It's Time for a Dose of Realism Regarding Obama

For the past week I have been hearing all of my friends, most of whom are die hard leftists like myself, spewing all kinds of venom over the latest moves by Barack Obama. The mainstream media is calling it a "move to the center" and constantly reporting on how those of us on the left are ready to throw Obama from the train, because he is not in the right place on health care, FISA, the death penalty, and the right to "bear arms". While I definitely agree that he is moving closer to the proverbial "center" - something that Jim Hightower has characterized fantastically as the place at which you find nothing but "yellow lines and armadillos" - what I don't agree with is that we should throw him under the train.

Here's why: You see, a Presidential election happens in three phases, and each phase is an important step in the development of a President, in that the cumulative effects of each of the three phases will in essence decide his fate in the eyes of history.

Phase I is the primary election. The folks who traditionally come out and vote or caucus with zeal during the primary season are the activists, the radicals, the academics, the elderly, the college educated, the environmentalists for the most part, and a broad mix of other folks who we could call "politically aware." In other words, the choir comes out for rehearsal. So in the case of Obama, he gave beautiful oratory concerts, talked of breaking down the racial divide, and so on and so forth. It felt good. It felt right. It didn't hurt so bad for a chance to watch a Democratic primary contender. So all of us on the left began to get really excited, because Obama - who we weren't really sure was progressive enough for us to begin with - was really looking like he will come through; that he will be the guy to finally listen to the silent majority in this country.

Phase II is the general election. This is where things get tough again, when us folks on the left begin to question our support for the Democratic Party's candidate. In the case of Barack Obama, he starts to hedge his bets a little in regard to the health care question, etc. He decides not to start a battle with the powers that be on the FISA bill. He says he's not actually against the death penalty in all cases. He says that he will work to extend George W. Bush's "faith-based initiatives". Getting the picture? Well, before moving on, I should throw in a caveat of my own here and say that I think his decision to extend the faith based initiatives is a great idea, a stroke of genius in fact. He is no doubt looking at this from the perspective of a guy - who does happen to be religious mind you - who is about to become President of the United States under one of the worst economic situations the country has ever seen, and after the worst President in our history. He surely has said to himself, "Why not let Catholic churches get a little money from the government to impliment massive anti-poverty campaigns? Right?" Damn smart people!

Anyway, back to Phase II. Simply stated, phase II is when a candidate gathers up as much support as he can get without completely loosing his base. Now we all know that Obama is walking a tightrope here, because he may have already lost a bunch of votes. I would argue none of them are gone for good though, because he will reign things back in when the time is right, as long as we the people demand it. I mean, think about it. It is pretty widely understood that Bush was only able to steal the election because of the massive numbers of religious folks who voted for him. If they had not rallied behind him, the vote would not have been close enough for the election officials to fudge, dig? If Obama can turn those folks around and point them at the Sermon on the Mount instead of the hatred and oppressive dogma that the fundamentalists have been spewing over the past twenty years, he will take away what little chance the right wing has in this country to cast doubt. If Obama can win over the folks who won't vote for him if he is completely against the death penalty, but will if he allows it for child rapists, Obama wins again. And believe it or not, even him not taking on the FISA decision was a smart move. Why? Because he knew that Russ Feingold was going to take on that fight himself, which has already begun. So, when the issue heads back into the Congress on appeal, Obama votes the correct way and re-examining the issue. I think you get the idea. The bottom line is, during phase II, the candidate does what he - and his handlers - think is necessary in order to shore up as much of the opposition's votes as he can, before a quick return to the base.

While all this is going on, Obama will have surrogates out there soothing people, telling them that the world cannot be made perfect over night. He will do this with the health care issue too, by saying something to the effect of: You can't just take a system that is capitalistic to the point of tyrannical and turn it into a non-profit system in one fell swoop. We will have to completely dismantle the corporate structure of health care in this country methodically, until it is safe to move in the other direction. Etc, etc, etc.

Phase III: The election. With an adequate amount of assurances from the Obama campaign that us folks on the left have nothing to worry about in an Obama Presidency, Obama is elected by a wide margin. The Republicans are totally obliterated. That is when WE come in. We must be strong enough to deal with the reality that is the American presidency:

We can never know, until he is elected, what any President - including Barack Obama - will do once he is elected. That's because:
Presidents do whatever they have to in order to get elected. Until we have a truly representative voting system in which multiple parties are given proportional representation, we will never have a truly democratic system of electing a President in the United States. Candidates have to operate under the basic truth that in order to get elected they have to win the votes of the opposition as well.

So, with all that in mind, I have no worries about Obama except whether or not he can get elected without being killed first, simple as that. On this issue I am a realist, not an idealist. On most every other issue I am an idealist. When Barack Obama is elected President, I will again become a full-time idealist, demanding of him the change he has campaigned on. Until then, speak on Barack. Say what you have to say in order to help us take back this country from the fascists who hijacked it from us in the 1980s.