Observers of May's nuclear non-proliferation talks in New
York say they saw real progress for the first time in 10 years.
Mark Leon Goldberg, in UN Dispatch, noticed an echo of familiarity
with the approach and tone the administration stuck to this
particularly thorny issue. "It's Obama's 'Theory
of Change' at work in the international arena," says
Goldberg.
Traditionally, solving a policy issue with stiff opposition
resistance - like Health Care - in Washington DC requires brute
force. Get the votes, push it through and do the best you can to
avoid a filibuster and veto.
No so with Barack Obama, writes 'The American Prospect's' Mark Schmitt. To Schmitt, Obama's theory of change owes more toward the tactics he learned as a community organizer than elected representative.
He writes: "Obama, takes conservatism seriously...actually
acknowledging the the GOP as having some ideas worth
considering."
Simple as that sounds it reflects a nearly 180 degree change
from the traditional locus of the Democratic party. Obama swaps
outright dismissal for consideration while at the same time being
quick to remind all that disagreements will arise. This is
foundation of Obama's change theory and it may be the
archimedean lever that allows him to move one of the most immutable
forces in the Universe: Washington DC's company
town-business-as-usual-power-structure.
In Schmitt's theory, taking the ideology serious (vs.
outright dismissal) allows Obama tactical leverage to force the
other side to the table to solve a problem. It cuts the Gordian
knot -- and places the emphasis not on the differences, but on each
party's ability to solve problems known to all. The goal thus
defined puts a dynamic in place more wholly defined and controlled
by Obama.
To Schmitt, this goes right to Obama's leadership roots.
The across-the-table, let's solve
this-thing-or-parts-of-this-thing approach is the hallmark of an
effective community organizer.
Community leaders work with local governments with entrenched
power structures and spoils systems. That kind of opposition simply
doesn't go away. So, a successful organizer co-opts them in a
solution of their own definition.
This is the power of Obama's commitment to
bipartisanship. By expressly seeking a bipartisan solution, Obama
takes the high ground, effectively forcing the opposition into one
of two responses: solve the problem in a bipartisan manner or
obstruct.
The latter response does little more electorally for the
opposition than throw red meat to a base they've already
captured. In a Senate so close to a veto-proof majority, all it
takes is co-opting one or two GOP senators for filibuster-proof
votes. To Schmitt, the strategy is both realpolitik and uncynical.
Like elections, policy issues are won in the middle.
Here's Schmitt participating on a panel assessing Obama's first 100 days.
Get More...
To learn more, make sure your first stop is Mark
Schmitt's original article:
'Obama's Theory of Change' on the 'American Prospect' website.
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_theory_of_change_primary
Submit Your Theory
Pollster Peter Fenn says 2010 will not be your average midterm election. His theory: the GOP is doing exactly what minority parties should *not* do to win elections.
Barack Obama and Jennifer Aniston have something in common; they both want the Vince Vaughn's of their lives to *want* to do the dishes.
Al Franken gives Democrats a 60 vote, filibuster-proof majority. Good. Senate cloture vote and filibuster rules are anti-democratic anyway. One theory.
Human motivation exists in a five-tiered structure. The five tiers from lowest to highest are sociological needs, personal security needs, social needs, esteem needs and the penultimate need: self-actualization.
Turns out, the meteorite that supposedly killed the dinosaurs may have been 300,000 years late.
Want to know the secret to personalities and personal success? Use hair part theory. It worked for Margaret Thatcher.
A theory developed by Pavlov that shows one can change a stimulus part of a stimulus-response pattern (like a flinch from a loud noise) to something neutral (a blue light turning on) and generate the same response. In this example, the blue light could cause the subject to flinch.
Great man creat history through their actions, leadership, art, and innovation. At least, Carlyle thought so in the 19th century.
The explanation for 'Lost' is Jason Hunter's Time Loop theory. But you have to see it to really get it.
It’s true. Norton portrays the grown-up version of Calvin, while Brad Pitt plays his imaginary pal, Hobbes, reincarnated as Tyler Durden. The entire film is an allegory that details what happens to Calvin as an adult.
The most widespread and enduring conspiracy theories—British intelligence killed Princess Diana, the U.S. government orchestrated 9/11—are completely absurd. But that doesn’t stop them from drawing a vast and vehement audience. David Aaronovitch picks apart 12 grand conspiracy theories to conclude that they are concocted and promoted, in large part, by educated losers. (Yes, he actually calls them losers.)
'Gravity' hints at the passion behind Newton's theoriesDetroit Free PressBY JOHN MONAGHAN It's an image planted in the mind of every schoolkid: Isaac Newton sits beneath an apple tree as a shiny red orb bonks him on the noggin. ... ABC's Lost: Lighthouse Episode Recap & TheoriesMetrowny.com...
The island used to be connected to the rest of the Earth, but was detached during electromagnetism experiments conducted by the Dharma Initiative. It is capable of traveling anywhere with the only parameter being gravity
Now that they've had two days to think about it, what can the Internet's brainiest 'Lost' theorists tell us about the show's final season?
Inflation theory, which posits that the universe ballooned from subatomic scale to the size of a soccer ball during its first 10-33 seconds, has had great ...
There are a million different ingenious theories out there that explain this or that certain phenomenon and many are very complicated. See which one are surfacing on the interwebs today.
Nick Jonas (and the Administration) has just released a new song and it's called "Conspiracy Theory."
Listen to the newest single from his upcoming album "Who I Am" below:
Amateur historian Rick Rogers has spent decades developing a theory that either Dutch or Spanish traders visited Hawaii before Captain Cook's 1778 arrival. Maps from 1589 showing an approximation of Hawaii's shape and location; remains of a 1664 women indicating she had syphilis and the disappearance of 5 Spanish ships plying the Manila to Acapulco trade in the 1500 and 1600s make his case.
Scholars at the global warming skeptics thinktank, "The Science and Public Policy Institute (SPPI)" say ocean acidification theory is a scare tactic ignores Cambrian data, the chemistry of CO2 and the alkaline affect of ocean rocks.
Twitter Activity
Obama is doing what he wants, when he wants. His policys are too far left for even the main stream, as will be proven as he continues to take and demand more and more power. He has mainstream media on his side. He has already made many, many mistakes, and in his own mind he feels no one will dare go against him. Media bias has so impower him that he feels free to do as he wishes. Once all his taxes are in place, the American public will wake up to what thay have allowed take place.