Obama's Choice

thenation.com — At the "centerpiece of this campaign," Newt Gingrich told adoring followers after winning the South Carolina primary, is a fundamental choice: between "American exceptionalism" and "the radicalism of Saul Alinsky." We can opt for the vision of the founders or that of community organizer Alinsky; for a paycheck president or a "food stamp president." Redbaiting and dog-whistle racism may have given Gingrich his lift in the Palmetto State, but the dichotomy he posed is not new. It is simply a gutter version of the common Republican frame for this election. In more measured words, Mitt Romney accuses President Obama of trying to transform America from an "opportunity society" into a "European-style entitlement society." In his State of the Union address, President Obama also offered a clear choice—but the one he posed is between those who would return to the failed policies that led to recession and those who would build a new foundation for the economy

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