Why did Obama stay out?
Maybe it’s the old Chicago political maxim: “Don’t make no waves; don’t back no losers.”
… on very low turnout.
A friend suggests that Obama’s reluctance to get more deeply involved might have reflected an old maxim of Chicago politics: “Don’t make no waves, don’t back no losers.”
In case you hadn’t noticed, Obama, Plouffe, and Axelrod are smarter about politics than I am. But I wish they’d decided to fight this one, win or lose.
Author: Mark Kleiman
Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out.
Books:
Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken)
When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist
Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993)
Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989)
UCLA Homepage
Curriculum Vitae
Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com
View all posts by Mark Kleiman