President Barack Obama and I have shared a rocky road together. On January 20, 2009 I promised myself that I would support the nation's first black president because his success was my success. I always had a strong interest in politics, but it was only when Obama took office that I took the time to understand the inner workings of the political system. He inspired me to become more informed because I didn't want to be one of the many who only supported him for the color of his skin, so I did my research and found that many of his ideals were aligned with mine. The day he became president was a great day for me and his ascension to President changed my life.
But I'm not here to discuss how he inspired me to be a better man, to embrace my blackness and take pride in being the articulate brother. This is about what he has and has not done as president. Campaign Obama made a lot of promises, he was very critical of the two wars that we were fighting and felt that politicians had no insight on the struggles of common Americans. He was a master of words, and because of this influence he transcended beyond color lines and inspired people all over the world. He campaigned for health care reform, immigration reform, tougher oversight on big banks and Wall Street, a greener America, and equal rights. Three years later we're looking at a health care bill that stirs as much rage and confusion as it does relief, a Wall Street reform bill that goes far to protect the people, but is so hindered by special interest groups that it falls far below the kind of financial oversight we really need in America, and a consumer protection bureau that has been nothing more then a name since its inception. Along with these short comings he has conceded on bills that would have strengthened efforts to make a cleaner America, conceded on the battle of the Bush Tax cuts, and was almost unable to do something as procedural as getting the debt limit for the U.S. increased. The economy has still been a seeaw, and the idea of bi-partisan cooperation is nothing but a distant memory. By many accounts (mainly by Republicans) Obama has been a failure. Although I had a few moments where I was very proud of Obama, on most occasions I was left confused, frustrated and disappointed and questioning where had the man that gave me so much hope had gone.
I know this sentiment is shared by many current and former Obama supporters. I know the pain and confusion you felt during the debt limit negotiations where he went from demanding a tax increase on the rich, to pretty much giving the tea party everything they wanted and more. I've sat in with my head in my hands trying to make sense of a lot of his decisions.
Being an Obama supporter has been very difficult at times. There was a time where I thought I just wouldn't vote at all, I couldn't take anymore disappointment, I didn't want anymore concessions and decided that the Republicans had already won. I may have stayed this way if it wasn't for a friend of mine sending me a link to watch
A More Perfect Union,
(or the "Race Speech" as I call it) the speech that Obama gave in on race matters and the fundamental path by which America can work together to pursue a better future. In that moment I began to remember why I voted for him and I took second another look at the three years we just went through.
Before any judgment can be made on Obama's time as president, let's reflect on a few things. One of the top representatives in the Republican party during the infant stages of Obama's presidency stated that the goal of the Republicans was to make Obama an "One Term President." They vowed to do everything in their power to stymie him and refused to support anything that made him look good. Republican congressmen and senators predetermined to deny any and all opportunities for Obama to do his job. Reflect on his three years in office, and think about all of the times Republicans have blatantly or even subtly tried to halt a project of his that would be beneficial to the political system. If you're being honest with yourself you will notice that this happened a lot, literally almost anytime he tried to do anything at all actually.
What other President has ever taken office in that kind of political atmosphere or come into office with that kind of divisive strategy set against his agenda? Before he uttered a word or offered a suggestion the oppositions' response was a resounding NO! I am in no way trying to make an excuse for Obama, but this is a serious issue. Even as president you need cooperation from the legislative and judicial branch, but Obama never got that. Even when Democrats owned the majority in the House and Congress, there were people within his own ranks who were more concerned with re-election than reform.
I have heard that Ronald Reagan was able to unite both parties when he was President; but Reagan didn’t have to do it while being the first minority president, dealing with the worst economy since the great depression, politicians calling him a Muslim claiming that he was not a citizen of America and then having to put that aside and work with these same people. Reagan did not have to deal with the added pressure of racism, or two wars, both at the time showed no signs of coming to a close. Reagan did not come into office with the economy losing over 100,000 jobs a month, with Wall Street, the auto industry and banks needing a bailout. He didn’t come in with the social unrest that Obama has faced during these years in office. No one has, well... almost no one.
There is one man who may have traveled down a similar road. Not exactly the same, but not as different as many people would like for you to believe. Funny enough he is known as one of the greatest presidents to ever hold office, and navigated us through the Great Depression. For those of you who don’t know who I’m talking about, this man was Franklyn D. Roosevelt. When he was campaigning for social security the opposition told him that he was playing class war fare and stealing money from regular citizens, when he passed laws against child labor they said it was unconstitutional and told him he would kill jobs by trying to force businesses to raise the wages they offered Americans while trying to lower their work hours. But 79 years after he first stepped into the oval office all of these policies are staples of American culture. Today we praise the “New Deal” but many don’t know that it had set backs, and at one point the economy in that time reverted back into a depression. It took World War II for us to fully escape the grips of economic depression but Roosevelt was there steering us in the right direction, fighting opposition, making tough decisions (Containment Camps), taking some losses (National Recovery Act) but never faltering and changing the this country forever.
I don’t know if Obama will be as great as Roosevelt was, but if you look at the struggle it is eerily similar. One of Roosevelt’s biggest accomplishments was passing Social Security, passing that bill took guts, and an understanding that his political career was on the line. I think it is fair to say that as of now Obama’s greatest victory was the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare" if you’re nasty), a bill that will in effect make it feasible for every single American citizen to have health care. Elections are still a few months away so we still don’t know if it will cost him his political career, but it was a bold move that many other presidents have tried and failed at. It was something that Roosevelt himself wanted to do but could never accomplish, and it will go down as a historical bill that changes the way Americans deal with their health care. Obama was able to accomplish this despite strong opposition, special interest groups fighting against him, and the Tea Party asking for his head on a platter. This alone would be enough for any other president to hang his hat on. But after that he eliminated America’s worst enemy Osama Bin Laden, officially put an end to the war in Iraq, made birth control, and contraceptives available through insurance, and saved the American auto industry when everyone else said that we should let it die.
Despite his faults, he has done a lot of great work with the deck constantly stacked against him. He has not won every battle, he’s broken some promises, and I’d be a liar if I didn’t say he hasn’t made some decisions that make me question his vision for this country. But for all of this I have to say I am 110% sure that he is still the man for the job. I have faith in his vision and trust that he will do what we elected him to do. Barack Obama 2012, anything less would be unacceptable.
