Post by Daniel on Feb 17, 2016 10:16:33 GMT -5
Democratic Candidates Embrace and Reject the Obama Legacy
Roger Aronoff — February 16, 2016
The two candidates running for the Democratic presidential nomination are trying to have it both ways: they want the support of the Barack Obama coalition that got him elected to the presidency twice, but at the same time they are making the case that his policies have failed, and they know better how to fix them.
But the mainstream media have cast the latest Democratic debate as serving neither Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) nor Hillary Clinton, but instead bolstering the reputation of President Obama. While many in the media claim that Mrs. Clinton has embraced President Obama’s legacy more than the socialist Sanders has, a closer examination of her words reveals implicit criticism of Obama’s policies and progress.
While Mrs. Clinton’s words at times did embrace and praise Obama’s policy, both she and Sanders are, in effect, treating Obama’s policies as failures. This is not because, as some argue, they would like to push the hope and change agenda on to greater victories. It is, instead, because there is no way of getting around the fact that Obama’s policies have largely been disastrous for this country.
“In ways sizable and subtle, Clinton sought on Thursday [February 11] to show she was the faithful heir of the President’s legacy, repeating his name more than 15 times throughout the debate,” reported Sam Frizell for Time magazine. Similarly, Politico’s Edward-Isaac Dovere noted that “On the debate stage Thursday, she [Mrs. Clinton] invoked Obama’s name 21 times along with phrases like ‘I fully endorse,’ ‘I am a staunch supporter,’ and ‘I think President Obama has set a great example.’”
continue reading
www.aim.org/aim-column/democratic-candidates-embrace-and-reject-the-obama-legacy/
Roger Aronoff — February 16, 2016
The two candidates running for the Democratic presidential nomination are trying to have it both ways: they want the support of the Barack Obama coalition that got him elected to the presidency twice, but at the same time they are making the case that his policies have failed, and they know better how to fix them.
But the mainstream media have cast the latest Democratic debate as serving neither Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) nor Hillary Clinton, but instead bolstering the reputation of President Obama. While many in the media claim that Mrs. Clinton has embraced President Obama’s legacy more than the socialist Sanders has, a closer examination of her words reveals implicit criticism of Obama’s policies and progress.
While Mrs. Clinton’s words at times did embrace and praise Obama’s policy, both she and Sanders are, in effect, treating Obama’s policies as failures. This is not because, as some argue, they would like to push the hope and change agenda on to greater victories. It is, instead, because there is no way of getting around the fact that Obama’s policies have largely been disastrous for this country.
“In ways sizable and subtle, Clinton sought on Thursday [February 11] to show she was the faithful heir of the President’s legacy, repeating his name more than 15 times throughout the debate,” reported Sam Frizell for Time magazine. Similarly, Politico’s Edward-Isaac Dovere noted that “On the debate stage Thursday, she [Mrs. Clinton] invoked Obama’s name 21 times along with phrases like ‘I fully endorse,’ ‘I am a staunch supporter,’ and ‘I think President Obama has set a great example.’”
continue reading
www.aim.org/aim-column/democratic-candidates-embrace-and-reject-the-obama-legacy/
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