This isn't about 'Obama is doomed'. It isn't about Obama 'not listening to progressive voices'. It isn't about 'bad' legislation getting passed, or gripes about cabinet posts.
I think Obama is doing fine. I think by and large the appointments have been good. I think we have been largely successful legislatively. The issues we should have with his choices and small line items in bills are trivial compared to our larger struggle.
This is about framing and public perception, and we are getting our asses handed to us. Obama is doing his part talking directly to the American people and making good on his promises. Now we have to do OUR JOB.
Right now the public at large is still supportive of Obama and our initiatives, as evidenced by recent polls.
The complaints are mostly coming out of the cable news and right wing demagogues. It is easy to ignore them and laugh at them, and call them the 'bubble', but they will eventually take their toll on public opinion. It hasn't happened yet, but the wave is coming. Don't get complacent.
Today, not only did we see the ridiculous 'outrage' of Santelli on CNBC, but then we saw all the talking heads agree with him.
He got the 'truth teller' treatment on Morning Joe, and then he got to appear and reiterate his argument with no counterpoint on Hardball....and this is supposedly the 'liberal channel'. 'Great job out there,' said Mike. 'Hey, I agree with you,' said Mike.
Cramer comes on and says we have to break the backs of the unions. Mike agrees.
We have Money Honeys as correspondents on every channel telling us about how much the 'Dow' disagrees with Obama. We have Government By Dow subscribers everywhere.
CNBC has their web poll going, and it's not just the 85% that agree with Santelli that is troubling, but that they publish 'representative' comments below the poll that are ALL against the housing plan. It's all RW talking points.
Anyone who reads online news must know at this point that the right wing astroturfing engine is in maximum overdrive. They are spewing their right wing opinions all over the blogosphere, and the email chain letters ( the foundation of right wing politics, IMO) are EVERYWHERE.
Every article I've read online this week and last looked like it was overrun by the RW troll army, even on liberal blogs. Letters to the Editor pages are overflowing with ditto heads.
The Marsh mouse was impossible to avoid. It's the perfect little poisonous lie that the RW loves to trumpet. Even if it is dismissed, it just feeds into an overriding theory that the RW constantly pushes about government being ineffectual and corrupt. That's why it sticks. People don't care about the details.
Our job didn't end in November people. We need to get off our asses and combat this.
Now, back in the real world, the housing plan should be the least controversial of the proposals. It is not targeted at loser CEO's and corrupt banks. It doesn't require new legislation. It doesn't require additional funding. It has at least a CHANCE of helping us out. It is likely to help us all with our housing values, at least marginally.
Yet the rage about this is higher than what I saw regarding the TARP?
Even here, I saw people pantomiming Rush Limbaugh. It's disgusting.
Somehow, our opponents have taken the legitimate populist rage directed at Bankers and CEO's and politicians and have directed it at homeowners and factory workers and people are CHEERING THEM. Populism is a flailing whip and we just got lashed across the cheek.
Of course Santelli makes a ridiculous argument. Of course no one should listen to Day Traders cry crocodile tears about 'rewarding bad behavior'. But it's working and we need to up our game.
There are two prongs to our strategy.
- Counter the spin. Write your editors. Smurf those polls. Answer those email chains. Talk to your neighbors. Blog on your site. Post to your you tube accounts. Be positive about our financial outlook. Tout demonstrable successes to your friends. Call in to radio shows. KOS! Get your ass back on TV! Pretend we still have to elect Obama. He hasn't stopped campaigning; neither should we.
- If you're in a position to do so: put your money where your mouth is. Invest in green energy. Start a business. Hire people. Take ownership; It's your country now, show them how we do it. Set aside irrational fear of housing. There are bargains out there. If you've been wanting to buy, or have found a decent rental investment, then go for it. Values may still decline, but I don't think we should time the bottom. The bottom is whenever a significant amount of people put their skin back in the game. Put Your Skin in The Game.
That's what being a leader is all about. Stake your claim, put it all on the field. Take the wins with the losses.
Our enemy has an advantage. They are powerful. They own the media. They own businesses and can hire and fire. They have channels dedicated to the worship of equity trading and Wall Street. They are the police and the military in positions of authority. They have absolutely no issue with burning down the house if they don't have the keys.
They LIKE fighting on their backs. It is their bread and butter. They can openly and more legitimately rail against government from the minority. It is their voice. They have found it again.
They can easily derail government projects for political gain. When a progressive demonstrates, he misses a day of work. When the Uber-rich demonstrate, they lay off 10k people.
We have to counter it. NOW.
This isn't 'the sky is falling'. This is the 'sky is cracking, get a ladder and some boards.'