I firmly believe that knowing history is important because there are lessons to be learned. But I am also starting to believe that spending too much time looking to history can be a mistake. It can make you take your eyes off the present and all of the nuances that exist. I feel very strongly about this when it comes to Obama's presidency and the lessons his administration tried to learn from Clinton's presidency.
First, Obama looked to Clinton's failure on healthcare and overlearned the lessons there. Since Clinton handed Congress a finished document and expected them to pass as is - and that failed - Obama decided to let Congress create healthcare. This lead to a one year process that made the final product very unpopular.
Second, and far worse, Obama decided after the 2010 midterm losses to emulate Clinton's move the middle following the 1994 Republican revolution. Unfortunately, this didn't lead to moderate compromises and popularity for Obama. It has lead to an ugly and worthless budget compromise and nothing else. And low approval ratings for President Obama.
I believe that if Obama hadn't been so fixated on the Clinton model, he might have taken the process more slowly. Instead of declaring from the beginning that he was moving to the right, he could have said that the elections change who his partners are but don't change who he is. He could have said that he will see what Republicans bring to him and will go with an open mind. He would compromise on anything that will help the American people.
He went way too far, and he did it because he wanted to get re-elected. He saw how Clinton did it, and blindly followed his example. That was a mistake.
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