Jan 11th, 2012
Politics
In case you haven’t heard, 2012 is a presidential election year in the USA. Various GOP candidates are jockeying for their party’s nomination; meanwhile, Obama doesn’t have to worry about primaries, since he’ll be running for his party’s nomination unopposed.
When Obama was elected, like most of this country I was filled with hope. Finally someone who would do the right thing! Justice! Fairness! All that other good stuff!
What we got was a lot of politics as usual. For a long time, I strongly supported Obama, truly believing he would improve our country. When people criticized him, I could point to stuff like this and say, “See? He is making a positive change!”
And then my faith in him started to disappear. Well, “disappear” might not be the best word—it’s still there, just smashed under a pile of broken promises and business as usual. Obama has shown his true colors: he’s no progressive but just another middle-of-the-road conservative. Aside from his party affiliation, he isn’t much different from most mainstream Republicans. Don’t believe me? Take a look at some of his accomplishments.
So am I hugely disappointed in Obama? Yes. Will I vote for him in 2012? Sadly, I probably will (assuming someone better doesn’t come along). The progressive left that got him elected in 2008? He knows we have no choice but to support him in 2012. (I mean, really—where else are we going to go?) So he’s taking us for granted and doing what he can to appeal to those in the center and right.
Hey, anyone know if Ralph Nader has announced his candidacy again yet? :)
6 Responses to “Politics”
Oh, Jesus — Nader better stay away from this election!
Yes, I am disappointed too. But really, did Obama get a fair shake? When he took over the White House he inherited problems nobody really expected to be as bad as they were. And those problems were so big they overwhelmed his presidency.
In normal times, I would insist that he respond to his decisions vis-a-vis drone deaths, secrecy laws, etc. But considering the alternatives, he is the best we’ve got.
Polics is an exercise in remembering that the median voter matters; getting that 51st percentile vote is the key to both electability and re-electability.
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With that said, though, there’s a hilarious funnyordie.com skit from 2010. Barack and Michelle turn in for the night; Barack has a dream in which he’s visited by Bush, Clinton, Bush, Reagan, Carter and Ford (Will Ferrell, Darrell Hammond, Dana Carvey, Jim Carrey, Dan Ackyroyd, Chevy Chase, respectively).
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After some jokes, the key punchline is Reagan saying that he got things done, got his agenda pushed through Congress, because he “has a massive pair.” The other presidents conceded that was true, and all the presidents urged Obama to “grow a pair.” Point taken.
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Me, I’m holding out for Andrew Cuomo in 2016. That boy gets it done.
@Imperatrix: I agree that Obama hasn’t really gotten a fair shake. He inherited a TON of problems. That said, I would love to see him call the Republicans out on their bullshit whenever they try to blame things on the current administration, petulantly block government action, stick irrelevant and harmful riders to necessary legislation, etc. Instead of continuing to say, “We all need to work together,” I’d love to see Obama make a prime-time speech in which he spells out explicitly what he’s trying to do and what his opposition is doing to stop him. He needs to stop acting like a polite politician and instead actually stand up for what he says he believes in.
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@Cap J: Andrew Cuomo? Hmmm. I hadn’t really thought about him much. What do you like about him?
Marsha recently posted..Politics
Oops, I never responded. Sorry. I was off-world for the last month and the subspace transceiver was on the fritz. Vogons ate my homework.
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Gov. Cuomo was absolutely masterful in getting same-sex marriage legalized in New York state. Granted, that may not be the highest priority issue, but how he did it is telling.
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He knew he needed some Republican state senate votes to get the bill passed, so he worked to make it happen. Specifically, he provided financial cover for them. Knowing the four key Republicans would be targeted for their pro-legalization votes, Cuomo lined up spectactular financial backing for them.
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The four Republican state senators who voted for legalization now have war chests to the tune of $300K-$400K each, which sounds like a pittance but actually is quite a bit for a state senatorial campaign in New York. (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/18/nyregion/money-flows-to-gop-backers-of-gay-marriage-in-new-york.html)
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So, setting aside the issue itself and the money, I’m hugely impressed with how Gov. Cuomo really DOES work across party lines to get the job done. Every politician talks about cross-party collaboration, but precious few genuinely do it. He worked with them to find out what they needed for the vote he wanted, and then made it happen.
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And, Rolling Stone magazine recently quoted former Gov. Spitzer as really despising Cuomo, which makes me happy. :-)
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@Cap J: That’s a really interesting approach there. I like it—mostly. I have to wonder if those four Republicans held other political stances that progressives might find objectionable. Gay equality is AWESOME…but what if a politician who supports same-sex marriage also thinks, say, that all women should have invasive transvaginal ultrasounds before having an abortion? Or thinks that racial segregation ought to make a comeback? I understand why those four Republicans got donations from supporters of same-sex marriage…but how closely did those donors look at those Republicans’ entire records and platforms? Single-issue voting (and donating) is a dangerous thing…
Marsha recently posted..Look what I just did
Yeah, I was speaking more to the process Cuomo followed than to the beliefs of the four Republicans in question. I assume that being a Republican and being pro-same-sex marriage would correlate to some extent with being at least a bit liberal in other beliefs, but I haven’t done any research into the voting records of those four at all, so that assumption might be totally wrong.
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It’s hard to pay attention to the more junior, waiting-in-the-wings politicians like Cuomo if one isn’t a constituent — who knows what his future does or does not hold — but his process in getting that legislation passed impressed me.
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With that said, I can’t name off the top of my head any other likely Democratic contenders in 2016 other than Hillary, but obviously they will emerge.