It’s fair to say that Democrats have been disappointed with Obama. The fairy tail campaign gave progressives hope that he was the second coming, the best thing since sliced bread. I mean, who knew Superman was actually black?
I don’t blame Liberals for this assumption. After all, Obama was (*thumbing through 2008’s Republican talking points*) “the most liberal senator.” So who would have guessed what Obama would become? Who knew that Obama was actually a political pragmatist?
If Democrats were honest, they would admit some sort of admiration for George W Bush. His legislative record is phenomenal; even at the stage when his poll numbers were laughable, he knew how to get what he wanted from both chambers.
With that said, George W. Bush was also very partisan. He was unashamedly conservative and unashamedly Texan (even though he was born in Connecticut). I would have no problem indexing the genesis of America’s divisions on his and Mr Clinton’s terms in office.
So with that said, I have a theory: Democrats are disappointed because they wanted their own liberal version of George W. Bush. They wanted someone who was unashamedly progressive, unashamedly black and from the ‘hood (even though he’s mixed race and from Hawaii). They thought that B was their own W.
How wrong they were.
I have said this before and I’ll say it again: Obama is probably the most talented politician my generation has ever seen. I came to this conclusion after he managed to shimmy past the Rev. Wright controversy with his race speech; that to me was on par with walking blindfolded through a minefield set up by Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Joe Wilson. It was that impressive. Let’s not forget that he managed to beat Hillary Clinton and the Clinton machine to get to the Democratic nomination. So this is a man that knows a thing or two about politics.
What the Democrats want is for Obama to be as divisive as Bush was, while ignoring the fact that America as a country has been divided for far too long. Democrats see Obama trying to find consensus on issues as a sign of weakness, because it has been a long time since America has united for something that didn’t involve going to war.
Both sides want Obama to put immigration and gay rights on the table because these are issues that can divide the country further. So it frustrates both sides when Obama wants to find common ground on issues such as health care, energy, and education. It frustrates both sides when they see a president who honestly wants to find bipartisan solutions.
So I find these threats to Obama, from Democrats … funny. The fact that he is only six months into his term and the Republicans are united against him shows how deep the divisions sit; and how on message the Republicans are. But the fact that Democrats have begun to revolt shows how undisciplined they are and shows their childish nature. Are they truly going to sink a presidency because he wants to hear ideas from the other side? Are all the best ideas from one end of the ideological spectrum?
This is where the problem lies: Obama knows that America needs to get out of this rut where you’re either batting from the red or the blue side. This may or may not cost him his presidency, but one way or another, it will not see him become the next Jimmy Carter. His presidency already shows that he has more to him than that.
If he fails, America fails. If he fails, it shows that the leaders sent to the Capitol to behave like statesmen, behaved like children instead.
Just a normal everyday bloke writing about films.