"The more interesting question is "Why is this happening to Obama?" George W. Bush violated two basic tenets of conservative philosophy by increasing government spending and launching an idealistic nation-building adventure in a foreign land─and I don't recall Sean Hannity ever threatening him with a primary challenge. In part, it's nice that progressives are more willing than conservatives to criticize their own leaders: sticking to one's guns, speaking truth to power, etc. But ultimately this is more about the way Obama governs and the time he's governing in than the temperament of his base. Unlike his most recent predecessors, Obama seems to prefer telling the American people what they need to hear rather than what they want to hear, and to pursue policies that are similarly calibrated. Health care, for example, was not a top concern among voters when the president launched his reform push earlier this year; neither the right nor the left was happy with his decision to surge in Afghanistan before beginning to draw down in 2011.
I mean, when was the last time the entire country, liberals and conservatives, reacted negatively to White House policy? When was the last time a president was accused of being a cryptosocialist and a Republican in sheep's clothing at the same time? It's unprecedented. Add in the fact that now more than ever the Internet and 24/7 cable news are amplifying the loudest voices and creating a feedback loop of divisiveness, and it makes sense that Obama, a president who values pragmatism over abstract principles, is catching flack from both sides of the aisle. His pragmatism frustrates conservatives because it means he gets things done─things like passing the most progressive social program since LBJ's Great Society and potentially easing out of the war in Afghanistan. And it frustrates liberals because it means he gets things done "imperfectly," with more troops and no public option. So what do they all do? Complain. On TV."
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