10-09-2010, 02:07 AM
"First, he \"came to office believing that there was such a thing as a moderate Republican wing,\" said Frank. Referring to the tea party movement and other signs of a conservative resurgence, he added, \"I think he underestimated the extent to which what we've now seen come to fruition was already holding onto them.\"
Obama \"said he was going to be 'post-partisan,'\" said Frank, which didn't work, partly because of the tea-party-friendly political climate. The members of Congress Obama would have needed to work with in order to truly transcend partisan divisions faced political pressure not to cooperate with him. According to Frank, \"not even the moderates, but the mainstream conservatives, are frightened\ by the wave of right-wing populism picking up steam around the country. wrote:
more Frankness here