There are a number of signs that President Barack Obama is in the midst of a 1994 Bill Clinton-style moment of moderation.
After the historic Republican victory in the midterm elections in November, Obama not only negotiated a deal that extended Bush-era tax cuts, but he spent political capital defending the deal.
Though this undoubtedly hurt him in the short term with his base, it was the right thing to do in an economy still struggling to break free of a debilitating recession.
Now the president is shaking up his staff, and we are heartened by some of the names we hear in the mix.
Pulling back to the center and embracing a more moderate agenda not only makes sense for the president politically as he moves into re-election mode, but it also will benefit the American people in the long run.
Obama last week named Bill Daley as his new chief of staff. Though Daley is no political neophyte — he had been part of the Clinton administration — the White House will be gaining a moderate voice who brings another important ingredient to the administration’s inner circle: business experience.
Before it was conventional wisdom, Daley went on record urging Democrats to embrace a center-left stance.
“All that is required for the Democratic Party to recover its political footing,” wrote Daley in a Washington Post op-ed a little more than a year ago, “is to acknowledge that the agenda of the party’s most liberal supporters has not won the support of a majority of Americans.”
We can’t quibble with his comment. The only question now is will the president listen to Daley?
We’re hopeful he will.
