Just to follow up on my last post about whether we're seeing a "Team of Rivals" or a rival team from Obama I wanted to pass on this comment from DKos's Meteor Blades:
Where's the evidence for the opposite claim? Reaching across the aisle is not a bad thing. But so far what we have seen is a reach in one direction: a turncoat Dem, a DLC Dem and feelers toward Republicans. Center right. Where, as david asks, are the feelers to the leftists in the party?
Currently, what we're hearing is that none of these "low-level" transition team appointments really matter. Or even, ludicrously, that the Chief of Staff doesn't matter. It's only the Cabinet that will matter.
I disagree with that. But, for argument's sake, let's go along with it. We've had two for sure Cabinet appointments, sans the vetting that will come later, the moderate DLCer Tom Daschle (no surprise given his close association with the campaign) and Eric Holder. There is talk of Senator Clinton for SecState, another DLCer. And talk of Chuck Hagel, an ultra rightwinger except on Iraq and some other foreign policy issues.
Look, I, for instance, like the Daschle for HHS pick. He's a left-of-center guy on those issues, based on his book. But Daschle isn't what anyone would call a movement progressive.
And so Meteor Blades is exactly right. And the fact that so many people seem so utterly divorced from reality - so utterly consumed and blinded by their support for Obama - that they cannot see this (or simply refuse to admit it) is really a bad sign for what's to come. As Obama himself has essentially said, without an independent reality-based pressure system on him and his administration, no change will be forthcoming.
STATE BLOGS
