Needless to say, when no one's happy and it's sometimes difficult to disagree with the enthusiastic logic of some of those on the left, reality becomes a bit nebulous. For example, I've found myself wondering why Obama hasn't already fixed illegal immigration, gay marriage, special interest influence in politics, and solved world hunger in his first two years as president. I've wondered how the man I voted for could so quickly bow to Republicans in order to shoe-horn a half-complete health insurance reform bill through. I've wondered why he hasn't railroaded climate legislation through with his Congressional super-majority.
I'll stop there. You can see where this is headed.
The Ascent
I've been frustrated that none of the pragmatic policies I once believed in have resonated with the public and therefore compromises have been made and progress has been slow. According to those news blogs I mentioned, America hates Obama, all demographics have gone off their rocker into one fringe corner of the political spectrum or the other, crippling progressive legislation in the process.
Then I spent some time on the Huffington Post.
If one take's the country's political temperature there, then one finds many people still support the Obama administration, regularly recognizing the mountain of achievements he's already piled up. What resonated with me most of all though was the temperate, intelligent expectations these same people have regarding the slow progress of progressive legislation and the necessarily slow undoing of the political culture in Washington.
And The Good News
Shortly after rediscovering this message (which I recognized as my own more rational stance before it was blown about by the wild winds of internet political blogging), and consequently rediscovering my optimism, I also happened upon this information:
It's a study by a group called the Campaign for America's Future and it possesses some rather telling facts about the state of the midterm electorate. Some highlights include:
"68 percent said they would oppose making major spending cuts in Social Security and Medicare to reduce the deficit, while 28 percent said they would favor cutting those programs. That included 61 percent of Republicans and 56 percent of independents.
"Strong majorities also oppose common conservative proposals for addressing the budget deficit: 65 percent oppose raising the Social Security retirement age to 70; 65 percent oppose replacing Medicare with a private sector voucher; 62 percent oppose a 3 percent federal sales tax; 60 percent oppose raising the Medicare age from 65 to 67.
"60 percent of those surveyed responded positively to an economic message that said that “we have a budget deficit, but … we also have a massive public investment deficit” that requires us to “rebuild the infrastructure that is vital to our economy” and to the economic growth that will “generate revenues to help pay down the budget deficit.” This message tests better than any other progressive message on investment as well as more conservative messages focused on spending cuts."In summary, this study too finds that the American public is not as irrational as the media and GOP would have us believe. A resounding majority understands that cuts to social programs in order to trim the deficit are undesirable and that public investment should be a priority before deficit reduction, therefore heading off the "strangle the beast" tactic of the Right before it finds a foothold. In other words, the Democratic message of public investment, continued support of social services, and a long-term strategy of economic development bolstered by short-term deficits is quite popular with likely voters.
Going Forward
The truth remains that Democrats will likely lose seats in the coming midterms, but I personally find peace with this now. After discovering that not only is the American public not as crazy as advertised but that the Democratic message is still a popular one, I can confidently remove my hands from my eyes knowing that progress isn't as unlikely as perceived.
The moral of this story, if any, is that you should form your opinions for yourself. Use facts, but be sure to identify what information from what sources qualify as facts. Obama approval ratings by Rasmussen are not facts, CBO estimates are. Huffington Post editorials are not facts, and neither is anything Fox News puts on the air.
Finally, shut off the computer and walk away for a while. Perspective is a powerful thing and so is optimism. If one begets the other, then it's easy to see how a trip down the political rabbit hole can stifle both simultaneously.
Have a good Friday folks. I certainly will.