Fair warning: this diary was inspired by markos's twitter war last evening, of which I was a willing participant and discovered to my chagrin that many individuals don't distinguish ≠ from =. Anyway.
We have to do everything we can to re-elect Barack Obama in 2012. Yes, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth too, but here it goes again: We have to do everything we can to re-elect Barack Obama in 2012. It's an imperative and not an option to punt down the field. Barack Obama must be the President of the United States from January 20, 2013 to January 20, 2017.
As a proud and vocal progressive, I can't say I'm proud of President Obama. I hauled ass for him in 2004 for Senate and in 2008 for President, and literally cried on election night. I'm no fan of Obama -- I resent his handling of Guantanamo, the "Patriot" Act, the surge in Afghanistan, the corporate-enabled health care bill, feeble bank regulation, and a general lack of will to seize the narrative and lead. For the poster 21st-century president, he's done a staggeringly poor job of understanding media and politics in the 21st century.
And yet.
I'll support him in 2012. I'll knock on doors in Wisconsin and Iowa. I'll phone bank, I'll donate when/if I can get a job again. I'll fill my tank and head to Grant Park again for the celebration if that comes about again. I'll vote for him and do what it takes to get him re-elected.
To try to put an end to this internecine war, let me say in no uncertain terms: you can oppose the president's approach and agenda while simultaneously supporting his re-election. Really. They're not contradictory. Having watched him in (in)action, my romanticization of Obama is long gone. But the prospect of a President Perry (Obama's likely challenger) or President Romney or gods help us all President Bachmann is enough for me to muster what enthusiasm I can for Barack Obama.
All of which goes to say -- and this is the broader, more important, and driving ethos of this site as I understand it -- change will never come from politicians unless they have no other choice. Barack Obama has become a cipher -- perhaps he always was -- but were he faced with a million people on the National Mall demanding jobs and freedom, he wouldn't look away. The electoral system we've been bequeathed is irreparably broken and cries out for an overhaul. That, of course, is another topic.
We have what we have, and Obama will never be perfect. At least, he'll never move in that direction unless we push him.