NYT: "Obama has described himself, at times, as essentially a Blue Dog Democrat"

[Psephos]

Here's the article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/01/us/politics/01bai.html

Here's the paragraph:

The body of Mr. Obama’s writing and experiences before he became a presidential candidate would suggest that he is instinctively pragmatic, typical of an emerging generation that sees all political dogma — be it ’60s liberalism or ’80s conservatism — as anachronistic. Privately, Mr. Obama has described himself, at times, as essentially a Blue Dog Democrat, referring to the shrinking caucus of fiscally conservative members of the party.

There are a few other gems in there, as well.

[ProSense]

1. What garbage:

Sounds like someone is trying to spin outrage.

The body of Mr. Obama’s writing and experiences before he became a presidential candidate would suggest that he is instinctively pragmatic, typical of an emerging generation that sees all political dogma — be it ’60s liberalism or ’80s conservatism — as anachronistic. Privately, Mr. Obama has described himself, at times, as essentially a Blue Dog Democrat, referring to the shrinking caucus of fiscally conservative members of the party.

In a 2005 blog post that may be as valuable as either of his books in identifying the inner president, then-Senator Obama castigated his own party’s ideological activists for their attacks on Democratic senators who had voted to confirm John G. Roberts Jr. as chief justice. “To the degree that we brook no dissent within the Democratic Party, and demand fealty to the one, ‘true’ progressive vision for our country, we risk the very thoughtfulness and openness to new ideas that are required to move this country forward,” Mr. Obama, who voted against confirming Chief Justice Roberts, wrote then.

The person Barack Obama defended, and in a Daily Kos post, was Russ Feingold, who was being relentlessly attacked for that vote.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ProSense]

5. What? n/t

[andym]

2. One thing is that one can be fiscally conservative and a true liberal

One of the best examples was the late Senator Paul Simon of Illinois.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Simon_%28politician%29

"An avowed social liberal, Simon spent his career denouncing racism, supporting women's rights, and encouraging equality for racial and ethnic minorities. He was a fiscal conservative who described himself as "a pay-as-you-go Democrat." As a senator, he overhauled the college student loan program to allow students and their families to borrow directly from the federal government, thus saving money by not using private banks to disburse the loans."

To him, fiscal conservatism meant taking student loans away from the banks and letting the federal government handle them, because it saved money (cut out the middleman-- the profit making financial industry. This is at the heart of liberalism, increasing equality of opportunity, using the federal government as an agent to be more efficient, and disallowing corporate greed where appropriate.

[EC]

7. Simon mentored Obama

his endorsement was what made me pay attention to Obama back when he was starting out...


On edit: Axelrod and Rahm worked Simon's campaign also...

[CakeGrrl]

3. "Essentially". Translation: SPECULATION by the author

But don't be surprised at breathless posts asking to have it confirmed that Obama referred to himself literally as a "Blue Dog" so we can have another round of fresh outrage.

[Radical Activist]

6. I'm sure the New York Times wishes that were true.

This is how they campaign for what they want.

[jeanpalmer]

8. You gotta at least give him credit

for being honest.

[vaberella]

9. Yes...more conjecture and rumors I'm supposed to believe.

I think people are selling junk because they want to believe it.

[dreamnightwind]

10. How about the "New Democrat" remark?

Does anyone know where I can find this? Not sure I have the story exactly right. Didn't Obama, in a meeting with fundraisers or funders, refer to himself as a New Democrat? I'd like to see the actual source of that remark.

New Democrat is kinda like Third Way, or DLC, correct?

[harun]

11. Yah, neo-liberal economics but not as Conservative as Blue Dogs.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/19862.html

[dreamnightwind]

22. Thank you!

I don't think I had ever actually seen that Politico story, that fills in some missing pieces for me.

From that story written on 3/10/2009:

"“I am a New Democrat,” he told the New Democrat Coalition, according to two sources at the White House session.

The group is comprised of centrist Democratic members of the House, who support free trade and a muscular foreign policy but are more moderate than the conservative Blue Dog Coalition.

Obama made his comment in discussing his budget priorities and broader goals, also calling himself a “pro-growth Democrat” during the course of conversation."

...

"There is no New Democrat coalition in the Senate, so Obama had no previous affiliation to the group. His chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, was a member of the centrist group during his time in the House, though."

[catgirl]

13. He has described himself as a progressive n/t

[displacedvermoter]

17. I think he is dreamy!

[Recursion]

14. The NDN is people like the Clintons, John Kerry, etc.

IIRC Obama was not actually a member of that caucus (there's one in the Senate and one in the House).

The two get conflated here on DU, but in fact there's only one person who is in both the Blue Dog Coalition and the New Democrat Coalition: Jane Harman.

[catgirl]

12. So the writer is a liar

Did Obama describe himself as a Bluedog? NO. He has described himself as a progressive though. This writer should
be other work (or go work for Fox News). He's a bad journalist.

[WI_DEM]

15. Privately? Where does the author of the article get that from? unsourced material

and of course the haters on DU pick up on it.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

16. Aside from the useless speculation which serves no purpose other than fueling additional outrage

President Obama simply does not have any simple and easily defined "in-the-box" political ideology or leanings. Based on outside observations, he appears to be a "centrist", possibly left of center in his overall ideology, but I'm just not sure he views politics and political battles in the same sort of way that the rest of us are conditioned to view them. I personally don't view President Obama as a "Blue Dog" like Evan Bayh and, I believe, Bill Clinton really are but rather as more of a "pragmatist". I also believe that when he talks about wanting to be "bipartisan", that there are no "red states" nor "blue states" and how he wants to at least try to and represent ALL Americans, he really does seem to mean it. These are all things that he's told us before, during, and after the election, so it continues to surprise me that some people think that he was going to be coming into office as an essentially progressive version of George W. Bush ready to knock some Republican heads around. It really is a rather different way of governing and, well, if we don't like it (and I gather that most of us actually don't) I guess we'll either have to find a more partisan progressive candidate to primary President Obama in 2012 or simply refuse to work/vote for him in 2012 and accept the outcome whatever that may be. :shrug:

[polichick]

18. 'splains a lot. nt

[robcon]

19. I don't think he's a blue dog at all.

n/t

[young but wise]

20. Where is the quote of him saying this?

[RandomKoolzip]

21. I love how, when modern American politicians say, "It's time to get past anachronistic labels...

I'm REALLY neither a liberal OR a conservative," it almost always means, "I'm actually just a conservative. Hee hee hee. Gotcha!"