Nyhan: Little David Axelrods oversimplify tax cut politics

[dennis4868]

These days, everyone's a strategist. The tactics-obsessed media/blog ecosystem has created an army of little David Axelrods who are convinced that they have the (imaginary) solution to President Obama's problems. The second segment of the pre-election episode of This American Life, for instance, consists entirely of writer Jack Hitt blaming the party's problems on poor messaging.

The latest example of this attitude comes from liberals who have faulted President Obama for failing to hold his ground on the Bush tax cuts for families making over $250,000 despite public support for his potition. (Under the agreement reached yesterday, all of Bush's tax cuts will be temporarily extended.) Even the normally sensible Jon Chait gotten worked up about Democrats' failure on this issue.

The issue is that the President's position tends to poll well in national surveys of adults. As a result, most liberals think Obama and the Democrats should have the advantage. However, the political reality is more complicated.

The rest is here....http://www.brendan-nyhan.com/blog/2010/12/little-david-axelrods-oversimplify-tax-cut-politics.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BrendanNyhan+%28Brendan+Nyhan%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

[ladjf]

1. Little David Axelrod is way over his head. What would a "carnival

barker" know about complex economics?