President Obama, who claimed McCain would carry on the Bush legacy, is the one now following in George W.'s size 12s.
It wasn't that long ago conservatives blasted Bush for "selling them out" on issues such as "No Child Left Behind," steel tariffs and Medicare expansion.
How else do you explain this administration's consistent inability to jump off the fence and pick a side? Look at the so-called surge in Afghanistan. President Obama committed just enough to upset the left (and render his vice-president irrelevant) but with a deadline that sent Republicans into an exasperated frenzy. And never mind the Nobel Prize committee members who are probably wondering what the hell just happened.
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Now we have a late-night Senate deal that jettisons the public option in favor of an expanded, opt-in Medicare program. So, once again the left is seething and the right is dissatisfied. Details remain sketchy on the specifics of this new compromise, but one thing you can count on is an inflated price tag.
Thing is, Bush the Second eventually learned that governing from the middle satisfies no one and alienates everyone. How long will it take Obama? And how much will it cost?
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