Was it just bad messaging? Was it a mis-reading of what the voter wanted government to do? Was it Republican obstructionism, brilliantly disguised as an attempt to save the nation from socialism and other nefarious Obama designs?
Whatever it was, many voters took their frustrations out on the Democrats this midterm election. And if Obama is to succeed strongly enough to expect reelection in 2012, he had better work on shining some extra light on just what is really happening in Washington DC.
It will not suffice to rely upon the mainstream news media nor the pundits in the media to carry his message intact to the general public. The former seem to be too lazy or too shallow. The latter are almost all biased toward one side or the other, and in that shouting match they create all kinds of irrelevancies in a successful attempt to drown out the truth.
This diary, below the fold, suggests a new version of FDR's "Fireside Chats," but modernized for the age of information and the Internet. It will be something akin to the Lincoln-Douglas Debates of one and a half centuries ago.
The country needs leaders who will work together across party lines on the economy and jobs. So rather than just invite leaders of both parties to sit down with the President in the White House, just that once during the lame duck session of congress, and then report to us on what they have just accomplished, or why nothing was accomplished, (each side with their own spin,) ..., let's do this in a different way, instead:
The entire first meeting between Obama and the leadership of both parties in Congress will be televised live from the Oval Office by CSPAN. This will replace the customary photo-shoots before closing the doors of the Oval Office and the spin sessions held by both sides on the White House lawn, immediately after the meeting.
At the end of the first meeting Obama will announce that similar meetings will take place in the Oval Office regularly, with an initial schedule of one hour-long session every two weeks. Meetings will continue until the unemployment rate is lowered to 5% or less, and stays there for at least three months. This will probably mean for the rest of Obama's first term.
The subject will always be the same:
- What ideas can we propose to do in order to to resurrect, improve, and/or restructure the economy?
- Whenever there are disagreements based upon ideology, what compromises can be reached between each side's basket of ideas?
- Whenever there are irresolvable disagreements based upon different understandings of each other's views on how to improve the economy, a special meeting can be set up whereupon each side will an bring in an expert or two to present their views in clear cogent terms, understandable to the public at large. These experts can question the other immediately after his/her presentation and during a final back and forth between all the participants at the conclusion of that special meeting.
All of these meetings will be broadcast in full on CSPAN. None of the customary photo-shoots before the doors close to the public, nor the customary spin sessions from each side, broadcast via reporters on the White House lawn, will be allowed. Let the arguments of each side and the questioning of each other's intentions be recorded live as they happen. Any further spin will be done leter, by congressmen themselves on Capital Hill, by the President and his administration at news conferences, briefings, etc., or in the course of regular interviews on TV, such as the Sunday Morning network shows.
Afterwards, let the pundits discuss what was actually said, not what was alleged to have been said. Let the public evaluate those ideas over the next several weeks. Let everyone then watch the votes taken in the two chambers of Congress and filibusters attempted by either side, if any. Let them also watch the President sign or veto measures that were agreed upon or disagreed upon but passed anyway by congress. He will often do so on CSPAN, at some of these discussion meetings in the Oval Office. Let the public then evaluate who is actually working for them and who is working for some unknown special interests, when congressmen and/or the President finally cast their votes or use a pen to sign or veto a bill.
It may happen that one side of congress no longer wants to continue their participation in these discussions in the full light of day. So they might refuse to show up for a while.
No problem! The other side can continue to show up, -- in order to publicly discuss any roadblocks being put up by the other side, simply to block progress.
If regular meetings like this take hold and continue in future presidencies, they can become the saner, American style counterpart to the raucous discussions held weekly between the English Prime Minister and his fellow members of Parliament.