Obama is at a cross-roads. He either has to truly go to battle, or he risks seeing his entire domestic agenda scuttled by not only his political opponents, but his own party and advisors. Not only control of the House and Senate are at stake but - dare I say it? - potentially his own re-election in 2012.
One only has to view TPM's depressing 2009 "Getting It Done" highlight reel of Obama insisting throughout the year that "the time has come to get it done" on health care reform that this a President who truly does prefer talk to action. That he delegated such a critical piece of legislation to the hands of the procedurally incompetent Harry Reid demonstrates to the degree he is reluctant to roll up his sleeves and get his hands dirty.
Obama needs to grow a sack, quit the unproductive business of "bipartisanship", use his public speaking gifts to unequivocally state his position on the key issues of our days, and put forward clear, black-and-white legislation that force members of his party (and the GOP) to clearly join or oppose his bills. I don't know about you, but I have trouble picture Obama doing this - and that's troubling. As Frank Rich put it in today's piece After the Massachusetts Massacre:
Can anyone picture Obama exerting such take-no-prisoners leadership to challenge those who threaten our own economic recovery and stability at a time of deep recession and war? That we can’t is a powerful indicator of why what happened in Massachusetts will not stay in Massachusetts if this White House fails to reboot.
And in doing this, Obama must show a principled willingness to do battle with whoever opposes his positions. Bernie Sanders wrote an excellent piece in The Nation, discussing the futility of Obama's misguided desire for partisanship, and puts forward a more eloquent blueprint than I could ever hope to. But my $.02 is that Obama must:
- Twist the arms of his party (and hopefully legitimately raise the specter of a 2010 route in the House and Senate) to pass the current HCR bill, then put personally direct uncompromising amendments that put a public option front and center - and make legislators vote them up-or-down.
- Get rid of Geithner and Summers, two corrupted insiders who taint his credibility and effectiveness truly regulating and reforming the destructive culture of greed on Wall Street, put truly independent advisors and regulators in place, and call out by name any bankers that obstruct this agenda.
- Put forward meaningful, effective global warming legislation that incorporates cap-and-trade to meaningfully reduce our carbon emissions within the next decade.
- Put forward a sweeping, ambitious jobs program (don't call it a stimulus) that puts America back to work - and fight anyone who dares get in its way.
If he fails in any of these initiatives, at least he will have forced everyone to take a clear stance on clear positions. The public needs to truly understand the issues, and where their elected leaders stand.
Obama has to stop frittering away what little political capital he has left. As Howard Fineman said on MSNBC Tuesday:
Obama took all his winnings, and turned them over to Max Baucus.
Taking a firm, principled stand on the core issues - and FIGHTING for them - is what this country needs. It also happens to be what the Democratic Party and Obama needs to have a prayer of maintaining control and pushing their agenda.