O'DONNELL: Obama still better than alternatives, but disappointing
On April 4, President Barack Obama filed to run for a second term as President of the U.S.
As part of this first step, he started a campaign targeted at Facebook users in which people could publicly announce “I am in,” meaning you are a supporter. I am, reluctantly, in.
President Obama has undoubtedly moved our country in a better direction. The economy is finally out of the recession and is recovering, in no small part due to the stimulus bill.
The Affordable Care Act is going to give millions of people access to health insurance and probably stabilize costs. Our standing with the international community has improved significantly.
The problem I have is that America was promised change. Of course we should have looked a little closer at what that meant, but I think we assumed it at least meant the opposite of George W. Bush.
Instead what we got might be called “Change Lite” or, in some cases, watered-down Bush policies.
For example, the Obama Administration has given up attempting to get the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay onto U.S. soil so they can be given their fair trial, mostly because of Republican pressure. Many are confused as to why Republican opposition makes any difference.
Although the Affordable Care Act will help insure millions of Americans and reduce the deficit, insurance companies are still the gatekeepers. If President Obama had truly wanted to make health insurance affordable he would have pushed harder for a public option, which would have forced insurance companies to be more competitive and lowered costs.
On many issues and almost all the important ones, President Obama has taken the center-right position and begged Republicans to get along with him. This is despite Republican leadership explicitly saying it has no interest in compromise.
In these difficult economic times we need a leader who is willing to stand up for forward-thinking and rational economic policy. Instead, we have a man who is flirting with Republican ideas.
What is a moderate progressive to do? On the one hand you have President Obama, who is at best a moderate and at worst a conservative. He squandered his large Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, and now he is faced with a diminished Democratic majority in the Senate and a Republican-controlled House.
It seems as though his base staying home for the 2010 elections has not been a wake-up call for the president.
On the other hand, the only thing worse than a disappointing Democratic president is a right-wing Republican president. President Obama may not be ideal but things are certainly better with him around.
The gay community is better off, women are better off, average workers are better off and the big banks are somewhat annoyed. Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich or Michele Bachmann would certainly roll this progress back.
Sure, President Obama. I am in. So are most of my peers.
But we are reluctant.
