First ?Newsweek? reporter Andrew Sullivan made a compelling case the President had reversed course, ending his doomed Republican appeasement strategy. This week, Ryan Lizza, Washington correspondent for ?The New Yorker? entered the fray.
Lizza obtained hundreds of internal White House memos written by the President?s closest advisers. According to Lizza, the memos don?t just show the evolution of a President, they detail the development of an ideology.
Lizza divides the memos into seven categories:
? The deficit ? Obama?s advisers didn?t get Dick Cheney?s memo that deficits don?t matter. They warned Obama of the potential political fallout from increased deficit spending.
? The stimulus ? According to Lizza, it was the President?s financial advisers and not Congress who limited the size of the stimulus package.
? The trouble with Hillary ? Aides argued over going negative on Hillary Clinton during the election.
? Healthcare ? Obama cared more about his public persona than shaping a truly transformative healthcare plan.
? The state of the union ? In 2010, advisors urged the President to use his bully pulpit to distance himself from Congress on budget issues.
? More trouble with Hillary ? Now Secretary of State, Clinton balked at having her department budget reduced and voiced her frustration in a six-page memo to Obama.
? Good Captain Kirk versus bad Captain Kirk ? Though he loathed partisan politics, Obama eventually realized the need to carry a big stick in addition to speaking softly.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
