It’s the year 2012, and a progressive voter’s statement of self-affirmation is declaring his or her disappointment in President Barack Obama.
Left-leaners everywhere share the sentiment. In our eyes, contrary to disingenuous accusations of his radicalism, Obama has governed disappointingly from the center. From broken promises on foreign policy and a healthcare reform bill overflowing with Republican ideas to his weak command of the bully pulpit, the president hasn’t delivered the sweeping reforms or embodied the crusading persona that his base itches for.
Even after dismissing their silly belief that Obama’s campaign identity would last forever, these sullen progressives are still overshooting their target. They claim they “learned their lesson” from Obama. They pessimistically insist the 2012 race will be drab, that they won’t become excited about Obama, or possibly any Democrat, ever again.
I believe they are wrong.
Obama and his supporters don’t exist in a vacuum. His actions and our reactions are always contextualized by the nature of his opposition. With a national consciousness shifted disturbingly far to the right (and offensively into the past), even the most centrist, populist proposals such as last year’s obstructed American Jobs Act were digested by the media as an appeal to Obama’s progressive base. Hah!
Tuesday’s State of the Union address was similar. Obama played it right down the center. From tax reform, education and energy, to a willingness to reform the safety net, each of these supposed “bold” proposals were only glorified compromises. Obama took little and gave a lot.
And yet, the speech struck a note with me and many other progressives. What made it different, what made it sound so lovely, was not policy, but pathos — defending a particular vision of American democratic values. He won in 2008 with a similar, even more contagious moral argument.
Ultimately, people won’t remember the words of a speech, but they will remember how it made them feel. And Obama knows how to make Democrats think and feel like Democrats.
Yes, he hit a strong populist note, but it would be premature to say, “He’s back.” And it would be more wrong to imply that Obama is the same candidate. His message is evolving, as it must.
But remember, Obama campaigns like a hurricane. His candidacy in 2008 was truly epic. Go back and watch a stump speech or his acceptance of the presidential nomination in Denver. He was unreal.
His oncoming message will be different, but it will still be a Democratic message. It will still be a call for ensuring fairness, responsibility to each other, overcoming, uniting, righting injustices and the choice of succeeding together or failing together. These concepts are the gateway to the progressive soul, reminding us of the moral vision of American democracy that burns deep inside us, just like Republicans feel viscerally connected to notions of personal responsibility, public expressions of faith and fear of “government takeover.”
In short, Obama can play you like a fiddle. He already has. And unless you insist on rewiring your entire political morality, he’ll probably do it again. You can’t avoid it because you are a progressive at heart.
But this is not a bad thing. It is essential for his reelection, and trust me, you want him reelected. The only conceivable non-catastrophe with a chance in 2012 is Obama, exactly the way he is. A stauncher progressive will sadly seem too radical, and Obama is the only candidate who can make a centrist campaign sound so damn sexy. No other Democrat even comes close because, as we all know, Democrats are boring.
