The Buck Stops with the Guy Before Me

I had a V-8 moment reading the Jonah Goldberg’s conclusion on Obama’s new reelection strategy:

In recent weeks, it seems that the White House has discovered that, barring an entirely unforeseen economic boom, the Reagan analogy is a non-starter for them. That spells an ironic challenge for Obama, because it probably means that he will have to run a base election whereby he galvanizes his core supporters and hopes red meat and turnout numbers will save him. In short, it means the president will be emulating George W. Bush’s re-election strategy even as he pins all his problems on George W. Bush.

See, Obama was going to run as Reagan, because we were supposed to have this big economic boom. Only, as you might have heard, that didn’t quite pan out. And — follow me closely here — you can’t run on a Reaganesque economy unless you run a Reaganesque economy.

Obama ran as the anti-Bush, but has governed as the Mecha Bush — Bigger deficits, bigger spending, bigger Wall Street lunacy. And, predictably, the Mecha Bush has rampaged its way through the economy.

Like a rebellious teenager failing his classes, the President can either blame his parents, or come to grips with his own shortcomings.

It’s much more comorting to blame Bush. And besides, Obama has so much practice at it.