There are so many places and reasons to lay blame with this loss. Rahm is a big one IHHO.
In 2008, we voted in President Obama with the Promise of Change.
We wanted that Change, we worked hard for that change.
We had lots of Hope that it was going to happen pretty quickly.
We waited and waited and waited for changes to happen.
But, little by little...the hope disappeared with the reality
that the change we wanted and so desperately needed was not
going to happen.
We became disenchanted and we slowly lost our hope.
Meanwhile, the Republican/TeaParty came along and offered the promise of change to the other side...only their change meant going backwards to a way they preferred...back to the 20th century.
We lost our real chance at change we can believe in because they also offered chance to change things to their side
The kind of change that is going to rollback America.
I found this great YouTube called "How Dems allowed the TeaParty to rebrand the GOP" listing Six reasons why we lost yesterday.
Below is a summary in my own words:
6. Not investigating Bush and Cheney for crimes while in office.
Torture, and illegal war, botched security in 9/11. These all needed to be investigated. This one got us very angry. We wanted, no we needed an investigation. Those guys needed to be punished for all their rotten deeds. President Obama was too nice, too amiable...it was too unpleasant to do. When Nancy Pelosi took impeachment off the table...arggg...we were chomping at the bits to do something AFTER the election. Bush, Cheney and Karl Rove should be rotting in prison right now. That would have made us all feel a whole lot better, and straightened things out for future crooks who are in thinking of running for office. Don't do the crime if you can't do the time. But, no...they were not punished, and continued wreaking havoc on the Democratic process. Personally, I blame Rahm big time for a lot of the things gone wrong with the Democrats. I can't stand that guy, and his ego-maniac ideas have ruined it for the rest of us. This being just one example to start pissing off the base right off the bat in 2009.
5. Bailing out Bankers, and not the banking system.
Bankers continued to grow rich, while foreclosures ruined lives. We stood there watching Geitner and Summers being friendly with the crooks on Wall Street, and our despair grew. It was the perfect time to make big changes, and they failed to do so. More anger, more salt on our wounds.
4. Not using the GM bailout to promote a greener energy system in this country.
Bailouts to the auto industry were needed, but so were strings attached. Big strings...to force them into taking the correct approach to building cars that were green. This could have created a new green industry. More green jobs. Didn't happen. More frustration.
3. No Public option. In the Summer of 2009 the Teaparty emerged. Most people in the country wanted a public option, and Obama fiddled around while the insurance industry was busy promoting their propaganda on an already uninformed and angry crowd. The crowd grew bigger and was financed by what they thought was grassroots..and we lost the public option because Obama was not forcing his hand. I blame Rahm for so many things, and this one in particular. While we were out marching for the public option he was saying "Fuck the liberals". I hate him for this. And, this attitude and lack of judgement allowed the tea party to emerge and grow, and expand...
2. Same old mindset to foreign policy. The Military budget was not slashed just when we needed the money to fix things at home. Afghanistan was expanded and our debt grew. Obama made an alliance with the GOP on this one, and pissed off his base once again.
1. The dems allowed the republicans to rebrand themselves as the populist party. The dems did not fight for us as they promised. No public option, no announcement of the good they had done, weakened, watered down bills that didn't kick in for a very long time...and may not even happen now. They were wimp-asses. They were too polite. They didn't figure out that the repugs were never going to cooperate until it was too late.
We have High unemployment because the REPUGS kept saying NO to every idea that could help create jobs. And yet, they magically transformed themselves without much effort into the populist party called the Tea Party. They pulled the wool over everyone's eyes who had an IQ of 100 or less. They made unenlightened people angry and they motivated them to vote for the ignorant right-wingers with their billionaire propaganda.
President Obama promised change, but he delivered the same old same old with Rahm as his Chief of Staff guiding him down the wrong path and Gietner, Summers, Gates in the White House. I was frustrated, I was pissed off but I still worked hard to make things happen in this election. But, it was of no use because so many others had been too turned off, or went to the dark side of life with the TeaBagger crowd.
Yesterday we got politicians who wish to roll back decades of social and economic progress. Yesterday America was bought off by mysterious billionaire money. Yesterday America returned a major portion of power to a party that lies, steals and is determined to have slave labor in this country.
There will be no debates about how to create jobs and rebuild our country.
Instead, the Repugs will be investigating President Obama for their own pleasure and delight.The same distasteful investigations he would not impose upon Bush, Cheny or Rove. Because he would not do this at the beginning of his office, we are where we are today just two years later.
Those mean bastards are going to waste time and money investigating an innocent President who refused to investigate them for their real crimes.
Not much has changed. And, there is little hope for any progressive kind of change to happen in the next two years. Damn you Rahm Emmanuel for putting your overblown ego ahead of your country.