In my fantasy world, during the upcoming state of the union address President Obama would say he was elected not to worry about future elections but to deliver on the promises he made during his campaign. And so that's what he's going to do. Not because it's politically expedient, but because it's what's right. Pass sweeping health care reform with a strong public option and strong cost control measures. Use the federal government more than he has to help people get back to work and to stay in their homes. Punish the banks, and bring back more regulation. Put aggressive measures in place to address ever worsening environmental crises. Put us on a path toward a sustainable future, and not the nihilistic free-for-all that the neolib fundamentalists have been preaching to everyone's detriment except the super rich. Put his foot down. Show leadership. Do what he has to do, to get the Senate to follow. And anyone who’s against this kind of change had better come up with a better alternative to getting us out of the mess that the last thirty years of misrule have gotten us into.
This kind of honesty has become a no-no in politics, ever since McGovern lost every state except - sigh - Massachusetts. But it feels to me that the first year of Obama's presidency is turning out to be a case study in the failure of pragmatism. He's been too careful, too wonkish, too willing to govern in prose rather than in poetry (to put Hillary Clinton’s words on their head).
What's lacking is narrative.
After the MA-Sen debacle, I'm in agreement with the novelist Junot Diaz that the President needs to find a new narrative.
Here a great quotation:
I’ve been an Obama man all the way. I voted for him in 2008 and I’ll vote for him again in 2012, with far less enthusiasm. But it would help me out so much if he could give me some kind of story to hang onto. At this stage, a scrap would suffice. A President can have all the vision in the world, be an extraordinary orator and a superb politician, have courage and foresight and a willingness to make painful choices, have a bold progressive plan for his nation—but none of these things will matter a wit if the President cannot couch his vision, his policies, his courage, his will, his plan in the idiom of story. It is hard to feel invested in a terrible story or a confused story or, in the case of the current Administration, no story at all. Obama needs to craft a strong story, and fast, if he expects to be able to accomplish anything in the three years that remain.
I couldn't agree more. And if Obama can't find a good narrative, one he can stick to and inspire with and put the Republicans on the defensive over, then we need to start looking for someone else who can lead us to a livable future, and not the nightmare the right have been brewing for us with their criminal negligence over practically everything.
So I think this would be a good narrative to debut at the state of the union address: It's time to do what's right for this country, so that we can have a sustainable future. This means we have to govern on principal rather than expediency. Anyone who gets in the way of this does not care about this country, or about humanity.
For God's sake, Mr. President, use the bully pulpit and make a stand for something!