Michael Barone explores for the Washington Examiner the popular reaction to the Obama administration’s ambitious agenda:
Some of the most important things in history are things that didn’t happen — even though just about everyone thought they would.
Recent example: Scads of liberals gleefully predicted that the financial crisis and deep recession would destroy Americans’ faith in markets and increase their confidence in Big Government. Many conservatives gloomily feared they were right.
Hasn’t happened. If anything, public opinion has moved in the other direction, with most Americans rejecting the stimulus package and the health care bill, denying that government action is needed to address global warming, and expressing negative feelings about labor unions.
How to explain this? One way is to see the public’s reaction as opposition to governance by an alliance of Big Units — Big Government, Big Business and Big Labor.
Remember that Barone will help the John Locke Foundation assess the politcal landscape during an election preview panel discussion Sept. 29 in Raleigh.
