Obama Begins to Fight Back

Barack Obama has alienated a major segment of the Democratic base.  Some of the criticism is not reasonable.  Obama has been unable to keep campaign promises, because after his initiatives passed the House, Republicans in the Senate, aided by a few DINOs, have blocked virtually everything he tried to accomplish.  However, there have been promises that he could have kept and didn’t, such as supporting the extension of the misnamed PATRIOT Act after promising to oppose it.  However, the biggest complaint, and most justified, has been his abject failure to fight for the people who put him in office: progressives, labor, and the poor and middle classes.  In the last couple of days, he has begun to show what I hope is the first glimmering of fighting back.

Faced with a divided Congress and an economy in desperate straits, President Obama tried bargaining with Republicans, he tried adopting some of their ideas and he pleaded with them for reasonable policies to help stave off disaster. For his efforts, he got nothing but a cold shoulder and the country got a credit downgrade.

Now, on a bus tour in the Midwest, he is bitterly pointing the finger at his opponents for their refusal to consider any new revenues to tackle the deficit and their insistence on deep near-term spending cuts that will only cause more economic pain. His anger is long overdue. But it would be much more effective if he combined it with strong ideas of his own for how to fix the economy, rather than the thin agenda he is now promoting.

Fearing the real possibility of a default (something that never seemed to concern the Republicans), the president stayed largely mild-mannered through the whole debt-ceiling hostage ordeal. He even praised the bill that emerged, even though it cut spending excessively at a time when the fragile economy can’t afford it.

But on a factory trip last week and again on his tour of Iowa and Illinois, he was far more candid. He accurately referred to the “debt-ceiling debacle” and pointed out that the resulting downgrade was an assessment that Congress cannot make necessary compromises. “We’ve got the kind of partisan brinksmanship that is willing to put party ahead of country,” he said.

He left no doubt of his target when he noted that Speaker John Boehner walked away from a more balanced deficit-cutting deal and that, in last week’s debate, the Republican presidential contenders unanimously rejected the possibility of a deal that cut spending 10 times as much as it raised taxes. “What that tells me is, O.K., you’ve gotten to the point where you’re just thinking about politics. You’re not thinking about common sense.”… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

I like the talk, but it will take more than talk to convince me.

Rachel Maddow and Ed Schultz discuss what Obama must do to restore himself to the Democratic base.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Schultz is right. To energize the base, we need to see lines in the sand that are not surrendered. He needs to deliver for the people who put him in office.  Delivering means fighting for what we value.  Of course, this may turn out to be just talk.

Regardless, there are practical realities that I must face.  Life does not always give us choices between right and wrong.  Sometimes, all the choices are wrong, and instead of acting like crybabies, we need to do what we can to mitigate the damage.  Barring unforeseen circumstances, 2013 will bring President Bachmann, President Perry, President Romney or President Obama.  I will do what I can to make certain the disasters, that the first three choices represent, do not happen, even if I have to hold my nose to do it.