No one expected the Obama honeymoon to last forever. But how could it be that less than a year after the Inauguration, some Democrats are already threatening divorce?
"You deceived us!" comes the rallying cry from the left. "We wanted peace, a public option and the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. And what do we get? Doubling-down on Joe Lieberman?"
Many saw the outcome of the 2008 presidential election as a referendum on the failed policies of the Bush administration and viewed it as a chance to enact unprecedented policy changes in the country - from health care and clean energy to regaining foreign respect. Yet, as the last few months have shown, even with some change unfolding, many in the Democratic Party appear content with inertia - outright rejecting positive and important changes as a complete sell-out from campaign promises.
Most of the cries have come from progressive leaders who are disillusioned with what they see as a growing chasm between Senator Obama's campaign and that on which President Obama governs.
During the Bush administration, our party received 100 percent of nothing we wanted. Now, we are receiving 75 percent of what we wanted, but apparently it is still not enough. Why do some of my fellow Democrats seek the impossible? Some sort of perfection concocted by projecting our own unrealistic expectations on a candidate? Could it be that the candidate is delivering but we are blind to it?
Listening to some Democratic leaders, it seems that anything less than a revolution would be perceived as a failure in governance at best and a third Bush term at worst. Yet to espouse this view is to completely ignore the fundamental changes that have already been enacted and misread the consistencies between then candidate Obama and now President Obama. This could potentially put Democrats on a road to electoral ruin in 2010.
If history is any guide, Democrats could be facing losses in the midterm elections and one doesn't need to go to the distant past to see the consequences of a fractured political party. The 2006 midterm elections were disastrous to the Republican Party in large part due to legislative in-fighting between the conservative and moderate wings of the party. Remember Bill Frist? Interestingly, some Democrats seem destined to repeat these same follies.
How quickly some in my party seem to have forgotten that on Inauguration Day, the Obama administration inherited two wars, a financial system on the brink of collapse, an economic crisis, and an international community skeptical of our policies. Job losses were mounting, health care and energy costs were skyrocketing and the national debt was (and still is) exploding. Any of these issues taken individually would be a monumental task and the Obama administration was confronted with them all at once. Instead of standing behind the president, many have taken to cable talk shows and blogs to show express their disappointment. Maybe Saturday Night Live was right, they theorize, after all, where's the beef?
Well, there has been plenty of substance for the style. In fact, over the past twelve months the Obama administration has arguably done more to advance the Democratic agenda than any administration in the last 50 years. Perhaps it is easier to blindly accept talk show conventional wisdom and hand over the midterm elections to the Republican Party than to see reality. Or maybe, we should simply remind ourselves why we voted for Mr. Obama.
Within days of being sworn in, President Obama did exactly what candidate Obama promised: He passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act for women, banned harsh interrogation techniques, and ordered the closing of Guantanamo. He worked to create the office of Urban Affairs in effort to deal with neglected cities. He helped pass an economic stimulus package that economists have roundly accepted as helping stave off a depression. He even announced a specific timeline for withdrawing U.S. presence from Iraq. Within weeks of President Obama's inauguration, millions of acres of forests had been added into public protection, education tax credits were enacted to make college more affordable, executive orders were signed to make governmental records more transparent and accessible, and federal grants were provided to improve and restore vital infrastructure projects. Naturally this goes hand-in-hand with doing what all presidents since LBJ have failed to do in achieving meaningful health care reform.
To my fellow Democrats, ask yourself: Which of these things would have been accomplished under President John McCain?
To President Obama: You have my support.