How To Lose The Mid-Terms Without Really Trying!

As a politician and an elected official, when you, compromise with people who take positions that are radically the opposite of yours, you devalue your party's brand in the hearts and minds of the public.  Their perception being, your ideology couldn't be worth very much if you are not willing to fight for it.  This becomes magnified when the people that you are dealing with won't budge on their positions.  In those situations, compromise makes you and your ideas look weak.  I have repeatedly said this on my shows, on social media and in my articles here.  

For most of his terms of office, the President was constantly in search of new and better ways to compromise with an intransigent GOP.  In 2008, he became President based on a set of campaign promises.  At that time, the American public wanted him to implement those promises.  The GOP and the shill organizations that game our political system for them ran vicious and deceptive attack ads that attempted to sour the American public on the value of most of his signature promises.  Barack Obama met those insidious attacks with offers of compromise rather than heated counter attacks.

Contrary to the adage, you can't please everyone, Barack Obama was constantly trying to be “everyone's President.”

Here's what compromise got the President, his party and we voters who put our faith in him:

Heath Care - Single Payer health care for all, something that could have addressed the constantly rising costs of health care became The Affordable Care Act.  The GOP and their hangers-on  then dubbed it “Obamacare.”  It addressed some glaring issues, but kept insurance corps. entrenched in a system that, due to their profit motive and that of most players in the health care industry, will have built in annual premium increases.  Affordable care could become quite unaffordable after a few years. Single payer, or even better, nationalized health care would have addressed the constantly rising costs of health care and taken the teeth out of the GOP argument that “people are losing their insurance.”  When everyone gets insurance a la Medicare, everybody is insured and wins. President Obama could have been known as the LBJ or FDR of the twenty first century if he didn't compromise the original plan away. 

Unions - Unions have been traditionally known as friends of the Democratic Party.  Have the President and most Democratic electeds returned that friendship in any substantial way other than lots of lip service?  Did the President and most Democratic electeds support The Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would have helped level the playing field for unions during the 111th Congress which was on Obama's watch?  The answer is a resounding no!  Many Democratic electeds were too busy being mini-Republicans to worry about unions!

“Free” Trade - Speaking of unions, the President's ongoing support of “free” trade agreements that enable corps. to offshore jobs is something that upsets unions, union members and many of the folks who elected him in 2008.  These agreements upset unions for obvious reasons, but also upset those of us who want to protect the U.S. Constitution because they violate our national sovereignty!  Many of them give foreign corps the right to sue U.S. regulatory agencies in an international kangaroo court if those agencies' regulations interfere with those corps. doing business in the U.S.A.  What kind of regulations am I talking about?  Just pesky regulations that protect the American public in areas like food and drug safety or the environment, for example.  No need to “compromise” here because both parties support “free” trade agreements!

Endless Wars – Barack Obama's campaign was based on the concept that he was different that George W. Bush.  He was supposed to wind down Bush's endless wars in the mid-east that cost both lives and taxpayer money and in many cases, created and armed new and more dangerous enemies.  In many cases, he has perpetuated the policies of George W. Bush with no seeming end to the wars in sight.  Far more people have died in those wars than in 9/11.  The President seems to worry more about Republicans saying that he has a weak defense policy than about doing the right thing for America's future.  Sadly, most Democratic electeds agree with him and continually cave-in to GOP militarism!  At this point, things are spinning out of control with no end in sight which is sad because Obama could have ended the madness at the start of his first term.

Openness and Transparency – For an administration that ran on a platform of transparency, its functions are hardly an open book.  It seems to zealously guard its privacy and go after any whistleblowers with a vengeance.  However, our privacy is invaded on a daily basis in so many ways.  Many of our Constitutional protections that we held near and dear seem to be just a distant memory

Appointing CEOs and Industry Lobbyists – The President has a track record of appointing heads of regulatory agencies who are insiders coming from the industries that they regulate.  Most of them are either CEOs or Lobbyists.  This is kind of like letting the fox guard the hen house.  He needed to appoint knowledgeable people who would look out  for our interests instead of corporate profits.  He could have found solid appointees by nominating people from industry watchdog groups who know how the respective industries function, but look out for the interests of the public.

All of this leaves me with a glaring question?
When did progressives, genuine Democrats who stand for the policies of FDR become unwelcome outsiders in the Democratic Party?  I have seen some centrist sellouts, “Democrats” who call themselves “pragmatic” taking verbal pot shots at those who should be considered the standard bearers and core of the Democratic Party and blaming them for the GOP win.  They are aided and abetted by folks who will automatically vote and support candidates along party lines without questioning that party values have changed drastically. 

Democratic electeds lost out in the mid-term elections because they didn't stand up for Democratic values!  Because of this, the Democratic brand was devalued in the minds of many voters who would rather vote for genuine Republicans who actually stand for something, albeit something that is detrimental to their future, than vote for disingenuous Democrats who have a “compromising”  agenda that changes with the wind.  Unless we can elect people who stand up for John and Jane Q. Public instead of corporations and billionaires, we can expect more losses in the future.  

I hope that losing in two election cycles will wake up a few sycophantic unconditional supporters who are still in denial! 

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