Rahm Emanuel: the Poster Child for Neoliberalism

Dan Froomkin tears Rahm Emanuel a new asshole for his horrible policy advice and perpetual leaking to the Beltway media.

The Rahm Emanuel that Obama hired is the poster child for the timid, pseudo-pragmatism that is inimical to the idealistic Obama agenda so many excited voters responded to last November. And it's a pragmatism that is absolutely killing the Democratic Party in the long run, because American voters have an intrinsic distrust of politicians they see as tacking with the polls or shying away from a fight. This if nothing else is the lesson of two George W. Bush presidencies: American voters have a profoundly soft spot for people with clear, strongly-held principles, almost regardless of what those principles are.

Emanuel is a Bush Democrat - but not in that he has learned the lesson about the value of holding firmly to core values. He is a Bush Democrat in that he has allowed Republicans to traumatize him into submission. Emanuel operates on a battlefield as defined by Republicans, where the terrain is littered with the specter of imaginary but profoundly terrifying GOP attack ads. His reflexive approach is the strategic retreat. Most obviously in the current debate about health care, he has empowered the Democratic and centrist Republican obstructionists by validating their fear that come campaign time, they will be portrayed as radical -- even when they are supporting measures such as the public insurance option that have public support among a super-majority of voters.

Emanuel isn't a Bush Democrat. Emanuel is a neoliberal like Harold Ford, Evan Bayh, and Ed Rendell. The neoliberals call themselves New Democrats these days. The neoliberal position has been support for Wall Street and less regulations. The most successful neoliberal was Bill Clinton.

The former President signed the repeal of the Glass–Steagall Act. The repealed law made it illegal for investment banks and depository banks to be one financial entity. Sen. John McCain supported making the Glass–Steagall Act law again. President Barack Obama would not back McCain's proposal. John McCain was actually to the Left of Barack Obama on financial reform. Obama's stance on financial reform should not be surprising.

Obama: "I am a New Democrat."