I had missed it last week, but I just ran across this link, to something Keith Olbermann said on his show Thursday night, that got me thinking: Olbermann is going to run for president, perhaps as soon as 2012. That's right, KO could well seek to k.o. Barack Obama.
Does that sound crazy? Why would a liberal, Olbermann, challenge another liberal, Obama? And whatever gave Olby the right to think that he could run for any office, to say nothing of the top office? Well, please read and/or listen to this clip, as transcribed by The Huffington Post, detailing an "interview" that Olby conducted with Eugene Robinson, a regular yes-man on "Countdown":
"What good does it profit a man to win a bill and lose the base of his party?" Robinson warned that Obama should tread carefully on health care reform and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan because "you don't want to see the progressive caucus in a foul mood."
Olbermann agreed, adding that "He's compromised on everything so far and as self-defeating as it may be, the progressive caucus and progressives would abandon him if necessary, if this was to be the policy of this administration into 2012. If it's necessary to find somebody else to run against him, I think they'd do it, no matter how destructive that may seem at face value."
Well, there you have it: Olbermann says that it might be a good idea for someone to run against Obama, inside the Democratic primaries in 2012. Now the last time there was such a intra-party Democratic primary challenge was 1980, when Teddy Kennedy challenged President Jimmy Carter--Kennedy lost in the primaries, of course, but Carter lost the general election, to Ronald Reagan. And the last time before that in the Democratic party was 1968, when Eugene McCarthy challenged President Lyndon Johnson,and the Democrats lost that year, too. So Olbermann was right when he said that it would be "destructive" to the Democrats, but he also said such a run would be "necessary," if Obama doesn't straighten up and fly right--I mean, left.
In the zealous world of the ideological far left, every compromise is seen as a betrayal of principle. As heresy. And we all know what happens to heretics.
OK, but what does that have to Olbermann to be the heretic-burner? Why should he run? How could he run? And the answer is to be found in the changing dynamics of politics, and the greater influence of cable news over hearts and minds. There's a reason why The Cable Game is so much fun--because politics is largely conducted now, via cable news--that's where you go to make news or to make a point. Beck. Hannity. O'Reilly. Olbermann. Pick your favorite, decide who you love or loathe, but either way, those are the folks that you know well, because you see so much of them, hours and hours a week. Cable is the new political arena.
So Chris Matthews flirted with running for the Senate earlier this year, and there are rumors now about Joe Scarborough and even Sean Hannity.
But of all those, the TV figure who is the most relentlessly political and ideological, by far, is Olbermann. That's a big reason why he is so beloved by his small niche of fans, who follow him on Daily Kos, as well as on TV. Olby has a genuine following. And if he lacks the sort of qualifications one normally expects in a presidential candidate--prior elective office, military experience, a solid family life--well, tough. Rules are meant to be broken. These are desperate times, and desperate measures are called for. There's never been anyone like Keith, has there?
In the meantime, if Olby keeps saying that Obama needs a primary challenge, well, he will eventually talk himself into it. His pride and honor will be at stake--and anything is better to him than a loss of face.
If he went to Iowa, if he went to New Hampshire, he would cause a sensation. People would flock to see him, and if he could 100,000 or so Iowans and New Hampshireites to vote for him, he would derail Obama, even if Obama was the incumbent president. Now, of course, the Obama administration would do anything it needed to do to derail such a challenge. And right now, it must be said, I have only a TCG hunch that Olbermann has any such '12 intention. So no need for David Axelrod to worry.
Unless, of course, Axelrod is thinking ahead, and playing the possibilities. If Obama is forced to give in on health care--that is, make some compromise with Republicans to get a bill through--that would send the far left into overdrive. And who better to lead the challenge, on behalf of the left, than the well known Olbermann?
But would Olbermann even be interested? The answer to that question depends on how long you think he is going to be happy at MSNBC. He's getting paid $7 million a year, but you can just look at him on TV and see that he is not happy. Of course, he is probably not happy anywhere, at any time, but he will probably always think that he could be happier if he were just doing something different than what he is doing. It still probably rankles KO that he, the legendary tell-it-like-it-is tough guy, was actually the only person on television who seems to have abided by the truce--and his audience knows it. His aud knows in its heart of lefty hearts, that The Great Keith sold out to corporate power.
So how will Olbermann deal with that anxiety, in his fans, as well as himself? Well, one way would be to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he is the great and fearless champion of the Left, so great and fearless that he is even willing to challenge a Democratic president. It would put him in the history books, in a way that he won't get, leading a #25-ranked TV network. And even if he didn't beat Obama in '12, he would be a political force to be reckoned with for the rest of his life. Born in 1959, he has plenty of time to seek a political fortune, either in New York State, where he is from, or on the national stage.
Once you think about it, the idea of Olbermann runnings makes more and more sense. He could win--at least the Democratic nomination. And if he were to get the nomination, what about the Republicans? Well, we know what Olbermann thinks of Republicans; he probably figures that he could clobber any of them in a debate, and thereby maybe swing the election in his favor.
I realize that it's a far-out scenario, but Olbermann was the one on TV talking about challenging Obama. He started it, and yet given the way that his mind works, I will bet that he thinks that he is the one to finish it.
The question, of course, is what Olbermann's alleged bosses at NBC and GE will do. Olbermann has made it clear, ever since he forced the firing of David Shuster, and the hiring of Rachel Maddow, that he calls the shots at MSNBC. But how will Jeff Zucker and Jeff Immelt feel if they think that they are nurturing, in their corporate bosom, a challenger to their favorite president, Barack Obama? After all, GE thinks that it has a pretty sweet deal right now: MSNBC supports Obama, and in return, the federal government supports GE. Figured out on a dollar-for-dollar basis, MSNBC is a most cost-effective lobbying tool for GE.
But that cynical calculus is predicated on the idea that MSNBC and all its talent, will support Obama. What if Olbermann turns on Obama? That's not so good. The White House wouldn't like it, that's for sure. Would the White House, and the Treasury Department, keep bailing out GE and GE Capital if Olbermann were trashing the White House all the time--to say nothing of plotting and scheming a run for the White House?
It's all hunchwork on my part right now, but Olbermann let the cat out of the bag last week, with talk of a political challenge. That's where the left is headed: In an anti-Obama direction. The One has let them down. And if that's where the left is headed, something tells me that KO wants to be the leader.
The Cable Gamer always thought, prior to the stock market meltdown, that GE would unload NBC after the '08 elections. That didn't happen, perhaps because GE saw value in keeping MSNBC around. But that assessment could change, rapidly, if Olbermann keeps on his present anti-Obama course.
UPDATE: Reader Dan corrects me: "Olbermann forced the firing of Dan Abrams, not David Shuster, who is still well ensconsed at MSNBC "dayside".
