For anyone who regularly reads the Horserace Blog [1] at RealClearPolitics.com, this headline isn’t news to you. Any political junkie who hasn’t found Cost’s blog is missing out on our generation’s version of Michael Barone. Even better, Cost is a graduate of the University of Virginia.
While Cost has long ranked as one of my favorite Wahoos, he has really outdone himself today. In a post entitled “Amateur Hour at the White House,” [2] Cost savages the Obama administration’s lack of foresight and recognition of the internal divisions within the Democratic Party. Using a visual assist from Google Maps, Cost says:
We can clearly see the source of the problem. Liberal leaders from the coasts were given wide latitude by the White House to write these bills – and, unsurprisingly, they delivered products their fellow liberals love (or at least like). But the moderate and conservative Democrats – whose votes are needed for passage yet who run the risk of defeat next fall should the broad middle of the country sour on the reform efforts – weren’t fully consulted, and don’t like the bills. Hence, the internal friction – which corresponds pretty well with age-old sectional divisions in the party.
He goes on to detail at least 5 reasons why these divisions never should have come as a surprise to Team Obama. In closing, Cost wraps up his sharp analysis with an even more piercing observation:
It’s almost as if the President has absolutely no experience in dealing with the United States Congress whatsoever.
That’s so puzzling, considering how Democrats turned down the fresh-faced newcomer who could turn a good phrase on the campaign trail for the old-hand who had been in Washington for 15 years by the time of the nomination battle. Oh wait…
Oh my.