February 22nd, 2010
No, really: “I don’t care about the labels and generalities. I voted for Obama the Pragmatist, not Obama the Ideologue or Obama the Lefty.”
All due respect to Althouse, I’m not sure how you can seriously make the argument that “Obama the Pragmatist” ever existed. Here’s Obama in New Hampshire in 2008:
I]n my own life, I’ve discovered that if you really know what you stand for, if you know what you believe in, if you know who you are fighting for, if you know what you care about and cannot be compromised–then you can afford to reach out across the aisle. You can talk to people who don’t agree with you. And you do so not just because you think that you’re always going to persuade them, but because people out in America, outside of Washington, are listening.
And they want to see that we can–that we don’t have to agree on everything to work on something. That we can disagree without being disagreeable. That’s how we can attract independents [to the] change agenda. That’s how we can attract some Republicans. That’s how we build a working majority for change. .??.??. And you can afford to be courteous. And you can say, “Yes, sir.” And “No, sir.” “Yes, ma’am.” “No, ma’am.” But if you’re going to be in the way of change, get out of the way–we’re pushing you aside. Very politely of course. That’s how we win elections.
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