Obama seeks the center, to the point of invoking Jeb Bush

[Lasher]

Source: USA Today

President Obama continued his efforts to move to the political center on his trip to Florida -- to the point of invoking Republican Jeb Bush's name at a Democratic fundraiser, drawing catcalls in the process.

"No, no, no, no, now," Obama said Friday night, drawing laughter from the crowd at the Fontainebleau Resort in Miami. "I know this is not a name you often hear at Florida Democratic fundraisers."

Obama said that he and former Florida governor Bush -- and brother of predecessor George W. Bush -- disagree on many things, but do agree "on the importance of education to America and the need to reform our schools."

Read more: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/03/obama-seeks-the-center-to-the-point-of-invoking-jeb-bush/1

---

Praising Jeb Bush at a Democratic fundraiser. He deserved the catcalls.

[Blasphemer]

1. Sorry, invoking Bush is not moving to the center

That is moving from right of center to the hard right. Let's be real here. Jeb Bush is no moderate. Sure, there are good things to be said about some truly moderate republicans but Jeb Bush? No.

[dotymed]

4. Ever notice

that what used to be the "center" is now about 100 degrees to the right of the pre-reagan "center?"
How can a person who claims to a Democrat, capitulate to this "new" formulation?
Fascism is entrenched in America. When "W" was in office, I thought Fascism was coming (fast).
Now, I realize that it has been coming since the 70's and is now entrenched.
The "rule of law" that was once an American tradition (always some exceptions for the wealthy), is totally gone for all but the wealthy and politicians. The only way to change this is to adopt the tactics of Revolutionaries, peacefully but without compromise.
The current polling of Americans (post WI beginning) reflect a great change in the thinking of Americans of all political parties. They are realizing, despite the propaganda, that our country has become for and by the wealthy, IMO.

[frylock]

29. that's why i have to laugh at the self-identified liberal and progressives around here sometimes..

these so-called liberals are actually centrists at best, and most usually center-right authoritarian types.

[whatchamacallit]

33. Throngs of them now n/t

[Leopolds Ghost]

43. Google "Overton Window theory". Many liberals seem to have FORGOTTEN how to play the game.

If you want to know what's going on. I first read about Overton here on DU, by the way. Back then, there was no website and no book about the subject, just an article in the Washington Monthly (or some blog) by a former protege of Overton.

[QC]

2. At this point, the president will have to haul ass leftward in order to hit the center.

When it comes to ed policy, at least, he has gone well beyond the middle and is now seated comfortably on the right.

Not even George W. mounted such a sustained and intense campaign against public schools and teachers as Obama has.

[Poboy]

12. Its been going on since he lied his way into office!

[QC]

14. The Great Rightward Lurch began as soon as the nomination was safely locked up.

It was great fun watching people here carefully calibrating their own positions to match the president's own daily lunges rightward. It was like a precision drill team competition.

[dotymed]

58. We are half-way through 2011.

We have a sitting President, a "Democrat", that is so far to the right as to be accurately labeled a corporatist (at least). The rethugs will field another insane alternative. The American people currently will not consider (the majority) any third party candidate.
So we have allowed another 4 years to slip by, with the majority of Americans being crushed, and we have no alternative for 2012.

Our ONLY alternative is to emulate the citizens of WI. and Egypt. Even this will take much more organization and consensus than we have even begun.
Immediately, we must organize, prioritize and draft (if necessary, I think it is) a leader.
We must have a clear agenda, not just one complaint, but a list that covers the grievances of the Majority of Americans.
Again, it is slipping by us. At this rate, "they" must be pretty comfortable with only a few minor annoyances to cover, like WI......

Please, lets quickly take to the streets. Not to overthrow our government to fix it. If we must do it this way , we can. Having an agreed list of grievances first would (IMO) been better.
People before profits, (again IMO) covers most of it. The details are very important though.

[datasuspect]

3. dang, i want my vote back

my kinfolks and me don't hold no truck with the bush klan.

[tekisui]

5. But, but, but....its BRILLIANT! He is taking the playing field from

the most dangerous....ah fuck it. What a loss for the Democratic Party. Such potential from 2008 squandered.

[earthside]

6. Obama-Bush 2012?

There was a post somewhere on DU yesterday trying to explain that this was Bush wanting to be with Obama, that this was good politics for Obama ... the usual explanations that whatever Obama does it is all for the best.

But the AP wire report in my Denver Post this morning tells how the nation is going to hear about this event:

Obama turns to Jeb Bush to help in education push

MIAMI — Joining forces with the Bush family, President Barack Obama on Friday tried to lift up his education agenda in politically vital Florida, saying his government is determined to help the nation's worst-performing schools rebound. Obama said: "I am not willing to give up on any school in America."

Obama's stop at an improving high school offered the bipartisan imagery he intended: the president on stage and in step with Jeb Bush, the popular former governor of Florida. ...

Really, it makes one wonder, if picking Jebby for his VP in 2012 would help him win over the teabaggers, would Obama make that change? It would be an audacious pick, wouldn't it?

Frankly, this makes me want to puke.

:puke:

[dotymed]

59. Man, that would give him the funding,

propaganda machine and CIA resources that would make him unstoppable and very wealthy. Of course, we would be fucked even worse,,,,


:patriot: too bad this flag isn't upside down, to show the emergency we are in...

[YellowRubberDuckie]

7. I'm of the opinion that elected officials should all work together.

While I agree Obama shouldn't be praising any Bushes, except maybe the band, I want my elected officials, whether I voted for them or not, working together for the good of the whole. But that's just my pesky common sense and logic talking.
If this can get both sides talking together about education and what is best for our kids, why would we criticize? If we don't work together, out kids are going to be the ones suffering, and they already suffer enough. We need another Ted Kennedy, someone who could reach across the aisle and make shit happen. While Obama is not that person, bully for him for trying!
Duckie

[Lasher]

13. I agree, they all should work together but that is not what's going on.

Both sides are not talking together about education and what is best for our kids. Obama, Jeb, et al. are talking about privatizing our schools, at the expense of our public school system. They are doing this to promote neoliberal ideology. That is not good for the kids, the teachers, or the nation as a whole.

[Johonny]

15. I agree, working together doesn't mean doing what is only in the othersides interest

and getting nothing you want. For profit education only sucks. I have no interest in it. I have no middle ground on this issue.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

23. Ah.

[EFerrari]

22. Unfortunately, you can't work with the mob, you only get worked over.

[SHRED]

8. The only way Obama "moves to the center"...

...is if he turns Left.


---

[Octafish]

9. Bushes have been making presidential news since November 22, 1963.

[apocalypsehow]

50. Since it is beyond reasonable dispute that Lee Harvey Oswald, acting alone, assassinated JFK, your

post and the document it purports to replicate is both irrelevant and superfluous.

[Octafish]

54. Do you have a source for that, apocalypsehow?

Your contention is contradicted by the facts, as demonstrated by investigators that include John M. Newman in 1999, and many, many others since. Or will you reveal it at Waikiki?

[apocalypsehow]

55. Sure, it's called every credible shred of evidence available for scholarly examination. Perhaps you

should invest some time in studying such things, rather than linking to old DU posts and Conspiracy Theory websites that are the very definition of what it means to be not credible.

[apocalypsehow]

56. By the bye, speaking of old DU posts, notice you still haven't stepped up to the plate here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=125&topic_id=292552&mesg_id=308814

I wonder why? :shrug: (:rofl:)

"Or will you reveal it at Waikiki?"

Boy, you sure are obsessed with my upcoming vacation. That's twice you've mentioned it in a post. It's kinda flattering, in a stalkerish sort of way.

[Poboy]

10. I'm not eating your dog food Mr. Obama.

[somone]

19. But the cat food is to die for

:sarcasm:

[Poboy]

20. Oh yes, thats right. I'd forgotten we have that 'freedom' of choice!

[QC]

21. Seriously. With a little ketchup, it's not half bad. n/t

[IDemo]

27. Plus, you've included a vegetable with your meal...n/t

[QC]

28. Do you think maybe vegetables were one of the "excesses of the 60s"

that Obama praised Reagan for fighting?

[Occulus]

11. Invoking Jeb isn't even CLOSE to "seeking the center"

Who the blue fuck are they trying to kid

[Lasher]

16. He did this at a Democratic fundraiser, of all places.

Can't he stop promoting Jeb long enough to get through a fundraiser?

[ReggieVeggie]

17. seeking the right then?

[Darth_Kitten]

18. He has to move LEFT to get to the centre.

:(

[City Lights]

25. Exactly! nt

[City Lights]

24. I feel sick.

:puke:

Psst, Mr. President, if the center is truly what you seek, you're going the wrong way by invoking the Jebster!

:puke: :argh: :banghead: x(

[TheKentuckian]

26. Jeb is the center of fascism. I guess we are pivoting there from fascism-lite.

[ClarkUSA]

30. Yeah, he should have behaved the same way as Republicans do when teabaggers boo Dems.

He should have let them keep booing, joined in and attacked Jeb viciously, right?

Fortunately, President Obama has got more class and maturity in his pinkie than all of his detractors combined.

[No Elephants]

31. If Obama had not mentioned Bush, there would have been no booing of Bush.

[ClarkUSA]

32. So what?

[Lasher]

34. So Obama shouldn't be pimping Republican assholes at Democratic fundraisers.

Like I said in the OP, Obama deserved the scorn. That and then some.

[ClarkUSA]

37. Did he ask for money bids in return for Jeb's sexual favors, then? That's quite a fundraiser!

:rofl:

[Lasher]

42. What if he had literally done that, would you then say he'd done something wrong?

Of course you wouldn't.

[ClarkUSA]

48. What if he literally didn't do that, would you then admit to making up a "silly fabrication"?

Of course you wouldn't.

[Name removed]

53. Deleted message

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

[dotymed]

60. Clark, IMO

Your response has nothing to do with this post. Most Wall Street types have manners and class, hell their Nannies (usually foreign and genuinely nice) drill (at least) pretending to be humble, into them. They agitate the commoners to do their dirty work on the public side.
Wait, you're right. Because President Obama stopped the crowd from (righteously) booing Jeb Bush, he is the President we need.........:sarcasm:

[ClarkUSA]

35. Jeb was a prop for Pres. Obama's push for an 11% increase in education spending.

Some facts here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=433&topic_id=622973&mesg_id=622995

[Lasher]

36. Repetition isn't going to make that silly fabrication credible.

You are grasping at straws.

[ClarkUSA]

38. The New York Times story I quoted is not a "silly fabrication" unless you have proof they are lying.

You are grasping at "Gotcha!" straws.

[Lasher]

39. Where does it say Jeb was a prop?

Oh look, it doesn't. It doesn't even imply anything like that.

[ClarkUSA]

40. Here... I paraphrased, just as you did in your OP title. Space is limited here, as you know.

"The Obama-Bush appearance was designed to underscore what Mr. Obama hopes will be a bipartisan effort on Capitol Hill to renew the education bill at a time when he is unlikely to get Republican cooperation on many other domestic initiatives."

[Lasher]

41. I read the article. You did a lot more than paraphrase.

That excerpt can be interpreted just as easily to mean Obama was a prop, which is more accurate than your interpretation. Have you read Obama's speech? He wants to privatize our schools. You do know that Jeb came up with this idea before Obama did, right?

[ClarkUSA]

45. How so? It's clear who the story meant.

Since President Obama is the one who wants the 11% education budget increase and Jeb is sitting there in tacit passive approval, it's clear who's the prop, so to speak.

<< He wants to privatize our schools. >>

Your subjective opinions are without basis. I listened to and then read his entire speech, you know.

[Leopolds Ghost]

44. Invoking catcalls at an all-Democratic rally is not very good messaging.

He should have saved it for a gathering where co-opting Jeb's support for Obama's plan might have made some sense.

[ClarkUSA]

46. But it was fun for all involved. That's what happens at fundraisers.

He did that during the campaign season, too. I don't recall anyone complaining then.

Hey, but anything to get a jab in at Obama, right?

[dotymed]

62. Oh, more 3-D Chess......

:toast: , well that's fine then.

[Canuckistanian]

47. Obama hasn't SEEN the center since 2008

"The center" is just a tiny dot on the horizon in his rear-view mirror.

And the Left... well, he's READ about the Left in some textbook somewhere....

[ClarkUSA]

49. Yeah, that's why Obama opened the door to single-payer and the public option for states this week.

:sarcasm:

Facts here: http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/health-reform-implementation/146523-liberals-see-open-door-for-public-option-single-payer

[Canuckistanian]

51. Just as long as HE doesn't have to institute single payer

All he did was ALLOW individual states to plan their own single-payer WITHOUT INTERFERENCE.

Wow, such an "audacious" move....

[ClarkUSA]

52. Obama supporters always said that HCR was meant to open the barn door. We were right.

HE couldn't do it all himself because America isn't a dictatorship and there weren't the votes in Congress. Period. So the Chess Master did it this way.

You do understand that Congress is a co-equal branch of government that makes laws, right?

[Name removed]

57. Deleted message

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

[Bluenorthwest]

61. Jeb is perfectly fit for the Obama mediocrity and anti equality

religionism. Both are very much to the right of America, and both are of course far, far richer than most Americans, and thus they have more in common with each other than with us. Both are tall, right wing and opposed to equal rights. Not sure what the big difference is supposed to be.

[Puregonzo1188]

63. Jeb Bush is not the center.

But then again neither is Obama.