Is President Obama a Socialist?

One of the goals of The Pragmatic Center is to cut through all of the political posturing and media spin to get at the truth.  American politics has become more about perception than reality so the truth can be hard to reveal.  The two parties brand each other in ways that usually do not hold any truth.  The Republicans are not racist (actually studies show that minorities get more effective help from Republicans in Congress) and Democrats are not tax and spend liberals (that’s an old label from the days of the New Deal and Great Society, since then the party has moved decidedly towards the center and become more fiscally disciplined).  

The minority party tends to use political branding and posturing more in order to make themselves relevant.  In order to hamper the Democrat’s agenda, the Republicans tried to turn public opinion against them.  The best way to do that was to brand them as radicals and socialists.  That strategy seems to have worked.  When President Obama came into office, polls showed that voters would rather vote for Democrats by a five to ten point margin.  Since then the roles have reversed and now a majority of voters would rather vote for Republicans.  While the Democrats are winning policy battles, the Republicans are winning the political war.  But as someone once said, “A good political strategy is not the same as accurate policy analysis.” 

The Republicans have effectively branded Democrats including President Obama as radicals and socialists.  While it may be great politics to brand the President a socialist it is not the truth.  It’s as wrong as calling President Bush a fascist and Republicans racists.  But this is what politics in America has become; perception is more important than reality. 

What is the reality?  The link below is for an article by Norman Ornstein.  Ornstein is an influential political scientist who is respected by people of all ideological backgrounds.  Moreover, he works for the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank.  He analyzes the claim that President Obama is a radical socialist.  What is the truth? 

The crux of Ornstein's argument is that while he may not necessarily agree with Obama's policies, they are definitely not socialist nor radical.  In fact, they are more moderate than we usually see from a Democrat.  This is obvious given the fact that the left wing of the Democratic Party is frustrated with a majority of the president's policies.  So to label Obama as a radical socialist may be a good political strategy but it is not reality. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/13/AR2010041303686.html
If the link does not work try searching "Obama: A Great Socialist Smear"

• American Politics