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Obama could AIM to try to unite a broad enough public backing for meaningful reforms that the MAJORITY of Americans want:
Mainly illustrative:
*A health care program that, though perhaps falling short of single-payer (which Obama said, in the abstract, is the best system), but is as workable as what other leading Democrats are proposing and NOT the kind of scam (eg w/ Medicare) the Repukes have put forward
* Gay rights -- a comprehensive bill to include sexual orientation (like sex and race, etc) at the FEDERAL level in the protected categories against discrimination in both public and private sectors, with the same sorts of 'exceptions' (eg you don't have to have an equal number of men in bra commercials). He could leave gay marriage to the states, and then at least make some more intelligent accomodation regarding gays in the military, without making it a wedge issue that it was under Clinton
* A very broadly popular effort to push alternative energy and conservation (he's proposing only $150 billion over 10 years which I consider insufficient by an order of magnitude at least), in ways the Repukes would never consider but which most Americans, including conservatives, want.
* Similarly broad environmental efforts, possibly coupled with hearings in Congress focusing on uniting Americans around this urgent issue rather than dividing them on things like gays in the military. (In this area I am a longtime advocate of heavy taxes IN ADDITION TO HARD REGULATION on pollution and scarce resources; these could help deal with the deficit while popularly reducing much pollution, etc)
The list goes on. On issues of social justice and race there are very popular things (like a WPA type job-creation program) that could do a lot and very CONTROVERSIAL things like non-means tested affirmative action that create much more division (and are being eviscerated both at the referendum level, like in CA, and at the judicial level). As you can see, as with gay rights and health care, plenty of progressives would be dissatisfied, and RW wingnuts also. His 'unifying' appeal is mainly to those who only LEAN conservative but are basically moderate and not heavily ideological.
This is not an idiotic and unreasonable GOAL, and much of it might be accomplished, with a president willing to and with the savvy to optimally pursue it. If I had to CHOOSE WHO I think could pull this off among the main candidates of both parties, my answer would be: OBAMA.
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