Obama's very good week!

Enfin un article sur les réalités de l'action politique aux États-Unis. Un peu en lien avec ce j'écrivais hier sur les espoirs démesurés de la gauche américaine (même si cette gauche doit continuer à exercer une pression). Un beau retour sur le système, sur l'évolution d'Obama et les comparaisons avec Truman et Clinton.

Voici son jugement sur la performance des démocrates et d'Obama. Ne vous contentez pas de cet extrait et lisez le commentaire de David Brooks au complet:
The fact is, Obama and the Democrats have had an excellent week. The White House negotiators did an outstanding job for their side. With little leverage, they got not only the unemployment insurance, but also an Earned Income Tax Credit provision, a college scholarship provision and other Democratic goodies. With little leverage, they got a package that could win grudging praise from big-name liberal groups like the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Center for American Progress.

Moreover, Obama has put himself in a position to govern again. The package is popular. According to the most recent Gallup numbers, 67 percent of independents and 52 percent of Democrats support extending all the tax cuts. Higher numbers support extending the unemployment insurance. Obama is reminding independents why they liked him in the first place.

He only needs to work on two things. He needs to explain his method better than he did in his press conference. It is entirely consistent to support a policy and be willing to move off of it in exchange for a greater good or a necessary accommodation. That’s called real life.

Then he’s got to bring this networking style to the larger issues. It’s easy to cut a deal that explodes deficits. It’s harder to cut one that reduces them. But there are more networks waiting to be built: to reform the tax code; to reduce consumption and expand productivity; to reform entitlements.

Le lien:http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/10/opinion/10brooks.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a212