Obama needs a lot of leeway -- But we should not allow him to surrender to the elites

[Armstead]

This is my own perspective on the emerging -- and inevitable -- debate over what direction Obama and the newly empowered Democratic Party should take.

I fully support Obama's efforts to bring greater unity to the country, and to pragmatically getting things done. I support efforts to shake up the old partisan gridlock.

I also like Apple Pie and I support Motherhood.

Having said that, I believe liberals (progressives, whatever) do need to keep up the pressure on Obama to be at least as open to the concerns of the "left" as he is to the so-called "center" and "right."

What many on "the left" worry about is that Obama is going to squander the opportunity undo the damage of Reaganism and the whole Market Uber Alles pro-corporate oligarchy that has had the country in its' grip since the 1970's.

Pragmatism is fine. But an excess of caution is ill advised. So is a belief that the same dopes and elite greedheads that got us into this mess are going to get us out of it.

The sad reality is that over the past 40 years, the so-called "center" has been artificially pushed to the right. Following the default positions of "Centrist" Democrats is merely going to keep us stuck in the same rut, while the lower and middle classes continue to get reamed.

Despite all of his gifts and good intentions, Bill Clinton and the DLC removed the gonads of the liberal opposition -- or the liberal balance -- during the 90's.

Instead of being a counterbalance to the Right Wing takeover, the Clinton/DLC Democrats jumped on that bus, with deregulation and abandonment of basic social goals like healthcare. They pushed the Corporate Globalization agenda.

The only reason W was able to accomplish so much -- from a GOP CONservative perspective -- and do so much damage is because the Clinton/DLC Democrats handed him a country that had all of the levers in place. And then, aftere 2000, the Democrats failed to be an effective opposition party.

For example, the recent meltdown on Wall St. is a direct outcome of the financial deregulation that the Clintonistas helped to push through.

The current rotten employment situation is partially due to the embrace of Corporate Globalization that Clinton championed.

Back to the present, if Obama simply turns to these default approaches, the country will continue to be hollowed out and taken over by the Fat Cats. We may all feel better on the surface, but we'll still all be getting the shaft if we keep letting the same underlying trends continue towards concentration of wealth and power.

I don't want us to blow it again. Obama has a great opportunity to move the country back to an appropriate BALANCE. But balance is not the same as surrender.

[villager]

1. *Very* well said: "Balance is not the same as surrender...":

Yeah -- Obama needs to *not* knuckle under...

[liberalmuse]

2. This makes me feel a bit better...

This is a taste of Obama's CoS, though I imagine Rahm is a bit tougher than the character that was based on him:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1VEcG0cShM

[Klukie]

3. Balance is crucial in every aspect of life........

including and especially government. When we surrender to the extremes, failure ensues. Thanks for this.

[Double T]

4. BO needs to govern from the left of center if he is to be sucessful...........

and have broad support from BOTH major political party supporters. WJC was very successful doing this very thing when he was president. Support from the 'right' is equally important to support from the 'left' if BO is to get his agenda through Congress; no need to ever sellout!

[Armstead]

7. The devil is always in the details

It is not a "left" or "right" position to want to protect American jobs, for example.

Obama has to make it clear -- and make it a priority -- that he is not going to knuckle under to the demands of corporate America for a cheap labor market by supporting bad trade policies that are contrary to the interests of the real domestic economy and needs of the American workforce.

Personally, I will support Obama if he is able to remove such labels from common sense. However, he can't buckle under the pressure to pursue bad policies when the oligarchs tell him that common sense is too far "left."

[Klukie]

5. kick

[Thrill]

6. I think Obama is going to be the most progressive President we have ever seen

[Armstead]

8. I hope he ultimately serves the same role for Progressive/Liberalism as Reagan did for Conservativsm