One of the first photos I saw of Barack Obama was a picture of him at his desk with a poster of Muhammad Ali staring down upon him. That was cool to me. Here is a basketball-playing Chicago politician and he chooses Ali over that icon of apolitical apathy, Michael Jordan.
But if last night's election results reveal nothing else, the time for swooning over photo-ops has long passed. This is not rocket science. Throughout the country, Republican turnout stayed the same as in 2008 while Democratic turnout cratered. That's what happens when you don't deliver the goods. For all the people who voted Democrat because they wanted to bring home the troops, stand for civil rights for all people, and see real job creation and union protections, the last year has been a thin gruel indeed.
It's not about accomplishing my personal laundry list of wishes. It's about forward progress -- or even effort -- from the Oval office. The White House didn't say one word about the Maine referendum to protect LBGT marriage equality. AG Holder even said last week that he didn't "know enough about it" to comment, which was both a lie and a slap in the face. Obama hasn't fought a lick for the pro-labor Employee Free Choice Act or the Employment Non-Discrimination Act known as ENDA. And please don't mention Afghanistan, Iraq or the Wall Street bailouts. Please don't mention an economic policy geared toward socializing debt and privatizing profit. There is no effort coming from the White House that moves the people toward the direction that people rallied, campaigned, and voted for in 2008 and that is an indictment of this administration. It also reveals something very bankrupt about the nature of our political system and the Democratic Party. The people spoke and it mattered little. Now we need to do more.
Yes, the 21st century incarnation of the Republican Party achieves the double distinction of being both cartoonish and frightening in the extreme. But patiently waiting for the Democrats to figure out how to both appease their big money backers and the popular desire for change is a recipe for failure. Look at Virginia last night where less than 10% of voters were under 30 and African American turnout was a non-factor. As Dr. King said, "You have to give the people victories." But all we are getting is spin. We need action, not words. We need to become more than the scenery for eloquent wordplay. We need to fight for our goals and this administration can choose to get on board or get out of the way.
As Bill Maher said of Obama, "Muhammad Ali also had a way with words, but it helped enormously that he could also punch guys in the face."
Follow Dave Zirin on Twitter: www.twitter.com/edgeofsports
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That's only half the problem. The Independen
Besides the key fights ahead of us for job creation, health-car
We can't just pick up our marbles and go home when we don't immediatel
I'm glad Hoffman lost, however, do we have any knowledge of what will happen if the next Hoffman looks like someone who plays golf instead of someone who may never even have heard of golf? Elections like yesterday'
The fact is that the new voters from 2008 didn't show up. If you want to write off last night by just saying "This always happens in New Jersey and Virginia," then you are using politics as group therapy/in
In so many ways, that's how I feel about what's happenin now and the characteri
Third, Creigh Deeds ran a terrible campaign. Only in the later weeks of his election did he even try to embrace Obama voters. He didn't run on his own record... instead attacked McDonnell'
Fourth, it's tiring to hear that Progressiv
There you go, spewing your simplistic dis-knowle
In case you have not been made aware, President Obama was NOT on the ballot in Virginia or New Jersey yesterday. In fact at least 60% of the people who participat
Did it also dawn on you that the voters in those States may not have liked the Democratic candidates
A little less fixation on the President may very well be in order. Else, rational people might begin to think you are deifying a mere mortal man.
Now, a year later, as Obama has allowed his core campaign promises, such as fighting for a strong public option on health care reform, to twist in the wind, former supporters are staying home.
Zirin is right. The Dems had better wise up and get this change train rolling, or they're gonna end up derailed next November. Big time!
Running to the middle for Dems is a loser's strategy unless you've got something else about your candidate that appeals to the left... like being a woman or even better, a minority.
And in some circumstan
Republican
That was the lesson in NJ and VA... and in NY-23, where liberals turned out to defeat Palin.
The ones who rallied against the 'moderate' Republican selection did so because they want:
to bring home the troops - more troops are being sent to afghanista
civil rights for all people - politician
real job creation - we are still hemorrhagi
The 'moderate' would have done little to fix any of those issues. Perhaps those 'extremist conservati
Oh, and I dont get why people are so into Palin either. Its hard to even follow what she is saying when she speaks. I think they should write out all of her speeches ahead of time and not let her ad-lib.
Maybe they have been so successful in convincing people that Barack Obama has done absolutely nothing since coming into office that they succeeded in getting the voters to give up voting.
What did HuffPo do to encourage people to vote?
I agree that the White House hasn't done everything it set out to do. I disagree that this is a sign of failure.
This administra
I am so tired of alleged-pr
So no, yesterday'
Sure, the stimulus was great, but what Democrat wouldn't have proposed it? If the answer is very few, then we must move on to assessing how well it worked. It was pretty much half the size of the stimulus that economists say was required, and then he cut out an extra 200 billion of high multiplier spending to get 3 republican votes. At the same time, the most high profile bills (health care, banking, etc) seem directed at enriching mega corporatio
What is important is perception
It could have been so easy. Medicare for All, but that would have meant putting the people ahead of the corporatio