(Updated with video) Greg Sargent: "The moderate, centrist elite does not speak for moderate voters"

UPDATE: Rachel Maddow on The Today Show this morning (MEDIAite), with video (03:45):

Maddow continued to push back on the idea that the President has a problem with the base, and cited broad public support for his latest policy proposals.

Greg Sargent:

My pick for read of the morning is this piece by Politico’s Glenn Thrush, which gently skewers the caterwauling of the moderate elite (Mark Penn, David Brooks) about Obama’s new populist approach.

With the claim gaining currency that Obama’s jobs bill and push to hike high end taxes are all about appealing to the base, and are certain to further alienate independents and moderates, it’s worth reiterating that the use of terms like “moderate” and “centrist” by such opinionnmakers is entirely arbitrary. They have nothing to do with where the center of public opinion, if such a place even exists, actually lies.

As Thrush puts it, saying what must never be said in polite centrist company:

Polls show the major components of the plan, particularly the tax hikes on families earning $250,000 or more — and the “Buffett tax” on millionaires, polls well with all voters, including swing state independents.

This happens to be true. Key takeaway: Self-proclaimed centrist and moderate opinionmakers and pollster types do not speak for moderate voters. MORE from Sargent's The Morning Plum...