Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Cool Off, Lefties: Obama Won't Abandon You

By Neal Colgrass, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 12, 2008 8:22 PM CST

(Newser) – Barack Obama's cabinet picks may have elicited howls from the left, but he won't sell out his progressive supporters, E.J. Dionne, Jr. writes in The New Republic. For starters, Obama never was a true economic lefty—that was John Edwards' role. Like John F. Kennedy 45 years ago, Obama will probably push a progressive agenda through a team that conservatives can accept.

Lefties in Congress still like him, too. Obama knows that "the country faces more problems than at anytime since 1933," says liberal Sen. Bernie Sanders. Obama is also entering the White House as most of the country is leaning left; even conservatives want to partly socialize Wall Street these days. "Reality has moved left, particularly over the last six months," Dionne writes.

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

President-elect Barack Obama walks towards the podium during a news conference in Chicago, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

President-elect Barack Obama speaks at a news conference in Chicago, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

President-elect Barack Obama gestures during a news conference in Chicago, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

When a Republican administration presides over the partial socialization of the finance industry, and when conservatives are calling for large-scale deficit spending, the definition of the political center needs to be revised. - E.J. Dionne, Jr., The New Republic

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

Obama, Others Won't Return Ponzi Cash

Receiver wants the $1.8M Allen Stanford gave to politicians

(NEWSER) - The receiver in charge of recovering money for R. Allen Stanford's fleeced investors is trying to recover some $1.8 million the alleged Ponzi schemer gave to a host of political causes—but they refuse to return the money, Reuters reports. Among the holdouts: President Obama's campaign, and most of the Democrat and Republican parties' national fundraising committees, along with a who's who of other prominent individual politicians. The receiver, Ralph Janvey, got court orders against five campaigns last summer, but all have ignored them. More»

Chinese VP Arrives in Washington

Xi Jinping, China's next president, to meet with Obama

(NEWSER) - The man slated to be China's next president began his US tour today, meeting with President Obama in the Oval Office before having lunch with Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton. Biden will serve as Xi Jinping's host in Washington, the New York Times reports. Other stops on the agenda: a meeting with the Chamber of Commerce, and a high-level trip to the Pentagon, where he'll get an honor guard salute and meet with Leon Panetta and the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey. More»

Detroit Bust Would've Been Better Than Bailout

Ex-Prez Bush says bailout his idea, and a good one

(NEWSER) - Three years ago, Mitt Romney wrote that President Obama should " Let Detroit Go Bankrupt ," instead of bailing out the struggling auto industry, in a famous New York Times column. And today? Even with the American auto industry on the rebound, Michigan's GOP primary looming on Feb. 28, and Rick Santorum breathing down his neck in the polls , Romney still thinks bankruptcy would have been better than the president's "crony capitalism," he writes in the Detroit News . "I believe that without his intervention things there would be better," he writes. More»

Obama Unveils $3.8T Budget, Targets Rich

Budget would institute 'Buffett Rule,' boost infrastructure

(NEWSER) - President Obama officially unveiled his $3.8 trillion budget today, and as expected it draws a 2012 battle line, calling for higher taxes on the wealthy combined with spending measures intended to bolster the economy, the AP reports. "We built this budget around the idea that our country has always done best when everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same rules," Obama said, according to CNN . "This is not about class warfare. This is about the nation's welfare." More»

White House to Budge on Birth-Control Mandate

'Accommodation' for religious employers will likely be announced today

(NEWSER) - The White House yesterday signaled a compromise over its contentious birth control decision, and the Wall Street Journal confirms that an attempt to accommodate the Catholic Church will likely be announced today. Details remain hazy, but one source tells the Journal that insurance companies, not religious employers, will become the ones who pay for contraception coverage. ABC News notes the move would be cheaper for health insurance companies than having to cover unwanted pregnancies and complications. But since the "accommodation" will still allow female employees access to birth control, Jake Tapper notes, it will likely not satisfy religious leaders. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website