Washington, Aug 1 (IANS) Even as the world heaved a sigh of relief over a deal to raise America’s debt limit to avoid a catastrophic US default, liberal media denounced it as a capitulation by President Barack Obama.
The media coverage of the debt-ceiling deal reached Sunday largely presented it as stemming from Obama’s willingness to accede to Republican demands with Politico noting ‘For the second time this year, the president has had to yield ground on domestic appropriations.’
‘The result is a real change in the direction and ambitions of government,’ said the influential news site focusing on presidential and Congressional politics.
The Los Angeles Times suggested ‘the emerging details of the framework had some Obama allies on edge’ and the New York Times, in an editorial titled, ‘To Escape Chaos, A Terrible Deal,’ referred to ‘a nearly complete capitulation to the hostage-taking demands of Republican extremists.’
Congressional Black Caucus chairman Representative Emanuel Cleaver ‘called it ‘a sugar-coated Satan sandwich.”
Many analysits in major papers concluded that the drawn-out debate has undermined Obama’s support, though some argued that he, in fact, scored a key political victory by avoiding another debt ceiling debate while he is seeking re-election.
The CBS Evening News said the White House ‘know[s] the liberal wing of the Democratic Party is very upset, but they also feel those people will come around. … And here’s the other little secret: they’re really targeting the people in the middle, the independents who voted for Barack Obama in 2008.’
The Washington Post, similarly said the President came out a ‘winner’ because he ‘needed a deal of some sort to prove that he was capable of making the government work.’
‘Remember that Obama’s target constituency in 2012 is…independent and moderate voters. And those fence-sitters love compromise,’ it added.
The USA Today noted Obama ‘has seen his approval rating fall to a new low, his political adeptness questioned and his liberal base enraged over compromises he made on line-in-the-sand issues such as protecting Medicare from cuts.’
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)
