2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Bernie Sanders Explains How He Would Deal With An Obstructionist Congress [View all]LiberalLovinLug
(14,169 posts)If you cannot see the potential that was wasted from the mass support that Obama had mostly built with his progressive stances during the primaries, then you must be on Pluto. And his firey speeches demanding things like a Public Option, and closing Gitmo, and ending the Bush Tax Cuts etc..and then immediately after sworn in, he took his cards and folded them to the delight of the snickering McConnell and Boehner, with the "hope" that by rolling over and showing submission, the other side might just give him a bone.
And I call bullshit on Sanders pulled the single payer amendment. If you are referring to his home State's efforts. He has always championed it. It wasn't he that pulled it.
http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/232848-sanders-puts-brave-face-on-single-payer-troubles
Sanders, a self-described socialist, has been a champion of nationwide government-provided health insurance for everyone, known as single-payer healthcare.
But a plan to enact just such a system in Sanderss home state of Vermont suffered a major setback in December when Gov. Peter Shumlin (D), who had been a champion of the effort, dropped the proposal, concluding it was not financially feasible.
He was never in a position to "pull" it on a national level. Get YOUR facts straight.
Barrack Obama decided, at some point, that from what he saw, if he wanted to be a two-term President, he was going to be the ultimate Third Way President. To his credit, he believed his words in his 2004 speech about that there is no Red States, no Blue States, but the United States. Nice sentiments, but the political climate at the end of the Bush regime was so poisonous with Republicans, because like all right wingers, they do not capitulate, they only get more defensive and radical. Obama decided that he would not use the bully pulpit more, rally the crowds to stand with him in his fight for at the very least, a public option.
He could have done that by simply refusing to fold his cards so early. Have Republicans screaming on Fox News how Obama was the devil and wouldn't negotiate etc... He could have shown backbone and stood his ground. Fox News etc..was never going to cut him slack anyways. THAT would have kept those crowds behind him. The way it went down, he lost that base of support. Frankly it was embarrassing watching that display. He killed the enthusiasm for that potential. It got to the point that by the time 2010 rolled around, traditional Democrats had already lost faith and ambition to even vote. Yes they voted him back in in 2012, look who he was running against. What he and any Democratic President needs is to sustain that call to action through the midterm elections. He decided that he did not want to risk being only a one term President, and be painted as too left wing. And saw the rewards for his family going forward if he just played ball with the Status Quo in Washington.