Obama calls for offshore drilling and GOP...

[Green_Lantern]

still complains and says it doesn't go far enough. GOPs new platform is either off the map far right or just rejecting anything Obama does.

[katandmoon]

1. But that won't stop him from continuing to court them.

[joeybee12]

2. +1

[polichick]

4. No kidding - learning from the past isn't his strong suit. nt

[NJmaverick]

7. because his goal is not just win them over but to gain the moral high grand

and expose those that refuse to work with him as extremists.

[katandmoon]

8. It's really time for a new meme.

[NJmaverick]

9. Yeah your "he's foolishly trying to court the opposition" has been PROVEN wrong

[katandmoon]

11. The fuck it has. It's the only way he operates.

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. There's no pleasing those bastards, why even try?

[NJmaverick]

6. Because the majority of voters pay attention to the position staked out by both sides

and tends to vote for the one with the moderate sensible position.

[NJmaverick]

5. Yup, the exposure is no accident

Obama stakes out the sensible middle and forces the GOP to settle for the lunatic fringe

[Uncle Joe]

10. But if the GOP are the lunatic fringe and Obama still tries to court them, his political

position become conservative as opposed to the middle.

The only thing forcing the Republicans to stake out the lunatic fringe is the knowledge, that by doing so, they can persuade, influence or force the President to the conservative side.

IE; A national Republican proposed and state level passed HCR program gets passed without a single Republican vote. Universal single payer coverage is never seriously debated and a strong national public option is just given lip service for public consumption.

Thus by continually trying to meet their demands, he enables them to retain their strategy.

If he seriously opposed them on a firm high moral ground, the power of their radicals would begin to dissipate as the moderates if there are any, would be forced to choose sides between logic, reason and morality or insane hatred, and the political center would move leftward for the first time in decades.