Lessons of the Obama Debacle: Six Reasons behind the Debacle

[Better Believe It]

Foreign Policy In Focus
A project of the Institute for Policy Studies


Lessons of the Obama Debacle
By Walden Bello
October 10, 2010


We must look at the political experience of the global progressive movement in order to understand why our side has been derailed and how we can fight back to political relevance. The experience of the Obama presidency is rich in this regard. In the U.S. political context, Obama is a social democrat, and the broad left supported his candidacy. Although he was no anti-capitalist, still we expected that he would initiate a program of recovery and reform similar in ambition to Roosevelt’s New Deal. The electoral base that brought him to power, which cut across class, color, gender, and generational lines -- was full of potential. Obama’s ability to bring this base together on a message of change achieved what was then thought impossible—the election of an Afro-American as president of the United States—and showed how smart political leadership can shape social and political structures.

Two years after his spectacular electoral victory, President Obama and the Democrats face a rout in the U.S. polls in early November. Indeed, Obama and his party are like a rabbit on the railroad track that is hypnotized by the light of an oncoming train. Whereas Obama seemed to do all the right things in his quest for the presidency, he seemed to make all the wrong moves as chief executive.

His prioritizing of health care reform, a massively complex task, has been identified as a key blunder. This decision certainly contributed to the debacle. But other important factors related mainly to his handling of the economic crisis, a primary concern of the electorate, were perhaps more critical.

Six Reasons behind the Debacle

Please read the six reasons and full article at:

http://www.fpif.org/articles/lessons_of_the_obama_debacle

[emilyg]

1. k

[bbgrunt]

2. good article--unfortunately, in our hour of panic it is

not going to be well received by the folks at DU. No matter the outcome in Nov, the article will be seen as O bashing rather than a prescient analysis of the source of the problem.

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[The Magistrate]

4. Mr. Bello Has It Right, Sir

[librechik]

5. Bingo!

yes, exactly right, and well said.

[foxfeet]

6. K&R

And the Unrec Brigade is flogging away already.

[JoseGaspar]

7. K&R on general principles but Bello is wrong.

Obama is no kind of "Social Democrat"; he never claimed to be and never was. He has consistently favored purely private initiatives and privatization to a degree unmatched by any Democratic president since FDR... more even than most Republican presidents since that time.

He is a product of an era in which government spending and participation in the economy, and in public life, was broadly agreed to have gone "too far". The problem with that is that there is no progressive "ideology" compatible with such a perception. "Social Democracy" was born of the understanding that if one expected private enterprise to address "social problems", one would be waiting forever... to eventually get the opposite result. The reconciliation is not the product of a few new "good ideas" or "competence". It is fucking impossible.

And thus the crisis is one of no ideology. For all the speeches, where has Obama... or to be really fair, ANYBODY ELSE - articulated even the vaguest program, plan, or prescription for how "things get better" without a single one of the levers which came generally into use in the 1930s and which have proven to be the only mechanisms for social progress? Hope isn't enough and neither is wishes.

The debacle was inevitable and the mistakes were not tactical.

[SargeUNN]

8. This article lacks a few truths

Obama has indeed been more successful than this person would ever admit to, and certainly gives the impression that healthcare was a minor accomplishment, but it was indeed something Clinton failed to be able to do. We are not fair when we leave out the fact Obama has done several good things, maybe not at the high level we had hoped, but in this climate I think it is unfair to call him a failure. That is completely counter productive.

[Winterblues]

9. If only the majority of Americans felt like you.

Especially the Liberals. IMO Liberals have been very greatly disappointed and most are not complete dummies....If Obama had done so many good things it would seem more people would be praising him for them...The way I feel as a Liberal, is I felt I voted for a Democrat and a Republican snuck in...We know policies Republicans support were harmful for our country. Obama has stated as much, and yet he compromises to a point where those very same policies get enacted all over again. The Bush* tax cuts for the wealthy are a very good example. It has become apparent they will be reinstated along with all the other Tax Cuts even though we all know they will add seven hundred billion a year to our Deficit, and Democrats will get the blame...We also know that trying terrorists in military tribunals has not been successful at all. Yet when Obama said we would try the terrorists in civilian trials in the USA Republicans freaked out and Obama changed the policy back to what has been failing for eight years...

[lillypaddle]

10. You claim to speak for the majority of Americans?

Especially the liberals? NOT.

[SargeUNN]

12. That is the center of the problem

I noticed you failed to point out the accomplishments while pointing to a negative attitude. You failed to look at the fact we have a better healthcare system in several ways, the economy was almost as bad as the great depression, and while it is far from where we want it, it is better. The Lilly Ledbetter act was passed, and several other things but let's omit that since it doesn't fit into our disappointment, let's not mention how the party of no has made it hard to pass anything, let's not discuss the large amount of money wall street and it's pals are putting out to make the Democrats and Obama look like they haven't accomplished what they have. Then put our negative points there and refuse to credit the things we like, we might as well sign up and help the right wing. Sure Obama has done things we don't agree with and it is fine to address them, but we should address the things he has done that we admit are at least steps we consider the right direction.

[Better Believe It]

11. The Health Insurance Industry bill was hardly a huge progressive leap forward.

That's why many progressives call it the "Health Insurance Industry and Big Pharma Protection Act".

[SargeUNN]

16. was it an improvement or not?

Improvement especially in this political climate is a step forward, what do we do, throw away the improvement and start over or do we build off it. Had this failed we would be assured the issue would not be likely to see attention until it got especially bad. No it wasn't all we wanted but it certainly was a step forward. I just don't understand this type thinking. It is like saying I wanted my house done when I drew up the blueprint. It is just impossible thinking and actually not productive.

[Greyhound]

15. Not nearly as counter-productive as his oft vaunted "accomplishments". n/t

[Greyhound]

13. "...we expected that he would initiate a program of recovery and reform similar in

ambition to Roosevelt’s New Deal." Or even similar goals, not too many expected him to immediately and steadfastly side with the perpetrators while heaping even more pain of the 'little people'.
(invisible):kick: & R

[maxsolomon]

14. stunningly naive expectations:

"we expected that he would initiate a program of recovery and reform similar in ambition to Roosevelt’s New Deal".

you did, walden? i certainly didn't. i would have had a heart attack if he did. in light of the intransigent GOP obstruction, whereever would you have got such a notion?