Why I Have Trouble Maintaining Hope

In 2008 I supported John Edwards, moved primarily by his "two America" philosophy.  I felt this was the most sincere and direct words I'd heard from a politician regarding the problems facing our country today.  In hindsight, I can say we're lucky that he lost the primary race, and after he did it was pretty easy to switch my allegiance to Barack Obama.  Hillary Clinton, I felt, represented the middle-of-the-road corporatist policies of, well, President Clinton.  Obama promised hope and change, and I felt that he represented a new progressive voice in America.  His forceful and inspiring speeches and (at the time) obvious desire to lead inspired me as the summer went on.

Unfortunately, as he filled his cabinet with Clinton and Bush folks in early 2009, I realized that maybe I had been taken in by rhetoric.  As January 20 came around, I said, "Give the guy a chance!  He'll show us that he can lead and take these people down the right path."  Unfortunately, a quick series of corporatist policies followed.  An undersized, tax-cut-heavy stimulus package.  Failure to investigate the crimes of the Bush administration.  Abandoning the Public Option.  Giving up on DADT.  Failing to lead in general... where was the great orator we saw in the summer of 2008?  Why wasn't Obama on TV every week fighting for his principles, leading progressives and persuading the independents of the value of his plans?

After several months of disappointment, I finally gave up on believing.  I don't remember what it was exactly that caused me to lose hope, there are so many capitulations and concessions that our President has made to the right that I can't even count them.  So I stopped being involved, and over the last two years watched the extreme right take over the narrative of the country.  I imagine the independents did the same, and lacking political allegiance, jumped on the Tea Party bandwagon.

Realizing the error of my apathetic ways, I'm trying to get involved again.  Then I hear the President on sixty minutes saying the same thing's he's been saying for the last eighteen months, and it makes me wonder why I bother.

Here are a few quotes: "You know, now I will say that when it comes to some of my supporters, some of my Democratic supporters who express some frustration, part of it, I think, is the belief that if I just communicated things better, that I'd be able to persuade that half of the country that voted for John McCain that we were right and they were wrong.

And, you know, one of the things that I think is important for people to remember is that, you know, this country doesn't just agree with The New York Times editorial page. And, you know, I can make some really good arguments defending the Democratic position, and there are gonna be some people who just don't agree with me. And that's okay. And then we've got to figure out a way to compromise."
 
Where did the President get the idea that he needs to persuade the half of the country who voted for McCain that he is right?  Why is this a priority?  We didn't vote in the President in order for him to win the 2012 election with the help of the right.  We voted in the President so he could fix the country with progressive policies.  I believe this WOULD have won him a larger majority in 2012 (as well as kept most of the people voted out in 2010 in their jobs) but we'll never know that now.  Instead, our President basically abandoned many promises of his campaign and instead adopted positions akin to some hybrid of Mitt Romney and Bill Clinton.

Is it any consolation to know the President "can make some really good arguments defending the Democratic position."  Personally, I can make a savory meatloaf with au gratin potatoes and a nice salad with a delicious chocolate cake for dessert.  I've never done such a thing, but that's not important, because I CAN do it.  I guess the slogan "Yes We Can" was right... we should have insisted on "Yes We Will," because the President has certainly shown us that just because he can do something doesn't mean he will.

Another quote, from the same page in the transcripts:

“Part of my promise to the American people when I was elected was to maintain the kind of tone that says we can disagree without being disagreeable. And I think over the course of two years, there have been times where I’ve slipped on that commitment.”

I'd like to know what he is talking about here.  When has the President ever taken a hard line on anything?  All he has done is say "Let's meet in the middle.  Let's try it your way."  And of course every time he does this, the right says "No, let's move further to the right."  And we do.  Further and further to the right, and the President continues to insist that "Oh, it's not you, it's me.  I'll try it your way."  He did it with the public option, with the stimulus, with Afghanistan, with climate regulations, the Bush tax cuts... the list goes on and on.  And today, he's still doing the same.



I want to believe.  I want to hope.  I want to have a President that will lead us to the left and help the country recover from the three decades of right-wing corporatist policies that have bankrupted our country and left all but the wealthiest worse off than we we before.  Unfortunately, Obama has not shown any real evidence of being that President.