No one is giving Barack Obama much credit for continuing to try to be President of the United States at a time when the nation, politically and ideologically, is split in half.
Despite repeated setbacks and rebuffs, he is still trying to do what he was elected to do: Be President to the people on both sides of the big divide.
So he is not likely to veer sharply left and become President of the Progressives. And those on the right long ago decided to treat him like the Antichrist or, on a day when they are feeling magnanimous, merely as Public Enemy #1.
Personally, I wish the President now would side strongly, firmly and loudly with the Progressives, the liberals and moderates who still believe it is possible to take care of the least among us while also creating jobs, restoring education, encouraging science and fighting our way out of the Great George W. Bush Recession.
But then, President Obama would not be doing the job he was elected to do, which is to serve all of the people, even the ones who have tried long and hard to wreck his Administration at every turn and thus prolong the nation's economic woes for their own political gain.
In any case, a presidential move to the left would only raise the outrage and partisan resistance of the right, widening the great gap even more and further deepening it.
If Barack Obama is not re-elected, the next President -- Perry, Romney, Bachmann or ? -- likely will not try to represent anyone to the left of deep right field, except with sneering lip service.
In that case, the political gridlock will worsen and the right-left divide simply will expand as battered Democrats pull out their now-long list of grievances and seek revenge and full payback for all that the Republicans have done to them during the Obama Administration.
Electing a President in 2012 who is to the right of center will just give us four more years of stalemate and empty, futile political posturing.
Like it or not, America's economic recovery and psychic recovery will have to happen somewhere in the murky center.
It will never happen in the now sharply defined right or left.
-- Si Dunn
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2 comments:
Interesting post...I daresay that a large minority of the population does not side with radical elements on either the right or the left. Unfortunately, these Americans, including myself, have little control over the political process/machinery.
I think that these people (let's call them moderates for lack of a better word) have a difficult time "making themselves heard" because:
a) They favor the use of reason over emotion and intuition when making important decisions. This idea is anathema to zealots in both parties and doesn't play well in 30 second spots.
b) Due to this defect, they find it difficult to resort to sloganeering and soundbytes to explain complex ideas. See above reference to 3o second spots.
c) They also have problems siding with one faction on a consistent basis. They realize the importance of looking at a problem (and endorsing ideas) from a variety of perspectives. Obviously, this inclusive view doesn't play well on the campaign field--reference definitions for "wishy-washy," "traitor," and "unfaithful."
d) They realize that they sometimes have to change their position on an issue when new information dictates this alteration. In other words, if their thesis is no longer valid, they are willing to abandon it. The press have a field day with politicians who take this reasonable stand...reference "I voted for it before I voted against it."
e) They never swear an oath to never, ever do something like raise taxes because they realize that a situation may arise which forces them decide between breaking that oath or ruining the country.
f) They tend to have learned too much American history. They realize that the "founders" weren't some homogenous group of people; the views of these people ran the gamut on almost all issues. For instance, these "moderates" realize that some of the founders were atheists or deists; these individuals, along with some of the Christian founders, would have scoffed at the thought of forcing students to pray in school. Additionally, these people, after reading up on evolutionary theory, would have argued against the teaching of creationism or intelligent design in high school classrooms.
g) Finally, these moderates find it difficult to secure spots on influential talk shows or on the campaign stumps because they prefer calm dialogue to impassioned diatribes.
Anthony
Excellent comments, Anthony. Thank you for taking the time and effort to respond and lay out your well-considered thoughts.
The "large minority of the population [that] does not side with radical elements on either the right or the left" still could regain more control over the political process and machinery if they try harder -- and much more together -- to make themselves heard.
Unfortunately, many of us have become so disgusted recently by the right-left polarization that we are tempted to just walk away, stay away, and focus our time, energy, resources and hopes elsewhere.
But that doesn't stop the debilitating national warfare -- the political Civil War, so to speak.
We must grit our teeth, hold our noses, get back in the ugly game and try harder to make ourselves seen and heard. That's pretty much all we can do, if we haven't completely given up already.
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