In Washington, historical precedents should only be handled by trained professionals and the bomb squad. Nothing, aside from political timidity, has fostered more bad policies than the misremembering and misapplication of history. …
Right now, many Democrats, including some on Capitol Hill and in the White House, are adopting the wrong lessons from the political failures of Barack Obama in 2009 and 2010. …
What activists and, yes, some White House aides fail to understand is that legislating usually takes time. Legislative majorities in a nation as varied and as unruly as America rarely move in total lockstep fashion. The kind of speed associated with Franklin Roosevelt’s One Hundred Days and Lyndon Johnson’s civil rights triumphs was only possible because of overwhelming congressional majorities.
That’s why Democrats should maintain a sense of realism about what is possible with skin-of-your-teeth margins in both chambers of Congress. CONTINUED
Walter Shapiro, Roll Call
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