Revisiting George Costanza’s “Worlds Collide” Theory — What Will Happen When The Obama Administration Doesn’t Function Like the Obama Campaign?
[Posted by WLS Shipwrecked]
I was reminded of the Seinfeld episode that introduced us to the George Costanza “Worlds Collide” theory when I read this article yesterday about how the “military-like” and “disciplined” Obama campaign was giving way to an Administration stuffed with out-sized political personalities.
GEORGE: By the way, have you spoken to Elaine yet today?
JERRY: No why?
GEORGE: She called Susan last night.
JERRY: Oh yeah, I know.
GEORGE: How do you know?
JERRY: Well it was my idea.
GEORGE: Your idea?
JERRY: Yeah.
GEORGE: Wha’d you do that for?
JERRY: She was looking for someone to go to the show with.
GEORGE: Well that was a really stupid thing! You know what’s going to happen now?
JERRY: World’s collide?
GEORGE: Whe … Well yeah!
JERRY: Because this world is your sanctuary and if that world comes into contact with —
GEORGE: YES! It Blows Up! So if you know that, what did you tell
Elaine for?JERRY: I didn’t know. Kramer told me about the worlds.
GEORGE: You couldn’t figure out the “World’s Theory” for yourself? It’s just common sense. Anybody knows, ya gotta keep your worlds apart.
JERRY: Yeah, I guess I slipped up.
….
GEORGE: Ah you have no idea of the magnitude of this thing. If she is allowed to infiltrate this world, then George Costanza as you know him, Ceases to Exist! You see, right now, I have Relationship George, but there is also Independent George. That’s the George you know, the George you grew up with — Movie George, Coffee shop George, Liar George, Bawdy George.
JERRY: I, I love that George.
GEORGE: Me Too! And he’s dying Jerry! If Relationship George walks through this door, he will Kill Independent George! A George, divided against itself, Cannot Stand!
(Maybe this is where all the Lincoln comparisons are coming from?).
I suspect Obama’s campaign world and his governing world are about to collide. Welcome to Washington President-Elect Obama, where those unwilling to take disappointment sitting down have made public dissent through press leaks into an art-form. The difference between a campaign staff and an Executive Branch administration is that the campaign staff all has one agenda — to get their guy elected.
Well, no such singular agenda exists in Washington, and Obama is laying a minefield for himself by assembling a Cabinet and Administration Staff that is overloaded with politicians who are quite comfortable airing policy differences in the media, regardless of who occupies the WH. They do so comfortable in the knowledge it’s not as easy to fire a Cabinet Officer or Chief of Staff as it is to sideline a campaign surrogate who goes off-message.
Colin Powell and Richard Armitage, the Secretary of State and Deputy Secretary of State, were so far off the reservation in 2003 and 2004 that Powell allowed a criminal investigation to infect the White House when both he and Armitage knew the person the investigators were looking for was Armitage — without ever giving the President so much as a courtesy call to say there person DOJ was looking for had an office only a few feet from Powell’s.
That is simply an example of why Obama is demonstrating himself to be unprepared for the ways of Washington by assembling the Cabinet in the manner in which he is. Hillary Clinton is a political personality in her own right, much like Powell. She’s not going to take orders from an Obama White House on matters of foreign policy where she disagrees with what she is told to do. She and her deputy, whoever it may be — and it’ll certainly be someone she selects — will conduct foreign policy in the manner in which she sees fit. Why would she even think to do otherwise?
The reality is that Obama is going to be hostage to the foreign policy that Hillary wants to conduct. If he makes her Secretary of State, he’ll quickly realize he has no adequate mechanism with which to make her adhere to his thinking. What’s he going to do, fire her? If you think Armitage and Powell were good sources for Bob Woodward’s books on the Bush White House, wait until he sits down with Bill Clinton if Hillary were to be canned at some point in the future.
So if he names her, he’s stuck with her and whatever she wants to do until she feels like she’s had enough.
Almost the same problem presents itself with Daschle at HHS. Health care reform is going to be a centerpiece domestic policy item in the first term. Daschle is a career legislator used to crafting the language of major pieces of legislation. He’s got a decades long working-relationship with Sen. Kennedy, whereas Obama was around for exactly zero years while Daschle was the Dem leader in the Senate.
So when it comes time to draft the Administration’s legislation, who will Daschle align himself with — Kennedy or Obama? Obviously he’ll say he’s advancing the President’s agenda with Congress but behind closed doors, if Daschle agrees on agenda items with Kennedy rather than Obama, what’s he likely to do?
These are all “Players” in Washington. They’re all used to fighting out policy differences in front of the cameras and in reporter’s notebooks. The Democrat party coalition is one of competing interests without a unifying theme.
I can’t wait for the nutroots to melt down in the coming weeks once they realize that Hillary is going to be Secretary of State and Robert Gates, CIA Director under Pres. Bush 41, President of Texas A&M (home of Bush 41 Presidential Library) and Sec.Def. under Bush 43, is going to remain as Sec.Def under Obama — and the troops in Iraq aren’t coming home any faster under Obama than they were under Bush.
Must stock up on popcorn.
Frankly, Obama better hope that there is a major terrorist attack on the US during his administration, because that’s about what it will take to distract from his pratfalls. His tax policy – in so far as it can be deduced – looks like a train wreck. His programs are either unfunded or grounds for more taxes than the economy is going to tolerate. His foreign policy thoughts seem to be firmly planted in Carterism. And he has raised very high expectations that he cannot possibly meet.
This isn’t going to be pretty.
I predict that his biggest problems are going to be with his ostensible allies in a Democrat controlled Congress. Lots of strong egos there too.
C. S. P. Schofield (2f879a) — 11/19/2008 @ 7:25 pmWhat happens when worlds collide? Obama and 60 million Kool-Aid drinkers will blame Bush.
Perfect Sense (9d1b08) — 11/19/2008 @ 7:28 pmSo, I guess it’s going to be Newman for Postmaster General.
Official Internet Data Office (777bfc) — 11/19/2008 @ 7:42 pmI’m in charge of NASA demanding an increase in the budget for upside-writing-capable pens.
Jack Klompus (b0e238) — 11/19/2008 @ 7:55 pmBummed that Daschle got HHS – I was lobbying for Crazy Joe Davolla.
I disagree with this post as it concerns Daschle. The guy was Senate Majority Leader one day and then was ejected by the voters of his own state the next. There is nothing more humiliating and humbling.
Since then, Daschle has been a non-entity, all but dropped off the earth. Not even a Newt Gingrich type who pops up every now and then on TV kind of post-power profile. I didn’t know he had written a book about health care since then until the HHS nomination story broke, and honestly, who did? So I don’t think he is going to come back roaring like a lion like he owns the place, he bears the scars of serious defeat and the knowledge that Obama was the one to bring him back from obscurity and give him a second chance at making history.
As it turns out, Daschle’s book on health care in detail closely corresponds to what Obama was saying abstractly on the stump. And you don’t get to be Senate leader of either party without understanding how Congress works and how to strong-arm votes, something Obama didn’t spend enough time in Congress to fully learn.
Daschle’s going to be HHS because he knows how to round up votes in Congress much better than Obama or his close advisers do, and his health care views largely correspond with Obama’s. Period.
Of any and all Obama Secretaries and high officials, I predict Daschle will be the one most totally on point and on the ranch. He’s got no where else to go other than back to ignoble obscurity, and a whole lot to gain with supporting a popular President trying to push through new programs that Daschle himself agrees with and can take some large credit for what with his pre-election book and all.
Aplomb (b6fba6) — 11/19/2008 @ 7:56 pmThanks for the Daschle info.
j.pickens (107f33) — 11/19/2008 @ 8:06 pmNow I’m going to have nightmares of Daschle, in full Mr. Rogers voice mode, running my doctor’s visits.
Also, re Daschle, even though the Left rails and rails about how money for Defense dominates the Fed budget, it is the spending for entitlements (SocSec, Medicare, etc) that actually looms over the budget like an overgrown Matterhorn – in excess of 45% of ALL Federal Spending.
Another Drew (a9b92d) — 11/19/2008 @ 8:27 pmAnd, at the center of entitlement spending, is HHS!
7. And that’s a mirror of the budgets in most large cities including I would assume, perhaps, Chicago? In Philadelphia the human services budget sucks the public booby dry in addition to the benefits for public employees past and present. Meanwhile the poverty, illiteracy and unemployment grows exponentially.
Jack Klompus (b0e238) — 11/19/2008 @ 8:35 pmYou have a public education system that doesn’t, that begets generations of people who can’t find gainful employment, who are consigned to a life of poverty.
Another Drew (a9b92d) — 11/19/2008 @ 8:59 pmUnless, and until, we turn the public education system up-side-down, and demand that it perform as it was intended and not as another employee-benefit organization (such as the Big-3 in Detroit), the cycle will continue.
Nice to see I’m not the only one who loves to see life imitate Seinfeld.
Here’s what I wrote about Christopher Buckley’s vapid Obama endorsement: “Christo Buckley’s ‘Yada Yada Yada’: Why Elaine from Seinfeld Makes More Sense”
L.N. Smithee (123231) — 11/19/2008 @ 9:13 pmJack Klompus wrote: Bummed that Daschle got HHS – I was lobbying for Crazy Joe Davolla.
Crazy Joe would be best for Secret Service. He’s a killing machine. For HHS, I was holding out for Dr. Van Nostrand.
L.N. Smithee (123231) — 11/19/2008 @ 9:33 pmFunctioning like the “Obama campaign” isn’t a very high standard, you know. I mean, ya, the guy won, but was anyone keeping count of how many times him and Biden gaffed? At one point immediately after Palin was named, Hewitt said, “Not only are the wheels coming off the campaign, but the engine is on fire.”
Even if he was exaggerating, it remains true that they didn’t exactly run a tight ship.
However, I love it when you say, “The Democrat party coalition is one of competing interests without a unifying theme.” Spot on…lets hope the Repubs don’t devour ourselves like that in the post-election blame game.
Perfect Sense said, “What happens when worlds collide? Obama and 60 million Kool-Aid drinkers will blame Bush.”
Ya, I’ve gotten the same sense (minus the Kool-Aid part); Obama has a bit of a free pass. Given that public opinion of Bush is so low, he might be able to pawn a lot of downfall from his own management off onto Bush. Hey, people do it all the time today, “I’m late to work…stupid Bush,” “I lost my job. It’s not because I’m dim witted, its that dang Bush.”
Rich Bordner (48c00b) — 11/19/2008 @ 9:35 pmStill, the real ticking time bomb is Hillary. I predict that if she becomes Sec of State, some time in 2011 she will pull a Bobby Kennedy on Obama.
If you recall, RFK was originally Attorney General for LBJ (inherited from JFK). But he left in 1964 to run for Senate. Once there, he turned against LBJ and the Vietnam War, and ran against him in 1968.
I think Hillary will find some cause to oppose Obama, and go for the nomination in 2012.
Of course, this could just be the drugs talking.
JayC (bcc7a8) — 11/19/2008 @ 9:45 pmJackie Chiles for AG!
“Who told you to investigate online campaign donations? Did I tell you to investigate online campaign donations? Nobody investigates online campaign donations unless I tell them to. You understand? Damn right you understand!”
cts22 (093cce) — 11/19/2008 @ 9:47 pmHillary will be running the world to prove she can do it better than Obama. And I bet she’s right.
Obama has the abject adoration of the media and little else in his tool kit.
Either he is a genius and I’m wrong and the country will be run brilliantly, or the Obama balloon is leaking serious air. Either way, it’s good for the country. The only thing worse than Obama as president is McCain as president and Obama as cult figure.
Patricia (ee5c9d) — 11/19/2008 @ 9:51 pmObama just wants to be president. He doesn’t have real clear plans on what he wants to do. If he can delegate foreign policy to Clinton, AND BLAME HER IF/WHEN THINGS GO WRONG,
Mike S (d3f5fd) — 11/20/2008 @ 5:00 am“So when it comes time to draft the Administration’s legislation, who will Daschle align himself with — Kennedy or Obama? Obviously he’ll say he’s advancing the President’s agenda with Congress but behind closed doors, if Daschle agrees on agenda items with Kennedy rather than Obama, what’s he likely to do?”
In what ways do you think Daschle and Obama would disagree? I figure what Obama is doing this because he calculates that increasing the chances of health reform passing is worth whatever he gives up by having a less competent loyalist attempt reform but have less chances at success.
As to Hillary, I think obama was genuine when in the campaign he said he welcomed her working for him. Frankly I think she knows there’s only so much she can do. I think she may calculate that she has more of a future as a senate fixture… the next Kennedy.
Then again there’s just something to be said for the president that picks based on skills and competence, rather than loyalty. This may be hard for fans of the last 8 years to understand, but we’re in a good place if this is a big concern.
imdw (cb7581) — 11/20/2008 @ 5:30 am“Functioning like the “Obama campaign” isn’t a very high standard, you know.”
Just look how that all turned out!
imdw (cb7581) — 11/20/2008 @ 5:38 amObama’s campaign worked as well as it did largely because they had an adoring press pool. That wont change once he is president.
Mike H (8e1a88) — 11/20/2008 @ 6:31 amMr. Pitt would be a good treasury secretary given his ability to accumulate vast wealth, but he might never show up to meetings because he’s too entranced by the magic eye paintings.
Jack Klompus (cf3660) — 11/20/2008 @ 7:43 amThe “Worlds Collide” theory is a great metaphor for the general BDS unwind the Obambites are going to have to engineer in the gullible lefty population. As an example, the NYT (fishwrap, eastern version) has suddenly realized that the civil liberty endangering Justice Department, Bush edition, has for years really be too conservative only in it’s unwillingness to seek FISA warrants!
Lets see, so far we have: 1)95% tax cut goes to zero (because we can’t pay bailouts and cut taxes), 2) corp tax increase might really be a cut (if Chollie Rangel has his way), 3) “Change” really meant the Clinton presidency redux, 4) “no torture” policy really meant, “except when we need to torture”, 5)talk to Iran really meant “I’ll ask Hillary, the woman who said in the primary debate she would be willing to “bomb Iran to smithereens”, to talk to Iran…”
Change and hope, baby, change and hope.
MTF (17058c) — 11/20/2008 @ 10:33 amThe military precision of “THE ONE” was really the overwhelming MSM love and money outside the standard deviation of traditional presidential campaigns.
jkstewart2 (0ddf83) — 11/20/2008 @ 10:38 amAnd in other health-related news: Obama — the Chosen One, the Messiah, the Lightworker here to lead us out of the darkness — cannot stop smoking.
He’s worried about his daughters being “punished with a baby”; meanwhile, he might die from lung cancer while they’re still adolescents.
Hopey-Changey!
Icy Truth (aedb2f) — 11/20/2008 @ 10:40 amImdw,
Yes…
Obviously, you have to run a decent campaign to win. I acknowledged that in my comment. I still don’t think it was a stellar campaign…the media gave him a pass on mistakes that should have cost him dearly.
Would he have won without that helping hand? Hard to tell (McCain had his own mistakes…its almost like the person that won was the person that wanted to lose the least), but the race *definitely* would have been much closer.
Rich Bordner (ab3562) — 11/20/2008 @ 11:43 amI wonder what slogan Obama will run with in 2012. I am sure it’s not going to be “Change”. That mantra will belong to the Reps then. Question is, will that be the mood of the nation then?
love2008 (1b037c) — 11/20/2008 @ 1:47 pmSHRINKAGE! SHRINKAGE!
fmfnavydoc (9846b2) — 11/20/2008 @ 5:43 pmThe One is a smoker?
So we have hope eh?
Da'Shiznit (089453) — 11/20/2008 @ 6:50 pmIn 2012, there will be no daily newspapers or magazines left in business to adulate Obama. For example, the stock of The New York Times fell another 9.9 percent today, closing at $5.72, a new 52-week low. In June 2002, Times stock was worth over $51 a share.
Official Internet Data Office (bc2687) — 11/20/2008 @ 6:52 pmToo Handsome. Too Young. Too Liberal. Doesn’t have a chance. He’s PERFECT!
In the immortal words of Bill McKay – “What do we do now?”
Horatio (55069c) — 11/21/2008 @ 6:06 amWe’re already witnessing Obama and his leftist illuminati administration operating differently than his campaign. He has broken his promise of bipartisan politics and has been off on his tax cut projections. It’s only going to get worse from here on out.
Jeff (325ebe) — 11/21/2008 @ 4:20 pm