A Question I Did Have Time to Ask Alice Rivlin
She gave a good answer...
My question:
Barack Obama ran for President with a very strong and firm belief that here were no Red states and no Blue states, only Purple states. And he won the enthusiastic support of the entire Democratic Party for this point of view—that was his biggest applause line at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
He then attempted to implement centrist policies:
- Mitt Romney’s health care policy
- John McCain’s climate Policy
- Bill Clinton’s tax policy
- George H.W. Bush’s foreign policy
- Gerald Ford’s support for a Fed that regarded fighting inflation as job 1
- Ronald Reagan’s optimism
- Entitlement spending growth cuts a la Simpson-Bowles
It sounds to me like Obama was your ideal centrist President. What should Obama have done differently—other than not be Black?
