Shapes

Political Triangulation

How It's Used

"And lest you ('you' meaning our House Republican readers) think that the president plans to abandon you during this tough process, Roll Call's Crabtree writes, 'Senior White House adviser Karl Rove has sworn off the concept of "triangulating" his fellow Republicans, the approach to Congress once synonymous with the Clinton administration. At a closed-door House Republican leadership retreat last Wednesday, Rove repeatedly stressed that the concept of 'triangulation' does not work and said President Bush would not alienate House Republicans by moving to the center, leaving them isolated in efforts to rally the party's conservative base.'"

“At the heart of that game-playing was the sin of what Obama called 'triangulation and poll-driven politics.' Triangulation has become almost a curse word in some Democratic circles, standing for selling out on principles and using liberals as foils for deal-making with Republicans. To engage in triangulation, as Obama and his supporters defined it, was a selfish act. It built political power for Clinton but not for the party he led, as Obama explained in one debate. It is because of this worldview that Obama famously picked Reagan over Clinton when talking about leaders who had genuinely transformed the country. Maybe as a term of her surrender, Clinton will demand a paean to Clintonism.”

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