Obama Is Not RFK

Last Friday, Americans endured another punishing jobs report. Virtually no new jobs were created in America in June.

Last Sunday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told the nation that many Americans will suffer from the hardest economic times of their lives for a long time to come.

Ronald Reagan once asked whether voters were better off than they were four years ago. If President Obama believes what Secretary Geithner said Sunday he will be telling many voters in 2012 they will not be much better off four years from now.

This is not acceptable. This is not the "fierce urgency of now." This is not what the Democratic Party stands for. Promises of perpetual pain are not what voters want or deserve from leaders today.

Lest Republicans enjoy my criticism of the president, I believe there is now an economically unpatriotic wing of the GOP. They express partisan joy with every new job loss. They oppose new jobs programs with an obstructionism reminiscent of segregationist senators during the dark days of the antebellum South. Their politics is a cult of unpatriotism in which some Americans die for their country while the wealthiest Americans are not asked to pay taxes equal to those of their receptionist, and the wealthiest companies are not asked to pay any taxes at all.

We miss one of the most revered presidents in American history, who lifted our sights and our standards: John F. Kennedy. We miss that passionate protagonist who united the races behind shared economic interests: Robert Kennedy. We miss the Lion of the Senate who would be roaring today for more programs to create jobs, as he roared in 2008 to elect President Obama: Edward Kennedy.

If God would grant me one political wish, it would be that Barack Obama would fully understand the greatness of Robert Kennedy.

RFK did not criticize the base of the great political party he wanted to lead the nation. RFK did not believe in the false notion that the way to appeal to political independents is to demean, distance himself or triangulate against the heart and soul of this party. This is an insult to the Democratic heritage, an insult to political independents, and the way to lose elections as Democrats lost in 2010.

JFK fought for a rising tide that would lift all boats. RFK carried that torch with honor. He spoke passionately for the poor and profoundly about the dignity of work. The result (are you listening, Mr. President?) is that many white working-class voters who ultimately voted for the racist George Wallace in 1968 stood with RFK as their first choice because they knew he was fighting for them.

What voters want today (are you listening, Mr. President?) are leaders who fight for them as Robert Kennedy fought for them against greedy powers that cheat them, and impersonal forces that crush them, and depress them, and keep them down, and tell them they must quietly acquiesce to their fate of long-term suffering and pain.

Voters don't care, Mr. President, about how much you distance yourself from various Democrats or maneuver yourself between various factions in a system they believe is corrupt, hostile to their interests, and alien to the notion of the American Dream.

Voters want to know how their president will fight to lift them out of their economic pain, battle to create the jobs they hunger for and stand up for their dignity as men and women, moms and dads, workers and human beings who only ask for a fair shake and a square deal in an America where the pain is never permanent and the dream is never dead.

This is why Robert Kennedy was so special. This is why Barack Obama was elected in 2008. This is what voters want today. This is what real Democrats stand for yesterday, today and tomorrow.

This column was originally published at The Hill.

 

Comments

[JimR]

12:20 PM on 07/14/2011

Enough with the Kennedy worship. Of course Obama doesn't match up to JFK or RFK in your eyes. No living human being is capable of that, because over the years, liberals have elevated their status into that of legendary demi-gods who could do no wrong.

[Poboy]

09:35 AM on 07/14/2011

If you want to go down memory lane, you don't need a good long stroll, just back to Democratic primary road, and look at the Obama then and the Obama now, it's like they are two different people.

In other words, we were sold campaign promises that Obama had no intention of delivering.

Which means we were deceived.

He did it once, he won't have another opportunity.

At least with me.

[Countess]

08:27 AM on 07/14/2011

If you listen to the beltway media Obama still has the support of the vast majority of democrats and should this turn out to be true than we will have to admit that the democratic party is much more right wing than we believe because Obama is a very conservative president and almost a republican. The progressive part of the democratic party must only represent about 15 to 20 percent at most and we are stuck with two right wing parties one moderate and the other extreme.

[Mr Muckle]

02:40 AM on 07/14/2011

Small favors. Enough of the Kennedy reference. Can we make an effort to live in the very present? RFK is certainly no hero to organized labor, for just one little matter.

[Manx]

12:45 AM on 07/14/2011

Kudos. I feel the same way but I've given up on Obama, who doesn't seem to believe in anything enough to fight for it. Every move he makes is carefully calculated for political advantage. Ever since the mid-terms,
he has been tacking further and further to the right, evidence that his handlers and advisors misinterpreted the election results. Many Democrats are loathe to criticize Obama because Republican behavior has been so deplorable. Obama can thank them for that. If Republican conduct wasn't so dreadful, Obama would look even worse to genuine Democrats.

[JimR]

11:17 AM on 07/14/2011

Of course he considers political advantage. Politics is how things get done in DC. It is incredibly naive to think a president—any president—can be effective without considering political advantage.

[Manx]

03:22 PM on 07/14/2011

I've been around the political block and among my peers, I've never been accused of being naive. I have nothing against a president for "considering political advantage," but when that trumps principles, promises and everything else, it's a negative, worthy of criticism. When Obama campaigned, he promised no more politics as usual. By accepting politics as usual, we keep lowering the threshold. It's time to say, enough is enough.

[MinneMike]

08:38 PM on 07/13/2011

Brent, I don't know what planet you reside, but republicans don't take pleasure in job losses. One notable exception will be Obama's in 2012.

[juslin217]

08:33 PM on 07/13/2011

My husband voted for Obama because he thought Obama was the second coming Bobby Kennedy...he has been sadly disappointed.