I was having too much coffee with a professor of strategy, and had a thought inspired by the recent electoral results and the last 2 years. One obvious point is that the Republicans are much more strategic than Democrats. The latter win the occasional battle, but the former keep the war in mind.

Proposal:

Convince the Democrat party machinery to immediately let President Obama stop rowing farther and further to the right in order to placate unwinnable votes from across the aisle. This has proven to be a useless course of action. Recall Lieberman filibustering the Health Insurance Act because it contained the Lieberman plan for Medicare buy-in.

Obama can embrace his original moderate position that reactionary Republicans have successfully framed as Lunatic Left Wing. Hold fast to principles of long term growth and fairness, of paying for what we get, of letting science inform decisions preferentially over bottom line considerations, and of enforcing equal rights for all. Then lean even farther to the left, and show America what left wing really is.

As 2011 draws to a close, groom some now-apparently-more-moderate Democrat for the primary. Let Obama lose his bid for an immediate second term; he can return after 4 years.

Meanwhile, hope the Tea Party succeeds in its bid to put some right wing nutcase on the Republican ticket. They’ve had shocking success at such in this just past election, including the new senator who wants to repeal the Civil Rights Act. Think Palin and Paul in 2012!

I suspect that we’ll have not only independents, but lifetime Republicans wondering whether voting Democrat isn’t really their best bet.