Clarity, Powerline Blog, Mar. 1, 2009.

We shouldn't be surprised by the radicalism of Obama's domestic agenda. He was, after all, the most liberal member of the Senate. And he found congenial both the preaching of Rev. Wright and the educational agenda of William Ayers. There was a chance that Obama would grow in office but, as many of us argued, this was always a long-shot.

Obama's unwillingness, as a formal matter, to take Republican views on domestic issues seriously should not be surprising either. There is no room for meaningful discussion between radicals and non-radicals. It is true that Obama has a reputation for listening to conservatives. Supposedly, as head of the law review at Harvard, he took conservatives seriously. And it is said that in the Illinois legislature, he would sometimes tweak legislation to accommodate Republican concerns.