Franklin Delano Obama: Will the New Deal Revive Itself in 2012?
Eighty years ago, Franklin Roosevelt rode into office at the height of the depression. In many ways, the election of 1932 has much in common with the current campaign, as I explain in my column this week for Hoover's Defining Ideas.
The economic record from 1929 to 1933 was grim. Unemployment rates spiked to close to 25 percent from a pre-1929 figure of about 4 percent. World trade was down by about a third, partly in response to the ill-advised Smoot-Hawley tariffs of 1930, which sparked retaliation from around the globe. And a persistent deflation in the order of 20 percent meant many debtors could not repay their debt with these new expensive dollars.
Today’s situation is nowhere near as desperate as it was then, but there is little doubt that the nation has become stagnant and uneasy. Real economic growth has slowed and the future likely holds higher levels of insecurity and lower rates of growth. Today’s parents are no longer confident that their children will lead lives as fulfilling and as prosperous as their own. Falling expectations lead to rising discontent, and discontent leads to clarion calls for action.
Taking advantage of this, Obama has taken his campaign strategy straight out of FDR's New Deal Playbook: Vilify the rich as unproductive ciphers of society; be hostile toward the growth of international trade by denouncing firms that outsource jobs as the enemies of domestic labor; continue to work in favor of extensive agricultural subsidies for ethanol and other farm crops; and insist upon a rich set of unsustainable healthcare benefits through Medicare and Medicaid.
But there is also one key difference between the two men: Roosevelt played an offensive game against nameless enemies in 1932. In 2012, Obama is playing defense. In light of this, it is unclear whether the president’s progressive message of hope and change will prevail again. Perhaps the New Deal consensus will finally come to an end…continue reading in Defining Ideas.
- Comment (6)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (2)
Comments:
Re: Franklin Delano Obama: Will the New Deal Revive Itself in 2012?
Barack Obama's name will be spoken in the same breath as Herbert Hoover's.
Jun '10
Re: Franklin Delano Obama: Will the New Deal Revive Itself in 2012?
The big difference is, FDR was likeable and his speeches inspired confidence. Obama is not likeable and inspires nothing. Considering what FDR actually did in the 1930s, the confidence might've been unjustified, but it was real.
People also had confidence in family and friends, and that WAS justified. FDR provided the cheerleading, and deck-chair rearranging, but it was private Christian charity that supplied the bulk of the salvation. The other difference is, FDR wasn't dumb enough to be at war with Christian charity. Private charity was his safety net too.
Dec '11
Re: Franklin Delano Obama: Will the New Deal Revive Itself in 2012?
The problem is that there is pretty much universal acknowledgement that the post-new-deal social order and expectations are pretty much over. Its coming to an end, and the scrambling from most liberal groups is to try and keep it going to long enough to cash out and run, or making sure they have a seat at the table for whatever comes next.
Dec '10
Re: Franklin Delano Obama: Will the New Deal Revive Itself in 2012?
"But there is also one key difference between the two men: Roosevelt played an offensive game against nameless enemies in 1932."
I think another reason is that we have the original New Deal to look back on. The twentieth century was an experiment in different implementations of socialism, from mild to totalitarian, and they all failed, some quietly and some spectacularly. Obama is fighting history in a way Roosevelt wasn't.
Mar '11
Re: Franklin Delano Obama: Will the New Deal Revive Itself in 2012?
No, he'll be spoken of in the same sense at MLK Jr., because even though it'll just be an election loss (we hope, anyway) rather than an assassination he'll be seen as a martyr to American intolerance. "America just couldn't handle a black man as president".
Apr '11
Re: Franklin Delano Obama: Will the New Deal Revive Itself in 2012?
Obama is still ahead and still has more ways to get to 270 than does Romney. When you add in PAC spending, Romney has actually outspent Obama, not the other way around (which I find very disconcerting), and yet Obama still leads. His base of support is rock-solid and "Nice White Ladies" still want to like him.
Obama is the favorite; if we win, it will be an upset.