One argument that’s being deployed against Obama is that, in a nutshell, there are no purple states. DeWayne Wickham made that argument in USA Today:
—
The USA is, in fact, a country of red states and blue states divided
by ideological, if not geographical, lines. It is one thing to talk
wistfully about "one America" when not in the throes of a national
election campaign. But it’s quite another to bridge the ideological
divide during a presidential race in which abortion, gay marriage,
immigration and the war on terror are shaping up to be defining issues.
For now, Obama’s optimism for a better America has overshadowed his
positions on these issues. But if he is going to make a successful run
for the presidency two years from now, he’ll have to defend his
positions on a range of issues that tear at the soft underbelly of our
democracy — and which have derailed the campaigns of many presidential
wannabes.
—–
In the Oct. 22 New York Times, Paul Krugman offered a similar argument. Krugman hopes that the Democrats "don’t play nice" if they win the House in November. In his view, the polarization of politics is the Republicans’ fault. ("They did it, Mom!")
Unfortunately, the polarization is very real, as this image of political book buying patterns shows.
By arguing both sides of the Obama issue in my book, I am consciously rowing against the tide. I guess I’m a purple person.
Cordially,
Fred Zimmerman
Publisher, Nimble Books LLC
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Tags: Obama, politics, SF, Uncategorized
