The essence of Roberto Unger’s three-week-old YouTube video, which explained why he believes President Obama does not deserve to be re-elected, is bluntly phrased but more or less correct. Obama has failed to advance the progressive cause in the United States, true, because he is a center-right conservative with an aversion to political combat and bringing pain into the lives of his opponents, which is what any good politician must do.
But Unger is an egghead purist. He is essentially saying “this man is not what he seemed — he is certainly not doing what many of us would have him do — so let’s pull the temple down upon our heads and let Romney win.” And that is insane.
