Regardless of whether Obama gets reelected in 2012 he will go down as an extremely consequential president. While he fell short on many fronts, his achievements are enormous and will be felt for generations to come. And he likely will be reelected, giving him another opportunity to pass legislation in areas where he has so far failed––namely energy policy and immigration reform–as well as an opportunity to nominate at least two more Supreme Court justices.
At critical moments Obama has stood strong against Republican attacks on the middle class, social safety nets, and civil rights, and provided a compelling vision for an America that is compassionate and committed to the common good. But these moments have been interspersed with the baffling use of right wing framing to describe our economic problems, and an over-eagerness to appear non-partisan even in the face of the routine, far right positions of the modern GOP.
It’s true that a firebrand liberal could never have been elected the first black president of the United States, and Obama seems to be hard-wired with a more centrist and moderate temperament. This has clearly served him well, and will likely help his reelection prospects among the so-called swing voters.
But the Democratic Party, and the country, will eventually need more committed progressive champions who can frame the issues in bold moral language, and who are willing to take much stronger positions against the right wing. A cool and cerebral President may be well-suited to a world reeling from a global financial crisis and a country still mired in two wars. Coolness, however, is not what the country needs to take on a Republican Party hell bent on reversing the social and economic gains of the 20th century.
There are times when compromise and negotiation are what’s best for the nation, and then there are others when it’s time to draw lines in the sand and stake out positions from which you will not yield. That time is approaching. The Republicans want to end Medicare, eviscerate Social Security, strip women of their reproductive rights and subject them to degrading and intrusive treatment; they want to keep12 million illegal immigrants in the shadows, even denying their children entrance into our colleges; they want to slash health, safety, and financial regulations, strip unions of their collective bargaining rights, and usher in a kind of voter intimidation not seen since the days of Jim Crow. None of this is hyperbole: almost every Republican in the Congress has already voted for many of these policies, and they’re being enacted at the state level by many Republican-controlled legislatures.
Make no mistake: an ideological war is underway for the soul of America, and a lot is at stake. I will work hard for Obama’s reelection, and hope that he uses his second term to make a stronger commitment for progressive values.
But in 2016 and beyond, I am searching for a true progressive champion whose message is not one of compromise or post-partisanship, but of principles. For those who think someone like that can’t win, I say look at the polling data on the issues raised above; by large margins, the American people support progressive policies. They just need someone to point this out forcefully and consistently, and go on the offensive against the Republicans without fear.
P.S. Kevin Drum has an article today on how the Democrats have abandoned the middle class. I think Drum exaggerates since Obama and the Dems have passed many policies that have benefited the middle class, but his call for leaders that are true economic populists is aligned with what I am advocating.
Jason Scorse