An Open Letter To Our Leaders

Dear President Obama, Senator Reid and Representative Pelosi,

In 1991, I clearly recall standing in my hometown library, filling out my voter registration card and mulling my party affiliation. I can't say I followed politics all that much at the time, but my early heroes were John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. and a rudimentary knowledge of their policies led me to check the box "democratic." I went on to vote for Bill Clinton twice, Al Gore, John Kerry and Barack Obama. In 2004, I was so dismayed and disgusted with the state of our government that I quit my job to volunteer for the Kerry campaign in New York. I woke every day and took the F Train from Brooklyn to midtown Manhattan to phone voters in Iowa, Florida, Ohio, Michigan and all over the country. I went to rallies. I celebrated Kerry's primary victories with fellow volunteers. I felt like I was doing something that truly mattered.

The result of that election left me enormously saddened and bordering on despondent. I firmly believed that John Kerry could take this country in the right direction. Early in the presidential race, I saw him speak in Queens, NY, and unlike the media's endless portrayal of him as a stiff elitist, I was incredibly moved by his words and conviction. Despite the sting of the loss, there was still hope in the future. There was hope in 2008.

I initially backed John Edwards. I was taken by his interest in the lower and middle classes and working to foster a more balanced America, something that most networks would clearly deem to be "communism." Jokes aside, when Edwards' run faded, I quickly moved into then-Senator Obama's camp. I was drawn by his call for sweeping change, accountability, ethics, fairness, health care reform, ending torture and just about every policy position that the candidate supported. Once again, I couldn't sit on the sidelines. A few days a week I walked down to the volunteer center on Fillmore Street here in San Francisco and picked up the phones. I chatted with citizens from all parts of the country. After just a few hours on the phones, it was clear that the passion we felt in that room was shared by many, many fellow citizen we reached by phone. I spoke extensively with fellow volunteers, almost all of whom were absolutely thrilled to be playing a part, but more importantly, appeared clearly taken by the moment.

And then came November 4th. Wearing one of my 47 Obama t-shirts, I went for a run during the day in an effort to ease my nerves. As I turned corner after corner, complete strangers would spontaneously toss a high five, shout something in support or press their car horns as I crossed city blocks. We could all sense that everything was about change. When the announcement came at 8pm PST, I sat in disbelief. My heart still picks up as I remember that moment. I just couldn't believe it. And then came the sweeping wins in the House and Senate. Our time had come. It took weeks, if not months, for the euphoria to ease.

This afternoon I printed out a voter registration card, filled in all my information and under party affiliation wrote "Independent." Oh, I knew that a lot of the hyperbolic language on the campaign trail probably wouldn't become reality, but I was absolutely certain that we'd be up for the fight. I knew that health care reform would be a grueling and dirty ride, but I knew we'd take it on with all that we had. I knew that the disparity between rich and poor would persist, but I also knew that we finally had a government that would look to bridge that gap. And the list goes on. Again, it was our time. Yes, we would make every effort to include everyone in the debate and crafting of policy, but in the end, we would move forward with our party's initiatives, policies that democrats have lived by for as long as one can remember.

When I saw the "Baucus Bill" today, I finally couldn't take it anymore. I could no longer fight for a party that I barely even recognized. This bill doesn't represent fight, it represents very little in the way of what brought millions of us out to volunteer. Yet after months and months of debate, this is what we're handed? Sure, we can all blame the Montana Senator and the "Baucus Six," but aside from a deluge of words, where has the leadership been from above? President Obama has certainly given us a lot of face time, but his management of the dialogue and ability to lead the country through this complex debate have been questionable . He basically ignored single-payer, and as time has passed, even the public option has been treated as an afterthought. One is left to wonder if our president is even fighting for the change that he spent almost two years championing.

That registration card sits to my right, sealed in an envelope, but missing one final piece: I have yet to place a stamp in the upper right. I guess that's the result of one final vestige of that word that likely led a young senator from Illinois to the White House: hope. Please don't take that away from us.

Comments

[rofman]

Chris--another well thought out piece. A few things come to mind though: 1)you can't make a sharp turn with a giant ocean liner. turns need to be slow and gradual. the same is true for the us, especially with all the embedded big money power in government. 2)this is a marathon. we're only 8 months into the obama presidency. i for one am trying to be patient in retaining my hope and belief in the administration.

[USBrit]

From a recent quiz handed out to high school students in Kansas.

What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress?

Obviously a trick question as there are three parts to the US Congress: the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the most powerful of all, the Corporate Lobbyists. As long as that remains the case we the people are nothing really more than we the consumers meant to be milked like passive dairy cows by the corporations. And do try not to resist too much, the knacker's van is waiting just outside the farm gate...

[NickfromCali]

PS I hacve e-mailed Sen. Boxer and told her that if she voted for the Baucus bill, I will vote third party in 2010 (like I did the last two times Sen. Feinstein ran for the US Senate)

[NickfromCali]

I am a former registered Democrat who is now "Decline to state". I do however vote in the Democratic primary.
Who will I support for Governor? Easy. Whomever Sen. Feinstein supports, I'll vote for the other one.
The reason I am "decline to state" can be summed up in two words: Dianne Feinstein

[Travis Melton]

Maybe you should have voted i(I)ndependent? Why support a broken two party system that's outdated as anything?
Sometimes people need to take a step back, look at their history, and then make a decision. Otherwise you end up in situations similar to this one. Will the next president be any better? No, I think not. Dissolve the system, we are in a new millennium. It's time for the people to stand up and lead themselves, just look at the state of our planet if you need anymore impetus.

[aspiecelia]

Your letter states exactly how I feel. I have been outraged about the deals with big pharma and President Obama's refusal to even discuss single payer. His promises when he was campaigning seem to have been forgotten. I also spent hours making phone calls and going door to door. Up here in Alaska that can be dangerous.

[Garybot]

Chris - despite TruGal's nasty remarks about Republicans I'd like to ask to to please look farther than just Health Care. There are a lot of bad things happening in D.C. and none of the Democrats will face what is going on. I don't care what party you belong to - I just care that our country is being ripped apart. Please, just look and think about what you see. Thank you.

[MysticalPippin]

Bad things have been happening in DC for years - especially the last 8 & historically at various times. Nothing new there - and add the Reps to your list of parties that have looked the other way as well. Lets not play blame games here this is serious. And keep to the issue which is the Health Care Reform bill.
If we all looked in the mirror instead of "looking farther" for more negative assertions and tell olthers to "think about what you see" is condescending & disingenuous. I'm sure no one needs to tell Mr. Campbell to think - he seems lke a pretty thoughtful guy to me.
Maybe we should be asking ourselves how can I be a better person? A better american? Instead of clouding the issues with opinions on other assertions?
If you're really concerned about our country then maybe you could do some volunteering or rally your community to write letters to the president, senators & congress.

[ronzo1956]

Hi Chris,

I live in Sacramento. If you do not want to belong to any party in California you must register as "Decline to State", otherwise you are registering for the American Independent Party of California, which is a registered party in the state.

I understand completely how you feel. I too have changed to "Decline to State" from Democrat. I wrote the White House last week with similar comments. If this doesn't convince people who really runs the United States ( Big " place name of multinational corporation here") nothing will. Not to worry TruGal, I wouldn't vote Republican for any reason.

Good luck to us all, we certainly going to need a lot of it.

[Chris Campbell - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks for the note. I'd say that the odds of that happening are slim to none, but they're actually none to none....so­, no need to worry on that front.

[TruGal]

Dear Chris:
Whatever you decide to do, please don't vote Republican.
The complete lack of civility and dare I say it, morality, coming from the right is not something to be rewarded. They are dragging our nation back into the abyss.