President Obama jumped head first into the fiscal cliff negotiations today, not by sitting down to actually negotiate with anyone, but by making a pest of himself and an army of pests of his supporters. He rolled out a Twitter hashtag designed to put pressure on congressional Republicans.
Mr. Obama is promoting the hashtag #My2K to continue to the conversation about a potential tax increase on the middle class if Bush-era tax cuts are allowed to expire. The keyword #My2K was chosen specifically because, according to the White House, a middle class family of four could see a tax increase of about $2,220.
So Barack Obama is now campaigning on Twitter to preserve tax policies that he has derided for more than four years? Yeah, that’s our president. Campaign against something because your base hates it, then embrace it because it’s actually the right policy. Bonus: His base won’t care!
The #My2K campaign is an admission that Bush’s tax policies ought to be preserved, but don’t expect the president or his supporters to admit that. Don’t expect the media to call him out on it either. He may get one or two jibes about it from Ed Henry or Jake Tapper at the White House press flogging, which could go viral if the exchanges get hot enough, but that’s about it.
Please don’t misunderstand this post, either. I was among those who derided Obama’s leadership by Twitter cycle before Nov. 6, but it clearly worked for him. It may work for him here too.
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