partisan feeling. It is not a Republican or a Democratic feeling. It, too, is part of the American character. Our ability to stand in other people's shoes. A recognition that we are all in this together; that when fortune turns against one of us, others are there to lend a helping hand. A belief that in this country, hard work and responsibility should be rewarded by some measure of security and fair play; and an acknowledgment that sometimes government has to step in to help deliver on that promise.

Obama was saying that liberalism is as American as apple pie, that it does represent the fundamental values of the nation. And he was doing so while pitching his health care reform initiative as a non-ideological act of pragmatism. That is, Obama successfully used the arch-enemy of the right to sell a big government initiative that he was promoting as a common-sense solution to the troubles of the nation's health care system. Insta-polls indicated people who watched the speech became more supportive of Obama's health care plan.

It must painfully frustrate right-wingers to watch Obama pull this off. It must drive them nuts -- the way that Ronald Reagan aggravated liberals with his ability to drape hard-right views with folksy popular appeal. While trying to win over independents and moderates on Wednesday night, Obama offered up a full endorsement of liberalism. And it worked. No wonder conservatives can't stand the guy.