Why Obama Should Pay Attention to Political History

Via Peter Schorsch: this video shows the electoral map from 1920 to 2008. Notice how popular the Democratic Party was for several years when so-called socialist Franklin Delano Roosevelt created Social Security and the jobs program. The maps was stark blue from 1960 to 1964. During that time Lyndon John passed civil rights and Medicare legislation. It would have been interesting how long the Democratic Party would have remained popular if Johnson didn't get bogged down in Vietnam.

The Obama people should look at this map and notice the Democratic Party is at it's most popular when it implements real change. Unfortunately, Obama's twin obsessions are bipartisanship and independent voters. Bipartisanship is a myth that only exists in Obama's head. The independent voters Obama seeks will not vote for him in 2012. If Obama seeks white conservative voters and continues to alienate the progressive base and the Democratic establishment - voters will stay home and many Democrats won't be enthused to fundraise for a president who they feel has hurt the party.

It has been a while since America has had a one-term president.