Governing styles of two Democratic Presidents: Obama vs LBJ

[truedelphi]

In terms of Obama's Presidency, by spring of 2009, we see the first of the most important Kabuki Theater strategies go in effect: we see Baucus handed the assignment of shepherding the Health Care "Reform" bill through his committee. Ah, what nicely played Kabuki Theater that was.

From its very first days, this Administration has done little but Kabuki theater. This administration allowed Congress to be willynilly scared of filibuster. Arcane procedures involving cloture popped up so that everything had to be a sixty vote plurality rather than a simple 51 vote majority.

The notion of "Vote Count" rather than Negotiation was the normal, every day operating situation.

If this is how the impeachment of Nixon had proceeded, the assembled members of the House of Representatives would have been told on day two to go home - as the Republicans and Democrats who favored Nixon were truly in the majority.

But in all historic and transformative activities, Vote Counting is not something used as the end game, but rather as a road map of who needs to be persuaded on what and how. LBJ had to worry over 23 Democrats in the Senate going against his Civil Rights Act. Did that stop him? Did his initial vote count paralyze him?

No, it did not.

Those may have been different times. But in my view, that is a chicken and egg type of question. Were our elected officials leaders acting for the collective good back in the day because the times were different - or were the times different because our elected leaders functioned as skilled negotiators who were willing to strategize for a winning outcome?

And so examining the Adminsitrations of FDR and LBJ, in both of those two Administrations, with regards to legislation, they proceeded along the path of skilled negotiation. And they were not above using skilled manipulation of opposing persons, for the benefit of the Average Citizens of the United States.

LBJ knew how to get on the Bully Pulpit and persuade Americans to call their Representatives and their Senators. He knew how to arm twist those in Congress who were against voting for His Civil Rights Act, and when appropriate to his cause, he knew how to mention the skeletons in Congress critters' closets.

Now Obama knows how to do this also. He demonstrated this ability to all of us on the evening that he invited Dennis Kucinich to come for a ride aboard Air Force One.

Kucinich entered Air Force One solidly determined to vote Against the Shoddy Health Care "Reform" bill. And he left the confines of Air Force One, agreeing to vote for it, without being offered any concessions. Was he blackmailed by a skeleton in his closet? Or was he coerced by being told, "Do this or a very conservative, Wall Street Friendly Representative will take over your position on the House Oversight Committee. And Rahm will see to it that you will never hold office again."

The only problem is that in this instance of "negotiation" and arm twisting, President Obama was not acting for the average citizen of this nation, but for the Big Time Insurance Players, who will contribute so much to his campaign.

[bigtree]

1. ever listen to the tapes where Johnson is flirting with Katherine Graham of the Washington Post

. . . manipulating her into printing things that advantage his politics?

Or, hear him making the decision to appoint Carl Rowan, 'one of the good nigras'?

Lots to reject about his approach.

[truedelphi]

4. I am sure there is much to reject about his approach,

But if you were a black living anywhere in the segregated "United States of America" I imagine you didn't get your panties in a knot over his flirting with K Graham. (I mean, who in power didn't flirt with K Graham? Or Clare Booth Luce, for that matter?)

You were just too pleased to see the Civil Right Act come about.

[bigtree]

5. no. it was an outrageous collaboration

. . . between the POTUS and the head of one of the country's major newspapers. It wasn't just a flirtation. There was much that was corrupt and anti-democratic about Johnson's approach. I don't agree with the romanticizing about all of that.

[RandomThoughts]

2. Would someone vote for some advantage to the top few just to stay in office?

That does not seem like the correct motivator.

As far as smear goes, anyone can be smeared, that is the problem that moves some control to smearers.



Who knows, although it shows something is wrong and things need to be shown for what they are in perspective, not for smear.

[truedelphi]

3. An honor to have you weigh in on the topic. n/t

[Kaleva]

6. In the end, the left hated and despised LBJ.

[truedelphi]

7. Therer wasn't that much hatred. There were postivie places to put your

Frustration, like supporting Martin Luther King Jr or Bobby Kennedy or Eugene McCarthy.

And once Nixon got in, few lefties remembered how much antagonism they felt towards LBJ.

[Kaleva]

8. I beg to differ

"Asked to explain why he was unpopular......He also blamed "the preachers, liberals and professors" who had turned against him."

"College students and others protested, burned draft cards, and chanted, "Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?"<64> Johnson could scarcely travel anywhere without facing protests, and was not allowed by the Secret Service to attend the 1968 Democratic National Convention, where hundreds of thousands of hippies, yippies, Black Panthers and other opponents of Johnson's policies both in Vietnam and in the ghettoes converged to protest."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyndon_B._Johnson

[truedelphi]

9. Okay, but where in my OP do I say that LBJ was the most wonderful human being that ever lived?

My OP was an attempt to examine how two other democratic leaders, especially LBJ (as he was the more recent) used negotiating skills to move their agenda forward.

I was attempting to bring to the fore the notion that in the not so distant past we had people in the office of the presidency that could negotiate. And who could use their political skills to bring about an advancement of the society that they lived in.

LBJ was not the most popular of all Presidents in my lifetime. On that score, I would say Bill Clinton was, and you see that as when on really bad days, even while being impeached, he still was asked by Republican members of Congress to pose with them for autographed photos. (My personal favorite would be Carter.) But Bill Clinton constantly gave up on issues that the Republicans made some noise over. So I wouldn't say he is some guru of negotiation.

Obama probably does have negotiating skills, but like my OP details, so far we have only see those skills used against the progressives, and rarely against Republicans.

[Kaleva]

10. In actuality, LBJ negotiated with Republicans

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 wouldn't have passed unless LBJ was able to convince a number of Senate Republicans to support the bill. LBJ negotiated with Republicans to garner enough votes to override opposition to his agenda that came from his own party. Had all Dems in Congress supported LBJ's agenda, he wouldn't have needed to negotiate.