Peter1469
01-18-2017, 11:55 PM
10 years ago today Obama made a huge promise. He didn’t keep it (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/01/17/the-one-big-promise-president-obama-couldnt-keep/?utm_term=.5d0888343a27)
He promised to fix broken politics. Of course that was a promise he couldn't keep.
Here's the key passage in Obama's exploratory committee announcement (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAdhMLaEWLM):
America's faced big problems before. But today our leaders in Washington seem incapable of working together in a practical, common-sense way. Politics has become so bitter and partisan, so gummed up by money and influence that we can't tackle the big problems that demand solutions. That's what we have to change first. We have to change our politics and come together around our common interests and concerns as Americans.
The big idea at the heart of Obama's candidacy was that he — because of his background, proven résumé and the historic nature of his candidacy — was uniquely suited to solve the partisan gridlock that had seized our politics under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. That he could bring us all together through an appeal to our better angels and our shared values — and, in so doing, create a government that worked for all of us.
When he was elected in 2008, the coalition Obama built seemed to bear out that belief. He won New York and California, sure. But he also won North Carolina (the first Democrat to do so since 1976) and Indiana (first Democrat since 1964). Obama had, quite literally, changed the electoral map by convincing people that politics could be different and better.
Looking back now, Obama's announcement video feels almost quaint. An idealist promising something — changing politics — that was never going to happen. But in the months between that November election and Obama's inauguration in January 2009, there was a belief that we, as a country, might be on the verge of something new, different and better.
We were not. In fact, the election of Donald Trump as Obama's successor — someone who ran a campaign that, whether or not you agreed with him, never took the high road — would suggest a fundamental repudiation not only of Obama's promise to “fix” politics but also of the idea that people want politics to be “fixed” at all.
The article goes on to explain why Obama failed to reach the biggest goal he set out in that exploratory announcement. It probably isn't what you are thinking- whether you are a republican or a democrat.
Anyway it is an interesting article.
He promised to fix broken politics. Of course that was a promise he couldn't keep.
Here's the key passage in Obama's exploratory committee announcement (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAdhMLaEWLM):
America's faced big problems before. But today our leaders in Washington seem incapable of working together in a practical, common-sense way. Politics has become so bitter and partisan, so gummed up by money and influence that we can't tackle the big problems that demand solutions. That's what we have to change first. We have to change our politics and come together around our common interests and concerns as Americans.
The big idea at the heart of Obama's candidacy was that he — because of his background, proven résumé and the historic nature of his candidacy — was uniquely suited to solve the partisan gridlock that had seized our politics under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. That he could bring us all together through an appeal to our better angels and our shared values — and, in so doing, create a government that worked for all of us.
When he was elected in 2008, the coalition Obama built seemed to bear out that belief. He won New York and California, sure. But he also won North Carolina (the first Democrat to do so since 1976) and Indiana (first Democrat since 1964). Obama had, quite literally, changed the electoral map by convincing people that politics could be different and better.
Looking back now, Obama's announcement video feels almost quaint. An idealist promising something — changing politics — that was never going to happen. But in the months between that November election and Obama's inauguration in January 2009, there was a belief that we, as a country, might be on the verge of something new, different and better.
We were not. In fact, the election of Donald Trump as Obama's successor — someone who ran a campaign that, whether or not you agreed with him, never took the high road — would suggest a fundamental repudiation not only of Obama's promise to “fix” politics but also of the idea that people want politics to be “fixed” at all.
The article goes on to explain why Obama failed to reach the biggest goal he set out in that exploratory announcement. It probably isn't what you are thinking- whether you are a republican or a democrat.
Anyway it is an interesting article.