The Old Tunes Are the Best.

Here at SteveM's site for Dyspeptic and Disillusioned Dems I feel safe in commenting that although I'm a Yellow Dog and intend to Max out for my Party and my President this sort of thing continues to cause me to throw up a little:

From this morning's begging letter from the Obama Campaign:

Sometime next month, a supporter like you will become the millionth person to donate to this campaign.

This milestone is about more than a big number. Reaching it so early in the campaign will be a testament to our continued ability to do politics a different way.

Is there anyone in the real world who thinks that it is possible to "do politics in a different way?" The Obama's recent "pivot" (how I hate that word and the pundits who use it as though telling us the obvious was some kind of advanced mentalism) towards populism, and naming the enemy, and showmanship reveals that he is no more above politics as usual--that is, the politics of pleasing his voters and attacking his enemies--than any other politician. And more power to him for realizing that there isn't going to be a Third Way into the Second Term. But by the same token, aside from pleasing the rubes one more time, there isn't going to be any Third Way of Fundraising that leaves the big donors out in the cold. Money's money and until we can unilaterally tax the wealthy at 90 percent and apply that to our reelection campaigns through public financing the guy with the most money to donate, and the most business before our government, is still going to get his phone call answered a lot faster than I will.

I'm not accusing Obama of being a corporate stooge, or "Bush's Third Term" or anything like that. I love the President and his family personally and I think he has done as well as can be expected under the circumstances. But no one can believe this claptrap about a "new politics" unless they are delusional or deceptive. Have to hope that our President is the latter because the former is just sad.

aimai