The Liberal Left is the Base of the Party

[spin]

99. I sat down to watch Monday Night Football in December of 2006. ...

The Chicago Bears were playing the St. Louis Rams.

Obama did the lead in to the game. I was so impressed that I called my son-in-law and my daughter into my living room and rewound my DVR so they could watch it.

After they did, I told them, "You are looking at the next President of the United States."

Obama is without any doubt in my mind the best orator I have ever witnessed running for the office of President and also ran an incredibly well managed campaign. First he destroyed the coronation of Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries. That was no small achievement considering that Hillary had the very powerful Clinton machine to back her and the support of most moderate and conservative Democrats. He has a lot of inspiring ideas and gave most people the hope that he would be one of our few great Presidents.

Hillary would have beat John McCain so it wasn't any surprise to me when Obama won the Presidency. The nation was sick and tired of the Republicans and the Bush the Younger administration who pushed us into a totally unnecessary and costly war in Iraq for little or no reason. Our economy had tanked and we were on the verge of another Great Depression. In the latter days of Obama's first campaign for President, I began to suspect that McCain had decided he really didn't want the job.

The Republicans foolishly picked another loser to run against Obama in 2012. Mitt Romney is so rich that he lacks the ability to connect with average people. How many Americans have a elevator for their cars in their four car garage? Most American voters dislike and distrust many members of the 1% and feel this uber upper class is one of the main reason our nation is in the economic mess it is and why the middle class is in danger of extinction.

But while Obama is a great campaigner with good ideas, he has faced enormous difficultly implementing his polices. His greatest achievement was the passage of the ACA but the roll out has proven to be a fiasco. I feel that eventually "ObamaCare" will prove very popular to most Americans just as Medicare is. Unfortunately this will take time, perhaps years, and a lot of work.

The very liberal group of the Democratic Party may win the next Presidential election if they can come up with another candidate with the charisma of Obama. While possible, I feel that such candidates are few and far between.

Of course the Republicans might decide to run an ultra conservative member of the Tea Party. Or they might decide to nominate Jeb Bush. If so they will most likely lose the next Presidential race. Members of the Tea Party are far too conservative to appeal to most voters and few want to see another Bush in office (or for that matter another Clinton).

So perhaps a very liberal candidate does have a chance in 2016. But our most important immediate concern should be the upcoming midterm election. In my opinion, I feel that if we wish to keep control of the Senate and gain seats in the House we have to welcome moderate and conservative Democrats and not drive them from our ranks.

United we win. divided we may fail.