Having received the latest of many solicitations to contribute to the reelection of the President, this is my reply.
Dear DNC:
I have been a lifelong Democrat and can proudly say that I have never voted for a Republican, and I cannot ever foresee doing so. That will not change this coming election. That is not to say, however, that I will vote for President Obama. If a credible and truly progressive candidate runs, then he/she will have my vote.
I have been a voter since 1970. Before I ever voted, I was working precincts for Democratic candidates. I have contributed my time and money for our candidates at every level, and was very proud to do so for candidate Obama. On Election Day, I worked a phone bank in Century City, side-by-side with Donald Sutherland and others who had been seduced into believing that we were participating in a revolution.
After all, what could possibly have been more revolutionary than voting for the first black candidate of a major party running on an articulate and passionate campaign for change? Coming after the darkness of the Bush years which had almost lead this country into a fascist state, the country thirsted for radical change. Sweeping into office with a completely Democratic Congress, surely nothing could have stepped in the way of sweeping reforms, changes and the breath of fresh air which the country had endorsed.
In short, he had a mandate for change and an electorate that was ready to be led wherever he would lead.
Almost immediately and even before his inauguration, the disappointments began and continued unabated. His very first acts in office smacked of "business as usual." With the economy crashing around us, he resorted to an economic team with old and tired ideas led by the new Secretary, who proved to be nothing more than a Wall Street lackey with no vision, strength or willingness to curb the excesses which had caused the crisis. How on earth could a president promising change (and impliedly, radical change) put such a team in place?
This new economic team almost immediately started capitulating to Wall Street, and all of the other Republican economic forces. How on earth can we justify giving away billions and billions of taxpayer money with no strings attached and no requirement that bonuses be forfeited as a condition of receiving taxpayer money?
Report after report began emerging of jaw-dropping bonuses being given to the Wall Street robber barons while our "radical" president stood by doing nothing.
Almost immediately, he signaled that the criminal conduct of the Bush administration would not only not be prosecuted, it would not even be investigated. He quashed the Waxman led efforts to conduct investigations in the House of Representatives. His new attorney general refused to prosecute criminal abuses, including widespread abuses of the ridiculous Patriot Act, the abuses by the prior attorney general, and others too numerous to mention.
By sweeping this conduct under the rug, he clearly signaled that he did not have the stomach for a fight, that it was "okay" to abuse our Constitution and our rights, and that future demagogues could freely get away with similar conduct. By seeking "reconciliation," he did nothing more than serve as the Great Enabler. Now, instead of having criminal records, many of those same Bush administration personnel are helping to lead the fight to destroy our country by electing a Republican president and gaining a majority in both houses.
While there have been some victories, including the highly touted healthcare and some Wall Street reform, to my amazement, this "great communicator" has woefully failed to inspire the country and to articulate the importance of those changes, conceding the debate to the absurd "Tea Party" and those who label this important health care reform as "Obamacare."
It was therefore not a surprise that we suffered the loss of the House and almost lost the Senate. Many great progressives went down in flames, like Russ Feingold, because of the ineptness, loss of will, failure to articulate and, most importantly, the failure to be strong in the face of rabid opposition.
Our president must learn that you cannot negotiate with rabid dogs. You cannot reason with someone who won't reason. The recent debt ceiling debate is a perfect case in point. He has apparently agreed to allow significant cuts in Social Security and Medicare while we have massive corporate profits going untaxed and millionaires and billionaires paying nothing in taxes.
Democrats up and down the ticket will suffer mightily in 2012 because the president elected on the promise of radical change wimped out.
I am going to limit my contributions this year and next to either those organizations or candidates which truly support a progressive platform. I do not want my hard earned money to go to candidates like Ben Nelson or other "Democrats" of his ilk.
I will not be contributing to President Obama's reelection until candidate Obama (2008 version) surfaces and actually becomes our president.
I have never been more disappointed in the performance in office of a Democratic candidate.