A friend of ours here in Salem, Russ Beaton, has written an open letter to President Obama that expresses what a lot of other people who voted for him in 2008 are feeling:
Good about what Obama has done so far, bad about his lack of evident zeal for moving the country further forward after the midterm election.
Throughout the arduous primary campaign, I eagerly listened to every speech and interview I could access. My early conclusions were always reinforced and my enthusiasm grew. I sent all that I could afford as campaign donations and continually worked for your candidacy as opposed to Hillary’s – who I believe would make an outstanding President. But we needed a fresher start with one not as connected with past successes, failures and political entanglements.
...Given this background of support, I am compelled to say that your comments in the press conference the day after the 2010 midterm elections were the first words I have ever heard from you that were truly disappointing. Even to an independent centrist and especially to an ardent supporter, your call for compromise and “working together” sounded like complete capitulation.
I hope you'll read Russ' entire three page letter. (A Word file can be downloaded below; I'll also attach the letter as a continuation to this post.)
Download Open Letter to Obama
Russ is an Emeritus Professor of Economics at Salem's Willamette University. Also, a Bearcats Hall of Fame tennis coach.
Read on for an excellent explanation of why progressives like me are disappointed with President Obama, yet still hopeful that our enthusiasm can be rekindled by seeing some sparks and fire emanate from the Oval Office.
by Russ Beaton
Like many Americans, I rejoiced when you stood on the courthouse steps in Springfield, Illinois, and announced your candidacy for President of the United States. I had been inspired by your keynote speech at the 2000 Democratic convention, and more recently had read every word of both of your books. I became a staunch supporter, remaining so through the long primary season and the general election.
Experience mattered little to me – some of our worst presidents were very experienced, and some of our best had little. In fact, I suspect there is almost no level of experience that can prepare someone for the awesome responsibilities of the job most feel to be the most important in the world. Dealing with the inevitable unexpected and tumultuous events in this complex and dangerous world will require on-the-job learning. What did matter most to me was intelligence, character and values, and my considered reaction both to your own words in person and in your writings led to my conclusion: This is the type of person I want as our President.
Throughout the arduous primary campaign, I eagerly listened to every speech and interview I could access. My early conclusions were always reinforced and my enthusiasm grew. I sent all that I could afford as campaign donations and continually worked for your candidacy as opposed to Hillary’s – who I believe would make an outstanding President. But we needed a fresher start with one not as connected with past successes, failures and political entanglements.
During the general election campaign, my enthusiasm grew as I received reinforcement for the values that I had originally admired. Further, your apparent ability to inspire people and exhibit leadership in articulating and forging support for needed progressive values was impressive. Indeed, this was just the person I wanted to see in the “bully pulpit.”
Since your election, impressive steps have been taken, despite increasingly hostile and even irresponsible opposition. More could have been done and the successes better promoted, but, like most Americans, I have little awareness of the difficulties of negotiating the thicket of Washington politics.
Given this background of support, I am compelled to say that your comments in the press conference the day after the 2010 midterm elections were the first words I have ever heard from you that were truly disappointing. Even to an independent centrist and especially to an ardent supporter, your call for compromise and “working together” sounded like complete capitulation. I realize from your books that it is your very nature to negotiate, seek common ground and act inclusively; and these are some of the features, along with your obvious intelligence, that I originally admired.
But, given that intelligence, you certainly realize that the other side has no intention of meeting you half way. They seek merely to weaken or completely thwart whatever you want so that they can campaign against you in 2012 as a weak leader! This is exactly what they did by almost ruining the health care legislation – they forced highly questionable provisions in as compromises, didn’t vote for it anyway, and now publicly seek its repeal as bad legislation (even though they are the ones that made it bad), while using it as evidence that you don’t know how to govern. This is more than lose/lose for you and the Democrats, it is lose/lose/lose.
Republican House Majority Leader John Boehner is fond of recounting how “the American people have spoken.” He is wrong -- the American people have not spoken at all. Corporate influence and money – foreign and domestic – have spoken, accompanied by a purposely divisive strategy of greed, fear and ignorance. The American people, issue by issue, still support an active agenda of (for instance) dramatically strengthened public involvement in health insurance, controlling or breaking up Wall Street, and preserving Medicare and Social Security. This support, incidentally, extends to independents and the center of the political spectrum and not just the progressive base.
If you do not emphatically give notice that you realize all this – which I’m sure you do -- and that you are willing to actively fight the interests that oppose such policies (not compromise with them), then you will lose in 2012. The center and independents will desert because you will not appear to stand for anything they can identify with. The progressive base will simply not be able to generate enthusiasm. The exciting campaign rallies and the soaring rhetoric that served you so well in 2008 and captivated many like myself will not have the same effect the second time around – no matter how efficiently your campaign is organized. There will be no apparent follow-through in actual results or in continued philosophical commitment.
You appear to believe that the American people want to see “something get done.” I do not want to see something get done on many issues if it is what the Republicans seem to want done. You must declare your willingness to stop actions unequivocally rather than just compromise to get some (any) result. I realize it is not your nature, but I would prefer to see a belligerent President who understands that gridlock is better than some actions, and that active opposition to a bad idea is effective leadership.
Some examples of statements I would like to see you make include:
I will immediately veto any weakening of the start we have made in health insurance for all Americans. But it is just a start, and I will support efforts to strengthen it with, for example, a strong public option or expanding Medicare to all.
There is no sound argument for the Bush tax cuts given the deficits and inequality they have caused. I will veto any efforts to continue them, but would entertain any separate legislation to lower taxes on low and moderate income families.
We need strong support for stopping foreclosures and keeping people in their homes, including debt relief and writing down mortgages. The economic impact, including iron-clad regulation to avoid future bubbles, must be shifted to Wall Street, where it belongs. Nothing will more strongly bolster sagging real estate markets.
We must end support for unwise wars, no matter what the military-industrial complex might contend.
These are just some examples, and feel free to use your own language. There are other issues you might wish to speak to, such as disastrous trade arrangements, support for the unions that built this country, extended unemployment benefits for the millions of Americans hurting in this dreadful economy, and more active public involvement in building a new alternative energy economy. But you get the idea.
Without such statements, I am left with only two possible conclusions. First, that you do not really believe in the progressive causes that appear to be supported by your speeches and writings. It was carefully crafted political rhetoric, and you really do believe in the corporate agenda. Or, second, that despite your brilliance in running a campaign, you are temperamentally unable to govern, especially given the intransigence and deceitfulness of the opposition. We all realize that you have been the target of perhaps the most strident and dishonest discrediting campaign in the history of American politics, and it remains ongoing. But this does not change the imperative for you to act with decisiveness. In fact, only that can save you.
Please understand – I will vote for you in 2012. You will be far better for the country than any draconian alternative the Republicans might propose. They appear to want nothing for the good of the people – only for the rich and powerful. The process of voting, however, is a voluntary act, and you have my vote. Enthusiasm, however, is emotional and involuntary, and I cannot promise you that. I don’t believe I am alone. Only your actions can secure that. The nation, and all of your previous supporters, eagerly await your response.
Fantastic letter, thanks for posting it, I will send it to all I can. I just wished I could be " still hopeful".
Posted by: Tim | November 21, 2010 at 05:53 AM
Russ Beaton said: " Even to an independent centrist and especially to an ardent supporter, your call for compromise and “working together” sounded like complete capitulation."
--"Working together" sounds to me like Obama's platform during the campaign...both sides working together to find solutions and an end to partisan bickering, an end to Washington politics as usual.Isn't that the soaring rhetoric Beaton found so captivating? Isn't that how our system is supposed to work? What's wrong with working together? It would seem it is the writer's view that it is either his way or the highway, that the solutions conform to his ideology or they are no good at all. He is a whining brat in my opinion.
Posted by: tucson | November 21, 2010 at 10:30 AM