So you thought we were done? The election is over, and we can all lean back while Don Obama hatches his plans?
Think again. This is not about fake outrage over Obama's appointments. But real work remains to be done, in fact, it has only just begun.
I just read an article in the Democratic Strategist (via Crooks and Liars) which struck a nerve. The most important quote is probably the following.
But during past eras of major progressive social movements – the trade union movement of the 1930’s and the civil rights movement of the 1960’s -- there was a very different perspective. It could be called a "natural division of labor" point of view. A Democratic President was basically assumed to be a ruthlessly pragmatic centrist who would make all his moves and choices based on a very cold political calculus of what was necessary for his own success and survival. He might have private sympathy for some progressive point of view but there was generally no expectation among social movement progressives that he would "go out on a limb" for progressives out of a personal moral commitment to some social ideal. As a result, the most fundamental assumption of progressive political strategy was always the need to build a completely independent grass roots social movement, one that was powerful enough to make it politically expedient or simply unavoidable for the political system to accede to the movement’s demands.
The result of the last election is that there is now an entire movement built around Obama. Many people, including many who can be found at this site, are eager and willing to basically hand him the reins and say "See you in four years!"
But this is never going to work. Of course we all assume that Obama is going to carry out the agenda of reforming health care, leaving Iraq, closing Guantanamo etc. etc. But from Day 1, there will be pressure on him from all sides, particularly from the Right. And do not forget that Obama probably wants to be reelected. There will always be great temptations to do the "centrist" thing, the "safe" thing, to wait beyond the next election with this or that progressive policy. (Anyone remember his FISA vote? What do you suppose that was all about?)
When the pressure comes, and not all of it will be visible to us, it is not our duty to defend Obama and his plans. Far from it: what we have to do is pressure him from the other side.
The progressive movement has to exist independently of Obama, if only to survive beyond his presidency.
I want to make clear that this post is not based on distrust for Obama. Politics is not about trust, it never was. (Do you like it when a politician says "Trust me, I know what is good for you"? It was wrong when Bush said it. It is still wrong when somebody who you like and admire says it.) Politics is about checks and balances, and opposing forces and pressures. Let's make sure that our force is the strongest.
Let me finish off by another quote that I read recently.
[Roosevelt] was meeting with a group of reformers trying to persuade him to support one of their goals. After they finished speaking, FDR said to them, "You've convinced me. I want to do it. Now make me do it."
And that, my friend, is the task at hand.