On Sunday's Fareed Zakaria GPS, host Zakaria began his show by touting what he viewed as President Barack Obama's accomplishments as evidence he has been a "transformational" President, while also giving some "passive" credit to Obama for a Republican party "implosion."
After recalling ObamaCare, energy policy, and changes in Middle East policy as alleged accomplishments, the CNN host began taking aim at Republicans by picking up on a Wall Street Journal column by Daniel Henninger. Zakaria:
The biggest impact of his presidency, however, can be seen in his opposition -- the Republican party == which is in the midst of an ideological breakdown. Surveying the scene, Daniel Henninger, the conservative columnist, writes in the Wall Street Journal that Obama "is now close to destroying his political enemies -- the Republican party, the American conservative movement, and the public policy legacy of Ronald Reagan."
The CNN host continued by crediting Obama with allowing Republicans to "self-destruct" by not "overplaying his hand." Zakaria:
Obama's success in this regard, if it can be called that, is a passive one. He let his opponents self-destruct and never overplayed his hand. From the first month of his presidency, the GOP decided that Obama was a socialist radical who had to be opposed no matter what. Obama didn't take the bait, governing from the center left. Perhaps unable to paint him as a socialist, perhaps for other reasons, many Republicans' rhetoric about Obama quickly became personal, with insinuations about his origin, race, religion, faith, and loyalty to the country.
He then suggested racism coming from Republicans as he added:
Again, Obama never lashed out, demonstrating discipline even as his opposition grew wilder. As Obama kept his cool, the Republican party descended deeper into the politics of identity, flirting with racial, religious and ethnic grievances, and moving away from its core tenets of limited government, free markets, and free trade. The result has been an ideological implosion. And it is still unclear what will emerge from the debris.
Zakaria concluded: "Barack Obama has repeatedly maintained that one of his principles in foreign policy is: 'Don't do stupid stuff.' It looks like it works in domestic politics just as well."
Below is a complete transcript of the "Fareed's Take" segment from the Sunday, April 10, Fareed Zakaria GPS
But first, here's my take. In an interview during the 2008 campaign, Barack Obama explained that Ronald Reagan had changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton had not. Clearly, Obama inspired to be a transformational President like Reagan. At this point, it's fair to say that he has succeeded. Look at what has happened during his tenure to the country, to his party, and, most telling, his opposition.
The first line in Obama's biography will have to do with who he is: the first African-American president. But what he has done is also significant. Obama's signal accomplishment is health care, of course. where he was able to enact a law that has resulted in 90 percent of Americans now having health insurance. While the law has its problems, it achieves a goal first articulated by Theodore Roosevelt 100 years ago.
Then there's the transformation of America's energy policy. The administration has made investments and given a variety of incentives to place the United States at the forefront of the emerging energy revolution. Just one example: Over Obama's term as President, solar costs have plummeted by 70 percent, and solar generation is up 3,000 percent.
Obama has also pursued a new foreign policy. Informed by the lessons of the last two decades that limits America's involvement in establishing political order in the Middle East, focusing instead on counterterrorism. This has freed the administration to pursue new approaches with countries like Iran and Cuba, direct attention and resources to the Asia Pacific, which is just a few years will be home to four of the world's five.largest economist.
In that 2008 campaign interview, Obama pointed out that Reagan didn't change the country single-handedly. He took advantage of a shift in the national mood. The same could be said about America today. Years of stagnant wages, rising inequality, and a big financial crisis all created a new political atmosphere -- one that Obama has helped shape.
The biggest impact of his presidency, however, can be seen in his opposition -- the Republican party == which is in the midst of an ideological breakdown. Surveying the scene, Daniel Henninger, the conservative columnist, writes in the Wall Street Journal that Obama "is now close to destroying his political enemies -- the Republican party, the American conservative movement, and the public policy legacy of Ronald Reagan."
Obama's success in this regard, if it can be called that, is a passive one. He let his opponents self-destruct and never overplayed his hand. From the first month of his presidency, the GOP decided that Obama was a socialist radical who had to be opposed no matter what. Obama didn't take the bait, governing from the center left. Perhaps unable to paint him as a socialist, perhaps for other reasons, many Republicans' rhetoric about Obama quickly became personal, with insinuations about his origin, race, religion, faith, and loyalty to the country.
Again, Obama never lashed out, demonstrating discipline even as his opposition grew wilder. As Obama kept his cool, the Republican party descended deeper into the politics of identity, flirting with racial, religious and ethnic grievances, and moving away from its core tenets of limited government, free markets, and free trade. The result has been an ideological implosion. And it is still unclear what will emerge from the debris.
Barack Obama has repeatedly maintained that one of his principles in foreign policy is: "Don't do stupid stuff." It looks like it works in domestic politics just as well.
