It's the Map, Stupid!!!

How can anyone at the White House say with a straight face that s/he didn't see this coming?????



RealClearPolitics - HorseRaceBlog - Amateur Hour at the White House

As you can see, coastal liberals dominate the leadership positions.
California has six of the 24 leadership positions I have delineated. Another
seven are located roughly within the megapolis that stretches from Washington,
D.C. to Boston. Meanwhile, those marginal members are clustered in the South and
the Border States, with a few sprinkled across the Great Plains and then into
Arizona.

This is a stark visual representation of the divide within the
Democratic Party. We can clearly see the source of the problem. Liberal leaders
from the coasts were given wide latitude by the White House to write these bills
- and, unsurprisingly, they delivered products their fellow liberals love (or at
least like). But the moderate and conservative Democrats - whose votes are
needed for passage yet who run the risk of defeat next fall should the broad
middle of the country sour on the reform efforts - weren't fully consulted, and
don't like the bills. Hence, the internal friction - which corresponds pretty
well with age-old sectional divisions in the party (more on that in a moment).

For the months between November and January, we were treated to endless
comparisons of Obama to the great presidents of the days of yore. One of them
was Franklin Roosevelt. Question: who stopped the New Deal dead in its tracks
after 1938? It wasn't the Republicans alone. It was Southern Democrats working
in alliance with the Republicans. Who are the marginal members standing between
Obama and a health care bill...Southern Democrats! Generally speaking, the
internal cleavage within the Democratic Party (North v. South; left v. right) is
really one of the most significant features of the political landscape since at
least the Great Depression. After eighty some years and dozens of failed
attempts at liberal reforms, there is no excuse for a President not to
anticipate it rearing its head again.