I was watching The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC on Friday and he interviewed Lt. Dan Choi and Adam Green of the Progressive Change Camapign Committee on their support for President Obama in 2012. Both gentlemen expressed their dismay at the President’s less than enthusiastic support for their particular causes. Lt. Choi went so far as to say he couldn’t endorse Obama if Obama won’t endorse him and his lifestyle. Mr. Green discussed how in 2012 the left wing of the Democratic Party is going to be unwilling to volunteer or to work as hard supporting the President in 2012 like they did in 2008. This interview infuriated me so much that I decided to post my first diary at Daily Kos.
We elected Barack Obama as president, not dictator. He has had to work with a less than cooperative legislative branch of government. Let us not forget that the Democrats is Congress have not been as united in passing Obama’s agenda as the Republicans have been in opposing it. I understand that the role of the activist is to keep pushing for the changes they see as necessary. And I agree with Choi and Green that at times the President has seemed unwilling to put the full force of the White House behind issues like the public option in health reform or preventing the Bush tax cuts from being extended. But to become so narrowly focused on our pet causes that we refuse to enthusiastically support the reelection of Barack Obama is like cutting off our nose to spite our face.
Take a look back to the mid-term elections of 2010 to see what happens when there is an enthusiasm gap between the parties. It has been widely confirmed that the teahadists in the Republican Party gave them an electoral advantage because of their anti-Obama fervor. Our side was supportive of our candidates but to a much lesser extent. As a result, we lost the majority in the House of Representatives, our Senate majority decreased, Republicans gained control of a majority of state legislatures, and the number of Republican governors increased.
In several of the more contentious races for governor, the Republican margin of victory was small. In Wisconsin, Scott Walker won by getting 94% of the 2008 McCain voters to vote for him in 2010 compared with the Democrat, Tom Barrett, having 59% of the 2008 Obama voters vote for him. In Florida, Rick Scott beat our candidate, Alex Sink by 61,550 votes out of over 5 million votes cast for a 1.15% victory. In Ohio, John Kasich beat Democratic incumbent Governor Ted Strickland by 2% or 87,000 votes.
In each of these races and in many others around the country, Democrats would have won if there were no enthusiasm gap. And that is my point about why all Democrats should be just as enthusiastic and work just as hard for President Obama in 2012 as they did in 2008. Does anyone think that a President Romney or Huntsman or Perry or Bachmann or Palin will sign any progressive legislation into law? Their agenda, with the help of perhaps a filibuster proof Republican majority in the Senate if we aren’t engaged like we should be, will be to turn the clock back 100 years and repeal all of the progressive gains over the past century. The stakes are too high to sit this one out.