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I've been thinking about what Obama could do to turn things around. What would it take? If I'm reading things clearly from the people who have issue with him here, I see the following laundry list of things that need to take place, most likely before the next election.
1. Fire Rahm Emanuel
I hear this all the time here, and honestly, I don't get it. But it seems important to many, many people on the left. I'd really like to understand why he's the boogeyman. I hear he hates the left and is setting Obama's entire policy agenda in a right-wing direction. I don't buy that. However, if he is such a limiting factor to Obama's ability to win votes on the left, then he's a political liability. And political liabilities to a President have only one course of action.
2. Reset the HCR Debate as this: Medicare For All.
Modify the age limit of Medicare, allow buy-in for those under 65 and pass it via Reconciliation, an appropriate process for such a modification. The problem... he'll need 51 votes in the Senate to pass this. Something tells me that they couldn't get even 51 votes for this. Otherwise, Kennedy would have done it. He did, after all, have this bill drafted multiple times in the past, as recently as 2007. Why didn't Kennedy propose this as the plan and get it through using Reconciliation? My guess is there weren't 51 Dems out of the 60 in the caucus who would support it. Maybe now they would.
3. End DADT and the DOMA.
This one is harder for President Obama. He could make a Presidential Order to stop enforcing DADT. But it wouldn't be permanent. He'd need Congress to repeal the law. Oh, and they should repeal DOMA too. The message from the states, even as middle-of-the-road as New Hampshire is: anything less than Gay Marriage is simply a violation of civil liberties. New Hampshire, granted is bluer than it has been in the past, is still more of a libertarian state than a liberal state. But freedom is freedom, no matter your sexual orientation.
Obama has taken steps in this direction, but it's clear, especially from the perspective LGBT community, that not enough has been done fast enough. Politically, Obama needs to be more visible in the bully pulpit pushing the repeal of these laws.
4. Take a bigger step in cracking down on Wall Street and bailing out Main Street.
The stimulus stopped a disaster. But more is needed to push the unemployment numbers down.
If all these things were done, would President Obama get the left rallying behind him again? Something tells me even this would not be enough, but that's just me being a skeptic. What else would be required to win back support from the left (if indeed he's lost it)? Or would only one or two of these things be enough? Would just getting HCR done be enough? Or does it come down to HCR and the economy? Can Rahm keep his job if HCR and the Economic issues are resolved?
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