Earlier I posted on the retirement plans of Marion Berry (D-AR). In an interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (ADG), Berry reveals some outright arrogance by Obama regarding the current political situation in Congress. The ADG is subscription only, so the best source a partial quote at Politico by Glenn Thrush.
Berry recounted meetings with White House officials, reminiscent of some during the Clinton days, where he and others urged them not to force Blue Dogs “off into that swamp” of supporting bills that would be unpopular with voters back home.
“I’ve been doing that with this White House, and they just don’t seem to give it any credibility at all,” Berry said. “They just kept telling us how good it was going to be. The president himself, when that was brought up in one group, said, ‘Well, the big difference here and in ’94 was you’ve got me.‘ We’re going to see how much difference that makes now.” [snip]
“I began to preach last January that we had already seen this movie and we didn’t want to see it again because we know how it comes out,” said Arkansas’ 1st District congressman, who worked in the Clinton administration before being elected to the House in 1996… “I just began to have flashbacks to 1993 and ’94. No one that was here in ’94, or at the day after the election felt like. It certainly wasn’t a good feeling.“Thrush is correct in pointing out it is not clear when Obama made this comment. If he made it after the election of Brown then it shows the height of arrogance. Recent elections in VA, NJ, MA have clearly demonstrated that Obama’s coattails have grown mighty short. To scoff at history with the thought that he, personally, is going to make all the difference is just staggering.
The last included quote (above) by Berry is also revealing. Once again, it is as if the current political machine in power believes its own spin. Since 1994, in their mind, the conservative movement has been crushed. Instead of trying to project the idea that the majority of Americans are strongly liberal they actually believe it. With that point of view, they just can’t fathom the idea that the pendulum swing of the midterm elections 1994 can repeat itself.
But recent events have shown that the fiscal conservative movement–led by the tea partiers the left can’t help but deride with insults–is alive and growing. The election of Scott Brown showed this. To discount it because Obama is the one is … remarkable.
