In recent weeks I've noticed a disturbing trend in discussions about Obama's administration. On the one hand, increasingly we've seen diaries and comments that seek to rationalize, excuse, or explain away the significant shortcomings of this first year in office. On the other hand, we've seen attacks on those critical of Obama, evoking expressions like "circular firing squad", and singing the versions of "pragmatic liberalism". The problem is that there is nothing pragmatic and liberal about this response, and it is certainly not a defense of Obama that helps Obama in any way.
Progressives-- the one's, you know, criticizing Obama --want Obama to succeed. After all, Obama is our best chance to come along in years. When you begin rationalizing and excusing the failure of an official, claiming that no human could live up to such and such a task, you know that from an electoral perspective your official and party is in grave and serious trouble. What you are signaling is that you have no way of defending the actions of your representative and thereby have to attribute these actions to circumstances beyond the representatives control. But in excusing failure based on circumstances, you're saying this official has lost his or her capacity to lead. But if they cannot lead then they are unfit for office. It is not a good argument.
Progressives, the critics, want Obama to succeed, but they seem to understand something that the true-believers don't get. The progressives understand that if Obama is to succeed, then voters have to perceive him as acting on behalf of their interests. Voters need to see that Obama understands the plight of average Americans and that he understands that average Americans are America. The problem with this first year is all of Obama's decisions have the appearance of being undertaken for the benefit of big money interests, Wall Street, and not Main Street.
If this trend continues, then Obama will surely fail and we will both lose seats in congress (as we already have, for reasons that can't be reduced to what a bad candidate Coakly was), and we will lose future chances to have another democrat in the White House following Obama's two (if he's lucky) terms. Democrats will be cast adrift again and at a crucial time in global history (the environment and energy).
Progressives understand that Obama will not accomplish everything that he sets out to accomplish and that he can't wave a magic wand and just make things happen. We get that. We're not spoiled kids full of magical thinking. But we also understand that oratory matters (that's one of the reasons so many of us supported Obama). We understand that oratory matters for two central reasons: Oratory matters because it convinces average Americans that Obama is fighting on their behalf even when things don't end up going his way because of a broken congressional system. Oratory also matters because it pushes frames and collective common sense in the direction of the left, making things that might not be possible in the present, possibly possible in the future because it changes collective common sense.
And this is the crux of the matter with this first year of Obama's administration. He has not been using that magnificent oratory ability to shift these frames and convince average Americans that he is on their side. In many respects I attribute this failure to a poorly chosen staff packed with DLCers and Wall Street shills that haven't advised him well. But if he doesn't start doing this things do not look bright for the future of our party, our country, and our globe as he will fail and we will lose seats. Them's the facts, whether the "pragmatic liberals" like them or not.
I am heartened by Obama's proposal to regulate the banks yesterday and by the sleight he directed at certain notorious (and despicable) members of his economic team. I want Obama to succeed and see this as a step in the right direction. It suggests that Obama got the message of the MA election earlier this weekend... I hope. Progressive want Obama to succeed and know this will only occur if he can get erratic voters behind him (the muddled middle) and secure his base. And he can only do that by coming out strongly on their behalf. If the "pragmatic liberals" truly support Obama and want him to succeed then they will cease excusing these strategic blunders and will work to hold Obama's feet to the fire and get this administration to wake up and show Americans what they want to hear. Excuses do not bode well for the success of this administration.
In fact, Obama has to succeed because time is running out for us to reverse processes that are well underway. Oil is running out. The environment is shifting quickly. And we are not prepared for what these things will bring. They will bring economic disaster, violence, famine, racial, ethnic, and religious violence that look like the Middle Ages by virtue of water shortages, food shortages, massive inflation, etc., etc., etc., that pit people against one another. The administration needs to get its act together and consolidate support for this presidency if these things are to be averted and addressed. Berating those who feel they have been passed over in the name of big money interests does no good.