Unless their name starts with Joe or Hillary, that is. For the rest, American Prospect writer Walter Shapiro thinks potential Democratic primary insurgent candidates should start making the case against President Obama now.
He explains in an article addressed to those insurgents:
That’s why 2013 is a perfect time to express skepticism about portions of the Obama record. If you say something now with the right tone, it will be perceived as a sincere expression of deep conviction. The longer you wait, the more poll-tested and political your critiques of Obama will be regarded.
This does not mean attacking Obama from the right, he cautions. Rather it is involves pointing out the chasm between the president’s liberal rhetoric and reactionary policies. Shapiro cites a long list including: National Security Agency surveillance, targeting the press, drone strikes, Guantanamo, the sequester, campaign finance reform and the economy.
“[A]ny criticisms of Obama should be delivered in a sympathetic but sorrowful tone. If possible, stress how the Republicans put Obama in a difficult position, but that, under similar circumstances, you would have made different decisions,” Shapiro writes.
He concludes: “[T]here is a void in the Democratic Party waiting to be filled by a credible figure on Obama’s left flank. And if you don’t have the courage to fill it in 2016, trust me, someone else will.”
