I’m not saying it would have been smart for Barack Obama and Harry Reid to lead radical protest marches, but it would have been smart of them to see it as beneficial if someone was doing so. The dynamic in the House GOP where the Tea Party caucus sometimes annoys John Boehner but also repositions him as a moderate and reasonable guy and gives him leverage in the process.

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But Team Obama didn’t want progressive groups to put people in the streets back when he was powerful and prestigious enough that such protests could have given him a commanding position in the center of American politics.

I do love the idea that it's up to President Obama whether or not lefties stage mass protests. As if people are standing around waiting for the go-ahead from the fucking party leadership before they go march in the street.

"Hmmm... I think what I need here is a rowdy leftward foil to play against. Somebody put those hippies in the streets, stat!"