I was honored to attend policy briefings and a reception at the White House this week along with hundreds of activists and community leaders from around the country. It was a fascinating opportunity to take the temperature of the progressive base, in that participants represented a wide range of organizations working on everything from health care to immigration to the environment.
The media has reported widely about the left's dissatisfaction with the Obama administration. But if the enthusiasm I saw at the White House is at all reflective of broader trends, then the base is much more optimistic about the administration and the campaign than has been reported.
From what I could tell from the tone and content of question-and-answer sessions as well as one-on-one conversations that I had after the briefings, there was a near-consensus that the President has solved some of the nation's most critical problems:
(1) Preventing the economy from falling off a cliff. The economy was shrinking at an astounding annual rate of 7% when Obama took office. His policies brought us back from the brink;
(2) Providing health care for all. Obama got a pretty good bill through Congress, a bill that has extended coverage to more than 2 million kids. The bill has already saved lives and it will save many more;
(3) Ending the war in Iraq. It is difficult to end a war, even an unpopular one, but most of our troops are now home;
(4) Re-regulating the financial system. Dodd-Frank isn't Glass-Steagall, but it establishes important protections and enhances stability and transparency.
Stamping out unemployment is a top-priority area, of course, where the activists and community leaders agreed that the President has not yet had reached his goals. But everyone recognized that Republicans fought tooth and nail to block additional stimulus, and that the President's policies nonetheless yielded 20+ months in a row of private sector job growth.
And at the same time that he was ending a war and staving off economic collapse, the activists and community leaders were impressed that the President found Osama bin Laden, rescued the auto industry, got the START treaty through Congress, curtailed torture and cowboy diplomacy, ended "don't ask, don't tell," and appointed wise and thoughtful justices to the Supreme Court.
Everyone I spoke with recognizes that there is a lot of work left to be done, especially in the areas of climate change, labor policy, tax fairness and immigration. And, everyone wishes that health care and financial re-regulation bills were more expansive.
But folks agreed that by any reasonable standard, this administration's accomplishments have been historic. Their enthusiasm isn't just a reflection of distaste for the Republicans, but represents a genuine and, I believe, accurate sense that President Obama is an outstanding public servant.
The election is almost a year away, but the President's foot soldiers are ready to go.
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POSTSCRIPT: In reading the comments below, I am reminded of Nader voters in Florida who said in 2000 that there was no difference between Gore and Bush. I have been publicly critical of the Obama administration in the past, and I continue to agree wholeheartedly with the comments of a progressive leader who said just after the 2008 election that the left has to be just as tough and frank with Obama as he will be with us. All that said, this is an election year, and for anyone who is concerned about a Gingrich or Romney administration, it is time to have the President's back. My sense of the activists and community leaders who I met in Washington is that they are glad to take up the challenge.
I wish his administration was more transparent, as promised.
I wish he would have more backbone when dealing with Congress.
I wish he spent less time "campaigning" and more time pushing Congress. (but I have problems with ALL elected officials who run while holding office, it should be illegal, since incumbants can run on thier record...)
I wish he would stop being an activist, and start representing ALL Americans, not just the "have nots".
I wish his actions matched his retoric a little more often, but hey we have that problem with all politicos.
I wish he would realize that the Federal Government IS NOT the solution to all ills facing this country.
I wish he would find and VET better adminstrators for all positions he appoints, he keeps putting in unqualified and sometimes conflicted appointments, many of which helped create some of the problems we have now.
I wish he didn't hate a large portion of the Americas populance, because he doesn't understand them, ie gun toting, bible loving Americans.
I do not see how he can possibly lose this election. (If the Dems lose this election, they should just give it up.)
But I won't be helping, I cannot vote for him, I personaly don't trust the guy. But good luck.
B. everyone recognized that Republicans fought tooth and nail to block additional stimulus, and that the President's policies nonetheless yielded 20+ months in a row of private sector job growth.
What about this do you not understand?
"Providing health care for all. Obama got a pretty good bill through Congress, a bill that has extended coverage to more than 2 million kids. The bill has already saved lives and it will save many more."
The health care bill was worse than nothing, not only can I not afford health insurance (which I don't even want, I want health care) since 1993, now the IRS will fine me around $1k per year. Thanks for nothing (which would have been better).
In the 2010 election I wrote in "public option" for every office in which a left third party was not running (quite a few here in FL), and I will be doing the same in 2012.
we lost our jobs through no fault of our own.
-haven't gotten new jobs yet
we lost our home, ditto the no fault thing
-BO said he'd help us but didn''t
can't afford health care
-don't know if we'll live to see his far off health care "VOUCHERS"
have unemployment to barely get by on
-he's giving that away to get a pr tax cut for people who already have jobs
Yeah, what a guy that BO is!
we lost our jobs through no fault of our own. - Yeah you can blame Republican deregulation, wall street for that
-haven't gotten new jobs yet - Did you hear Republicans filibustered the jobs bill?
we lost our home, ditto the no fault thing - Maybe you should have applied for Obama's mortgage restructuring plan that didn't exist before.
-BO said he'd help us but didn''t - BO has worked almost singlehandedly to extend unemployment insurance for the middle class during the entirety of the recession.
can't afford health care - Thats what the ACA is addressing as it gets phased in.
-don't know if we'll live to see his far off health care "VOUCHERS" - What?
have unemploymeÂnt to barely get by on - Somehow BO doesn't get credit for this.
-he's giving that away to get a pr tax cut for people who already have jobs - There are a ton more people who will benefit from the payroll tax cut then unemployment.
People like you scare me. Please get all the facts and stop spreading bogus misinformation.
They prevented the economy from falling off a cliff, but it was utterly temporary, saving the rich and corporations, and no one else. With unemployment set to be so high for so long, and nothing being done about it, it's a generational fall. Not a cliff, but a rapidly descending fall. Good job.
Healthcare for all? Nope. Millions won't be covered and, because of administration efforts, nothing was done to control costs. It definitively did three things: more poor people got insurance, insurance companies got guaranteed profits, and everyone else gets pounded with ever higher costs. Mission accomplished.
The agreement to end the war was made under Bush.
Re-regulating finance? Nice joke. The largest banks keep growing. Dodd-Frank solved almost nothing. Consumers and investors remain unprotected. None were prosecuted. State's attorneys are the only ones trying, and this administration stands against them. Derivatives remain unregulated. And so on...
Still, I would have voted for Obama again anyway. Now Obama is poised to sign the NDAA, which removes the rule of law by removing the requirement that government to try those it accuses. Indefinite detention without trial. There was precedent for Bush temporarily removing habeus corpus. There's no precedent for removing the right to trial, and permanently enshrining that in law. I can't vote for this. Forget enthusiasm.
Being self-congratulatory really helps. This country is in deep trouble, and it's getting deeper. I'm disgusted.
And Mr. Belkin thinks we should support this President? Forget it.
NO