WHAT BECAME OF THE 'NEW' NEW DEAL?

Theda Skocpol, Obama and America's Political Future, with commentaries by Larry M. Bartels, Mickey Edwards, & Suzanne Mettler (Cambridge, Massachusetts, & London, England, 2012) ("Americans are, in short, philosophical conservatives and operational liberals. This means that even if Americans approve many specific measures furthered by President Obama and the Democrats, popular worries could be stroked by political opponents, As a young, change-oriented president, Obama would have faced such worries under any circumstances. But the spreading economic distress of 2009 and 2010 generated genuine fear that was readily exploited by political foes who equated even mild government activism with 'radicalism'." Id at 11-12. "Obama's failure to engage more consistently in high-profile public leadership on the economy constitutes, in an important sense, democratic political-malpractice. For much of his first tern, Obama botched a central function of the presidency in a period of economic crisis--and if he is not reelected to a second term, his early shortfall  in this vital area of democratic communication will be a significant part of the explanation." Id. at 37-38.).