With his ill-considered and horribly timed directive to the nation’s public schools on the issue of transgender rights, Barack Obama has not only handed the presidential election to the Republicans, he has dumped a steaming pile of excrement on the lap of every democrat in the nation running for office this year. The Republicans are deliriously happy that Obama has handed them this 3rd rail issue on a silver platter, and they have already started to exploit it. Rest assured you will see this issue brought up at every level of election, from the highest federal office to local county commissioner. Democrats will be forced to defend something done by a “Democratic” president…even when they know it will be political suicide. If there are any doubts about the power of this issue, google what happened in a Houston election last year….in a city with a Democratic mayor.
Before anyone trashes me for insensitivity to LGBT issues, this is not about the moral merits of the issue, this is about political reality and practical impact. Does anyone in their right mind doubt that the repercussions to the LGBT community will be far worse from a GOP takeover of the presidency and maintaining total control of the House and Senate (and the resulting supreme court appointments) than whatever marginal short-term benefits accrue to transgender students? This issue literally has the potential to be a game-changer for the 2016 elections.
But this essay is not about the transgender issue, it’s about the sad reality that Barack Obama doesn’t appear to give a damn about the Democratic Party. No experienced political player would have failed to foresee that this move on the transgender issue at this time would be very dangerous, and would be ruthlessly exploited by the Republicans. Yet the Obama administration acted anyway. If this was an isolated incident, one might chalk this up to a misstep, or somehow an action on an issue upon which Obama had such deep convictions that he couldn’t hold back. But sadly, this is merely the latest move in a long line of actions that demonstrate a complete lack of concern….if not deliberate sabotage…of the interests of the Democratic Party.
One can go all the way back to Obama’s declaration during his first presidential campaign in 2008 that the president that most inspired him was Ronald Reagan. No mention of FDR. Lest one think that was a mere campaign tactic, have you ever once heard Obama give a full-throated defense of Social Security? On the contrary, he is widely reported to have been ready to make a deal with the Republicans to cut Social Security benefits. A move that, if done by a Democratic president, would do major damage to the Democratic Party.
For that matter, have you ever heard Obama give rousing support to any element of FDR’s New Deal? Or Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society? When given the chance, he spurned the chance to push for Medicare expansion and instead pushed for a health insurance approach patterned after Republican ideas, and actually implemented by Republican Mitt Romney. The great irony is that Democrats in Congress made to walk the plank to support “Obamacare” have suffered mightily under attack from Republicans.
So there is little evidence that, in his gut, Obama has any affinity or commitment to the cornerstone accomplishments of the Democratic Party. But the problem goes beyond emotional commitment to an absence of tactical support. Perhaps the most egregious was Obama’s dismantling of his powerful election apparatus after the 2008 election, and his weak to non-existent efforts to support the party in the 2010 elections. We are all still suffering the horrible consequences of that epic failure. How much has this president’s weak to non-existent electoral effort in the “off-year” elections contributed to the ‘red tide’ we’ve seen in 2010 and 2014?
But the list of tactical examples of lack of Democratic Party support goes on and on. Another very telling example, which I’ve not seen anyone point out previously, was his incredibly counter-productive cabinet choices of Kathleen Sebelius and Janet Napolitano. These were two very popular Democratic governors, in two ‘red to purple’ states (Kansas and Arizona). Plucking those two stars out of those states left behind a vacuum that was quickly filled by right-wing Republicans, and the Democratic Party prospects in those states were decimated. The terrible toll this has taken on those two states is visible for all to see. These cabinet choices were not the action of someone concerned at all about the health and vibrancy of the Democratic Party across the nation.
The final capstone is Obama’s continuing support for the TPP. Just on principle, this is a horrible thing for a Democratic president to support. But politically, it is inexplicable. Even Trump understands the widespread public revulsion for the so-called ‘trade deals’, and he has made major progress stealing away supporters who, socio-demographically speaking, should be Democrats. Obama’s continued support of this corporate insider TPP policy is a huge detriment to the interests of the Democratic Party.
By his long track record, Barack Obama has demonstrated little commitment to the health and vitality of the Democratic Party and its traditional core principles and policies. Obama has a chance to change this legacy by his conduct through the remainder of this election cycle. But so far, he’s off to a terrible start.
