Politics

Obama's Sly Appropriation

By Matt Cooper

I thought Hillary Clinton did better last night than most of the pundits did. But what really struck me was Obama's sly appropriation of themes that Bill Clinton used to such good effect. Clinton's repeated aim in 1992 to help people who "work hard and play by the rules" was startling at the time although it seems like boilerplate now. It signaled that Clinton's heart and policy would reward middle-class values of work and family not with criminals, welfare recipients. Clinton understood the woes befallen the Democratic party by its tone deafness on crime and welfare. Obama used virtually the same language last night. That's got to be infuriating for the Clintons who see it all slipping away. It's bad enough that he stole hope from the man from Hope, as Maureen Dowd famously said, but now he's taken some of their themes. He touted welfare reform last night as one of his accomplishments....He meant in Illinois but I bet Bill Clinton was wincing nonetheless.

Full post as published by Portfolio.com: Capital on February 27, 2008 (boomark / email).