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."
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That's only half the problem. The Independents who supported Obama in 2008 broke for the Republicans. THAT'S what congressional Dems have to worry about. Elections are decided by Independents, and they're not looking too happy with the way the economy and unemployment has been handled thus far.
Besides the key fights ahead of us for job creation, health-care reform, ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and others, part of our focus must also be on campaign finance reform and ending corporate welfare. The overwhelming majority of our elected officials are shameless whores. This includes the entire Republican party and at least 90% of the Democrats. The few who are actually standing up for the people (Grayson, Frank, Weiner, Franken, Kucinich ) need to be supported at all times while hodling the Blue Dogs feet to the fire.
We can't just pick up our marbles and go home when we don't immediately achieve the much-needed victories that will enact the change we voted for last year. But we need to maintain an intensity of committment which includes keeping pressure on the entire Democratic party so 2012 does not wind up being a repeat of 1994, which would be a disaster.
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's tell us nothing. It is rocket science to figure these things out.
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/infotainment instead of as a tool to understand and change the world. It's a progressive flip on Fox News, where you can live in a dreamland where if we just wait, everything will be just fine. I prefer to take President Obama at his word. He said during the campaign that change doesn't come from inside Washington. It comes from the outside. We need to fight for the change we believe in. Not wait for a White House. And I will go back to writing about sports- as Mr. Thurston suggested - but you need to go back to writing about politics - and save the propaganda for the DNC.
In so many ways, that's how I feel about what's happenin now and the characterizations from the left ...Obama can't be defined and they, progressives, feel rejected. Everyone's trying to assume the man he should be or thought he could be or who he will be...in a very perverse way. Noone will truly know Obama because he refuses to define himself. That's what bi-racial children face everyday of their lives.. people working hard to label us and taking a stand. In the end, you won't know the man and telling yourself that this is who he is and this is how he'll be couldn't be further from his reality, because like his life...it's a bit more complicated than just picking sides.
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's thesis that probably attracted more people. Right now Obama is about to go to war with his Generals. They are all pulling for him to send in an explicit number of troops...he's backing down.
Fourth, it's tiring to hear that Progressives are upset about Obama not speaking up. Martin Luther King had an army to fight for his cause and his voice wasn't the only product. Maneuvering strong willed supporters who were willing to die for their cause and stand with him was what gave King his extended echo, so before you start blaming Obama and why the sun doesn't shine...maybe we should start asking ourselves...are we speaking loud enough and why can't we fight on our own?
There you go, spewing your simplistic dis-knowledge. Since when did the United States elect a person to the Presidency because he/she is Black? Let's see ... Rev. Jesse Jackson - No. Rev. Al Sharpton - No. Carol Moseley-Braun - No. How about that delusional birther, Alan Keyes - No! All Blacks who ran for President. Never elected. So much for your "logic".
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 participated in the exit polls stated that Mr. Obama, as President, had NO bearing on how they voted. Did you happen to catch that bit of reality at all?
Did it also dawn on you that the voters in those States may not have liked the Democratic candidates, for reasons that are best known only to the locals? BTW, Mayor Bloomberg barely won relection - by the literal skin of his teeth. Was that because he is a 'Friend of Barack'?
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 circumstances, liberals will turn out to battle someone they really hate, like Palin or the other GOP presidential hopefuls.
Republicans are way out there on the right, and they'll stay there and stay active. There's fewer of them than there are of us, but as Democrats we're obviously less obedient to the party, and we need candidates we can believe in to get out and vote.
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 afghanistan, numbers have barely dropped in iraq, we never declared war, why are we even there?
civil rights for all people - politicians were so fixated on race that no one noticed gates's constitutional rights had been violated, obama and other moderates abandoned gay rights, creating another hate crime is a distraction that does little to provide true citizenship rights
real job creation - we are still hemorrhaging jobs, the white house cant even say that our national debt crippling us with inflation can be avoided, increased inflation will scare off investors and inhibit long term job growth
The 'moderate' would have done little to fix any of those issues. Perhaps those 'extremist conservatives' want real change. The scary thing is that many Democrats want the same things as these 'extreme conservatives', but they are being sold a false image of potential allies on many issues.
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 administration took office amidst a financial panic not seen in several generations. It moved forward aggressively (by historic standards) on health care, engagement with the world (including Iran, Burma and the Middle East peace process), climate change, Supreme Court appointment of the first Latina, a recovery act that PREVENTED even harsher economic reality for millions (COBRA , housing credits, cash4clunkers, funding of projects, and unemployment extension), a system-altering stance on lobbyist employment in government, not to mention more press conferences, new media outreach and public disclosure of government data than any administration probably in history.
I am so tired of alleged-progressives screaming failure at this administration. First of all, you misremember certain key beliefs and tenets of this president. He promised us an escalation in Afghanistan. The fact that his is deliberately and publicly considering alternatives should give you hope, not further your despair.
So no, yesterday's election results were not rocket science. But your interpretation is based on no science at all.
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 corporations.We elected him to do a job, not to make excuses for why that job isn't being done.
What is important is perception. If most liberals agree with the writer (and this seems to be the growing sentiment) then nothing you say about how things are better than they could have been but not quite what we all had the audacity to hope for, is going to help. People like me will still not vote for him, and many more will not show up for elections.
It could have been so easy. Medicare for All, but that would have meant putting the people ahead of the corporations. Obama, so far, has blown a once in a generation opportunity, and there will surely be a price to pay next year if he doesn't snap out of his Olympia Snowe fixation, and start championing a robust public option.