Obama has been getting a lot of press for his comments in the recent Rolling Stone interview, but I'll get to those later. My reaction when reading the interview, and remember I'm ridiculously liberal, was how biased the first question seemed to be.
When you came into office, you felt you would be able to work with the other side. When did you realize that the Republicans had abandoned any real effort to work with you and create bipartisan policy? (read the full Rolling Stone interview here)
I know that's the truth, but it just seems blatantly left wing. "I know when you were elected you wanted to work with those douchebags, but when did you realize that trying to work with them was like trying to get Satan to accept Jesus as his lord and savior?" Most people ask it without the "any real effort". They usually ask, "why do you think it's been so difficult to achieve bipartisanship?" Forcing the president to call them douchebags.
Anyway, to the controversial remarks. He scolded Democrats for not being supportive enough. I think he was right to scold Democrats, he just scolded the wrong ones.
In his closing remarks he said:
It is inexcusable for any Democrat or progressive right now to stand on the sidelines in this midterm election. There may be complaints about us not having gotten certain things done, not fast enough, making certain legislative compromises. But right now, we've got a choice between a Republican Party that has moved to the right of George Bush and is looking to lock in the same policies that got us into these disasters in the first place, versus an administration that, with some admitted warts, has been the most successful administration in a generation in moving progressive agendas forward.
The idea that we've got a lack of enthusiasm in the Democratic base, that people are sitting on their hands complaining, is just irresponsible.
Mr. President with all due respect, do you understand why we have an enthusiasm gap? I still support you and I'm a hard-core progressive, but I'm also realistic about what can be accomplished. I would prefer we move the ball down the field 10 yards at a time, rather than go for the touchdown on every play. I understand we probably wouldn't have gotten universal coverage, but I don't understand why Democrats don't try for anything and concede the battles before they begin. We're upset with the House and Senate. We're upset with Harry Reid, and I sometimes get upset with Nancy Pelosi, though personally, she seems tougher than Reid.
When Republicans talk about stopping Reid & Pelosi, I don't know what they think they need to stop, they're stopping themselves just fine. During the Health Care debate Dems kept making concessions, even though Republicans were NEVER going to vote for it. It just seemed weak.
You have accomplished a lot in just 2 years and you don't get enough credit, but I fear for your re-election if the House and Senate don't step up to the plate (I'm mixing sports metaphors now). The Republicans are running on repealing Health Care Reform, while at the same time trumpeting that they want to add reforms THAT WE ALREADY WROTE IN! Republicans are running on our talking points!
So, if you want to scold anyone, scold the House and Senate. If they would stop seeming like they're afraid of standing up to Republicans, then maybe we'd stand up for them come November. I will vote because I know what's at stake, but others might not because they feel the Democrats in office have let them down.
Here's a woman at a town hall expresses what so many of us Democrats feel:
I agree with this woman in that I find myself defending Obama and it is tiring, but my anger is directed towards Congress which isn't doing much to support his policies. If Obama can be faulted it's only for not getting out there and lighting the fire under Congress to stand tough.
But I understand how she feels, and that is the true face of the "enthusiasm gap". But on the bright side, town halls are real again and not pre-screened lovefests! There's another change Obama can add to his record that no one will give him credit for.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment