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Why Clinton and Obama Aren’t As Similar As You Think

By Daniel Koffler / February 12, 2008

People tend to perceive the Democrats as unified and the Republicans as trapped in internecine brawling, but in his column today, David Brooks argues that ideological fissures within the Democratic party are bound to erupt if Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama is the next president. The idea is that the new Democratic president will either withdraw from Iraq, or not, and will either make good on ambitious domestic proposals, or not. Either way, Barack or Hillary will inevitably split the party's liberals and moderates apart.

Well, maybe. Forecasting this far in advance is not a terribly productive exercise. Nobody has any idea what Iraq will be like in a year, and no one is certain what the domestic political and fiscal circumstances in a year's time will portend for the next administration.

Reading Brooks's first paragraph, I was hoping he would push back against the deeply-ingrained conventional wisdom that there are no significant policy differences between the Democratic candidates. Instead, he takes it for granted. Here is why it's wrong.

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  • By Shawna S 3/12/09 at 3:42 a.m. UTC

    During the election Clinton and Obama have their plans to help save our ailing economy and to help the people most especially those who are facing foreclosure and dealing with financial hardship. They both have their proposals to help ease the burden of many people regarding interest rate on the mortgage. Mortgage interest is a tricky thing.  It’s not as if the bank will come out and tell you what the mortgage interest is, so you can just pay it.  A lot of people resort to getting a payday loan just to make the minimum payment.  Some people have put on a mortgage party, getting a whole lot of people over to figure the darn agreement out so the interest rate becomes apparent.  For a product so confusing, it seems strikingly ironic that so many people work very hard their whole lives, just to pay down the <a href="http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2009/03/04/obama-mortgage-party/">mortgage interest</a>.

  • By Elvis Baldwell 2/14/08 at 5:05 p.m. UTC

    Both Clinton and Obama are both Soros employees. Obama has a Jimmy Carter aura to him. Like Carter, Obama promotes "change", whatever that is. Like Carter, Obama wants to play with Iran. Finally, Obama has hired many Carterites, like Zbig Brestinky. I dont have fond memories of malaise, 17% interest rates, US foreign policy defeats (Angola, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Olympic boycotts), gas lines, and Saturday Night Fever (AIDS)

  • By naftali 2/14/08 at 12:24 a.m. UTC

    Like this.

  • By naftali 2/13/08 at 5:19 p.m. UTC

    You may be right. But boiling at the bottom of the pot, there are feelings in the Democratic Party that they'd rather not acknowledge. I've noticed the code word 'neocon' as well as the Clinton's playing a race card with Obama's South Carolina victory. These are not isolated incidents. I've noticed this pattern over the last few years, and it crystallized at the 2004 during the Democratic convention.

    If Obama wins the primaries, but loses on the basis of superdelegates, I think that pot just might boil over.

     

     

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