How was Obama influenced by inside-the-beltway politics?
They looked at the last two Democratic presidents, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, and both of those presidents came in with a lot of people from outside. They had a really hard time dealing with Congress. So Obama thought, “OK, I’m already bringing all the Chicago people with me, so I need to bring in legislative insiders who will know how to work with Congress.” The problem is [that] it seemed like on healthcare and on other issues, Congress was setting the agenda and not the president. People saw the legislation being passed in a very business-as-usual way, and they didn’t like that. Now Obama looks like the inside-the-beltway, Washington insider, which is exactly what he ran against. Was it possible for the president to maintain the outsider image? What the Obama people should have done better is figure out how to present him as a reformist outsider who was trying to change Washington. He views himself that way, and they’re trying to present him that way, but when he’s just very def
