Robert Shrum: The Democrats' Self-defeating Crybaby Chorus [View All]

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Robert Shrum

The Democrats' self-defeating crybaby chorus
After a special election loss in New York City, many on the Left are boneheadedly fleeing Obama — just when they should be rallying to his side

SEPTEMBER 16, 2011

James (Carville) is on target about one thing: Obama has to "make a case like a Democrat." But that's what this president is doing now. Day after day, he is drawing the dividing lines. He does have to keep at it — and show as well as say that he's the one fighting for ordinary, hard-working, and out-of-work Americans. That's been the right course for some time — and with Obama on course, he doesn't need to be told: "Fire. Indict. Fight." It's a catchy aphorism, but it's only one-third right.

Ever since the pains of August intensified, Republicans have increasingly hoped, and Democrats have feared, that Barack Obama is another Jimmy Carter. The GOP is doing its best to block recovery as a conscious strategy to reclaim the White House: kill jobs to get the job. But there is grave risk for Republicans in this transparent cynicism; the president has the voice, and we've learned before that he has the strength of will to set the choice and win the big battle. Indeed, that's what makes the comparison with Carter absurd; from health reform to financial reform to the salvation of the auto industry and the prevention of depression, Obama has a historic record of achievement.

The next step is to consistently push for jobs and growth. The president may not pass his bill — the odds are against it — but you can bet he won't be a prisoner of Republican intransigence. Obama is a fourth quarter player. And the fourth quarter has come. It's time for the crybaby chorus to leave the critic's row and get in the game. The president will do his part. And then his victory in the 2012 election will be remembered long after his phony defeat in a peculiar special election fades into a footnote.

The panic isn't justified — and Democrats can't afford it. Grow up. As Carville might say, there's too much at stake, stupid.