Liberal Schizophrenia: Let Obama Be Obama!
Monday November 17, 2008
We Democrats can be an oddly schizophrenic lot. Even before President-elect Obama takes office, we seem indirectly determined to cripple him via our
deprecating second-guessing.
Take, for instance, the use of clever, Machiavellian strategies to win elections: we seem to resent, and often deplore, it as a moral failing when used by liberals, yet begrudgingly admire and expect such smart muscularity when used by Karl Rove, Grover Norquist, the evangelical right and their conservative ilk.
Many liberals savor believing that they hold their politicians to a higher, purer, superior standard of behavior and belief than conservatives. And then, they lament miserably when their neutered candidates lose time and time again. Think Al Gore and John Kerry.
I bring this up because Barack Obama is obviously one of the smartest political strategists in modern U.S. history. (Do you really think an inexperienced, 47-year-old liberal African-American with little personal wealth won the White House without significant reserves of political cunning?)
And yet when he subtly, accidentally, inevitably shows his pragmatic Machiavellian side, we acted shocked... shocked!
(New York Times columnist David Brooks described this dichotomy in Obama well in his June 2008 op-ed The Two Obamas.)
A recent example of liberal schizophrenia is Obama's apparent consideration of Hillary Clinton to be his Secretary of State.
At first blush, surprised liberal praise for Clinton at State was effusive and, in some Democratic corners, ecstatic. "At long last, the feminist icon would represent the feminist ideal of getting a room of her own, all on her own!" exuded Maureen Dowd in the New York Times .
But then came the cynical suspicions that this move might (gasp!) be to Obama's benefit: Why would Obama do this? How does it benefit him? Is his true motive to (inexplicably) hurt Hillary? Is he trying to move to the middle and ignore OUR goals? But she failed our litmus test six years by voting for the Iraq War...
MSNBC's First Look darkly obsessed, "The best reason for Obama to be looking for a place in his cabinet for Clinton is simple: to get her out of the Senate." Plenty of liberal bloggers echoed similarly suspicious sentiments.
Really? The BEST reason for this superbly capable woman to receive the top cabinet post in Obama's administration:
- Isn't because she almost won the Democratic nomination for president?
- Isn't because Obama genuinely believes she's the best candidate for the job?
- Isn't because she's highly qualified for the job?
- Isn't because she loyally campaigned nonstop for Obama after losing her cherished goal of the presidency?
Huh??? That's nonsense. Utter, unadulterated nonsense.
Yes, I admit that selection of Sen. Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State could serve some interesting goals for President Obama: It could remove her from criticizing him over health care and other domestic policies. It could remove her from granting political favors, garnering loyalty chits, and even from fundraising. Yes, it could reduce her chances for the 2012 presidential race.... if she even is a viable candidate four long years from now.
Yes, removal of Hillary Clinton from freelancing in the Senate could, indeed, greatly raise the prospects of Obama's presidential renomination in 2012... regardless of the tough tasks he handles, or bungles, in his first term.
So what?
So what if such a move has political upside for Obama? The Secretary of State slot also has plenty of upside for Clinton as well: burnish her foreign policy credentials, become a key player, perhaps secure a spot in history with her negotiations. Possibly position her for a 2016 run at the presidency.
But the bigger question is this: So what if Obama makes solid political decisions for our country that also carry political benefits for himself?
We fully expect Republicans to be both patriots and political survivalists. Why, then, do we expect Democrats to sacrifice their viability on the altar of political correctness or feigned moral superiority or uselessly partisan stupidity?
Barack Obama got himself elected as the 44th President of the United States because of the clarity and strength of his better vision for the United States in the 21st century.
Barack Obama also got himself elected as only the second Democrat in over 30 years to ascend to the presidency because of his vast and vastly underrated political skills and intuition.
Liberals, at the risk of grievous blasphemy, I say to you: it's time to take a page from Republican behavior. It's time to do more trusting and truly following our chosen leader, and less carping critically at every decision, no matter how miniscule.
It's time for liberals to grow up and act like leaders, not like schizophrenic victims.
It's time to let Obama be Obama.
We elected Barack Obama for good reasons. It's time for us liberals to get out of the way, and to let our leader lead.
(Photo of Obama taken on Election Night: Joe Raedle/Getty Images; Photo of Clinton taken at the Democratic Convention: Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Three Messy '08 Senate Races Remain Unresolved
Wednesday November 12, 2008
At minimum, Democrats will hold 57 Senate seats in the 111th Congress, assuming that replacements for Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Joe Biden are also Democrats.
But three '08 senatorial races remain unresolved, and could conceivably grow the Democratic majority to a "filibuster-proof" 60 seats.
Odds are that Democrats might pick up one or two of these races, at best. And realistically, while every vote certainly counts, one or two more Senate seats won't make or break passage of most Obama-blessed legislation.
Mark Begich in Alaska
Despite his recent conviction on seven felony counts of ethics violations, Alaska Republicans voted for 85-year-old Sen. Ted Stevens to retain his Senate seat for a seventh consecutive full term. State Republicans apparently hope to replace Stevens with another Republican, if the need arises.
Challenging Stevens is 46-year-old Mayor Mark Begich of Anchorage, where he's developed a reputation as a smart fiscal manager and a robust supporter of individuals' rights, especially gun rights .
As of today in Alaska, 90,000 early, absentee and provisional ballots remain uncounted, representing almost 30% of Alaskans' total votes. Before these ballots, Stevens leads Begich by only 3,257 votes.
Democrats believe that Begich has a solid chance to win this election, given the particular districts with heavy concentrations of uncounted votes. That is, IF Alaska's vote-counting is above board... Final results are expected as early as November 13th or 14th.
Al Franken in Minnesota
In the most acrimonious Senate race of the 2008 election cycle, Al Franken, best-selling author, activist and famed comedian, trails one-term Republican Sen. Norm Coleman by a mere 206 votes out of more than 2.4 million ballots cast.
An incredibly complex recount has been scheduled to start on November 19th. Both camps are predictably dispatching small armies of lawyers and count observers in an effort that seems vaguely reminiscent of the 2000 presidential election recount in Florida.
The outcome of Minnesota's '08 Senate race is anyone's guess. Let's just hope that Minnesota is more prepared in 2008 than Florida was in 2000 to handle a contentious vote recount effort.
Finals results are not expected before the second week of December.
Jim Martin in Georgia
Former Rep. Jim Martin, a Democratic member of the House from 1983 to 2002, surprised the pundits by running strongly against one-term incumbent Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss to force a run-off election for Georgia's Senate seat.
Saxby Chambliss, of course, is best known to Democrats for his shamefully cruel Senate campaign in 2002 in which he smeared Vietnam War veteran and triple-amputee, former Sen. Max Cleland as "unpatriotic."
In this '08 race, Republican Chambliss garnered 113,828 votes more than Democrat Martin, with 126,328 votes (3% of total votes) going to Libertarian candidate Allen Buckley.
Big Republican guns are being rolled out to campaign for Georgia's senatorial runoff election, set for December 2nd: John McCain will reportedly campaign for Chambliss, as will Mike Huckabee and possibly Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and Rudy Giuliani.
The Obama team is sending a boatload of campaign workers to get out the vote for Martin. And per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Obama is keeping 25 of his Georgia field offices open for Martin, leaving most of his in-state paid staff on the ground here."
No word yet if President-elect Obama will find time to personally participate in the effort... but I doubt that he does, given that McCain decisively won Georgia's electoral votes.
Regardless of the outcome of these races, 57 Senate seats in Democratic hands bodes well for the progressive agenda in 111th Congress.
But 60 seats would be so much better...
(Photo of Al Franken: Cory Ryan/Getty Images)
Sunday November 9, 2008
Few took him seriously when Steve Hildebrand, Obama deputy campaign manager,
told Politico.com in June 2008 that "Barack Obama will focus his resources largely in 14 states George W. Bush won in 2004" and hoped "to score upsets in places such as Virginia, Indiana and Georgia."
The fourteen Republican-red states targeted by Hildebrand for Obama presidential election wins in 2008 were:
- Iowa
- New Mexico
- Ohio
- Nevada
- Colorado
- Florida
- Missouri
- Virginia
- North Carolina
- Montana
- North Dakota
- Indiana
- Georgia
- Alaska
Additionally, Hildebrand singled out three states that voted Democratic in 2004... Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin... for concentrated campaign efforts to keep those states from voting Republican.
On election day November 4, 2008, the Obama/Biden ticket won crucial popular votes in 9 of those 14 Republican-red states, with Missouri's vote still too close to call. And Obama convincingly held Pennnsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
While the nationwide demographics of the Democratic win are impressive... increases in white voters (5%), Latino voters (25%), black voters (14%), those earning less than $50,000 annually (11%), rural voters (7%), voters under age 30 (25%)... such averaged statistics don't tell the story of how Obama persuaded 9 Republican-red states to vote Democratic-blue in 2008.
Of course, the Democratic party hopes these partisan changes by states across the country are long-term. Certainly, the various reasons for these red states turning blue in 2008 are powerful, important and may portend future voting trends.
Learn more about the whys and hows of the Obama/Biden electoral victory at my new, quick-reading article, Why Red States Turned Blue in 2008.
(Photo of Ohio Democratic supporters as they watch live coverage of the election results projecting Barack Obama the winner and next President of the United States at the Ohio Democratic Party poll watching event on November 4, 2008 in Columbus, Ohio: Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
Obama Victory Gives New Hope to Americans of Color
Wednesday November 5, 2008
The election of Barack Obama to be President of the United States does not signify the end of American racism... but it nonetheless provides a
profound new sense of hope for all U.S. citizens who are neither white nor wealthy.
I am not a person of color, but my two toddler grandchildren are, as their lovely mother is a Peruvian native.
Neighbors on my street, in our city and county, across California and across our great country are persons of all colors: black, brown, yellow, white and all shades in between.
Obama's election means that 232 years after our country's founding, the United States progressed on its journey to become "a more perfect union" in which all men and women "are created equal."
Today, with the presidential election of an African-American man born to a barely middle-class teenage mother, my young grandchildren and everyone's children and grandchildren know that this country belongs to them as much as it belongs to the powerful, the wealthy, and the well-connected.
Today, my young grandchildren and everyone's children and grandchildren have new hope that, with hard work, persistence and a vision, they, too, really can be President of the United States.
God bless the American ideals of freedom, liberty and opportunity for all.
God bless America!
(Photo: David McNew/Getty Images)
