Matt Bai turned a critical eye on Barack Obama's style as a party leader over the weekend. He says that Obama is caught between his two most prominent identities -- that of a "progressive revivalist," in Bai's words, and that of a post-partisan reformer. I've noted this tension as Democratic infighting over the appropriate strategy for this fall's midterm elections heats up.
Bai gets at the problem the Obama political team faces: While a strong presidential endorsement of the Democrats' message would boost the party's chances of retaining Congress, for Obama to maintain his approval ratings -- and the support of his political coalition -- he must preserve his personal "brand."
This has always been the challenge at the heart of Obama's project: How do you take the new voters he brought to the polls in 2008 -- the re-energized liberal base and the moderates who appreciated his competence -- and make them more than an Obama coalition, but a Democratic one? The challenge stems in part from Obama's reluctance to define his program in ideological terms.
The Prospect looked at this problem during the campaign, when Ezra Klein and Dana Goldstein investigated Obama's party-building efforts in the run-up to the 2008 Democratic convention. Since then, things have become harder for Democrats: The compromises of governing have increased intra-party conflicts, and opposition has united the Republicans and clarified their message. At the time, Obama seemed to be the most dedicated party builder in years, but his policy prescriptions remained somewhat nebulous. Now, it seems, his program is much clearer than his efforts to support the Democrats.
The question is, in part, one of timing. Will the Democratic party be better served by efforts to solidify a broader coalition for 2012 and beyond, or by maintaining a majority that damages Obama's broader popularity? These aren't exactly zero-sum questions, but it's clear from my discussions with Democratic strategists that patience is wearing thin as worried incumbents await a final word on the White House's position heading into 2010. Democrats still believe, however, that they can articulate an argument for reelection that attracts both die-hard Democrats and the new coalition, based on a laundry-list of legislative accomplishment and a sense of more to be done
One other shift is apparent in both stories: While White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel earned the enmity of progressives as the top Democratic House political operative in 2006 for fighting with then-Party Chair Howard Dean over resources, now his institutional prerogatives are reversed. Emanuel now finds himself in the opposite position: Defending the DNC's national infrastructure from Congressional Democrats who want to focus resources on their most critical races.
-- Tim Fernholz
