I think President Obama is highly effective: he is getting the most done that he can, given tremendous challenges, constraints and opposition. He is fighting to keep his accomplishments in place and negotiating the most progressive policies he can, given very organized, consistent and comprehensive attacks from the right. Yes he wants to stay in office, and I want him to also. I think it was on this site that I first heard the “Greatest President since Lincoln” statement. This was by Booman right after START II succeeded in the lame duck session. Why do I agree with this statement? Because President Obama averted a depression, and averted war with Iran, North Korea, and maybe even Russia (remember McCain saber-rattling over Georgia?). President Obama and the Democrats passed scores of bills in just 2 years, helping to fight for equality (Lilly Ledbetter Act), helping our veterans, helping consumers in general, and giving access to affordable health care in the form of hundreds of benefits, many of which have started but most of which are yet to come. I became convinced once I heard some details from the Wikileaks regarding diplomacy. Obama has to undo the great damage Bush and the Neocons did to our world standing. I think the Nobel Peace Prize was unfortunately premature, maybe after START II would have been better, but the rest of the world got it immediately after the election: not everyone in the US is war-mongering, arrogant, greedy, and extremist in religious views. We are facing economic and diplomatic challenges as great as the ones faced by FDR.
I think FDR was great, but it took several years for most of his biggest accomplishments to be established. FDR’s New Deal, the first attempt, failed in many respects over the first 2-3 years of his presidency. Eleven out of 16 of the “Alphabet Laws” were decreed unconstitutional in cases heard by the Supreme Court. For example, the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) was struck down because the SCOTUS declared that it went against the powers given to the states by the Constitution. Even the National Recovery Administration (the first “NRA”?), the primary New Deal agency dealing with codes of fair competition, was shut down by SCOTUS because it infringed on the Separation of Powers. Social Security wasn’t passed until 1935, FDR’s fourth year as POTUS. It is actually one of the few remaining legacies of the New Deal. Yes, I agree that economic recovery started immediately once FDR took office and stimulated the economy, but the economy went into recession again starting in 1937. By 1937, the Conservative Coalition started to abolish most of the federal agencies dealing with economic relief, and it started deregulating business and financial institutions. This deregulation has continued over the years, even after the Savings and Loan Crisis in the 80’s. Even after the “Great Recession” we now face.
Is it any surprise that conservatives today are challenging health care reform on constitutional grounds? Is it any surprise that we are hearing about regulations “stifling business”? These are the successful tactics that gutted most of FDR’s accomplishments. Don’t get me wrong, FDR was a great leader during his many years in office, leading us out of depression and through world war. His social programs, agencies and regulations, the ones that have survived, were the greatest policies of the last century. But this is a new century, with even bigger corporations funding our elections, with the threat of nuclear proliferation, with continual disparity between rich and poor, and with the threat of pollution damaging our climate and our health in significant, measurable ways.
Conservatives are very experienced, let’s not under-estimate their ability to frame the debate, to use modern media to get their memes to stick, and their corporate connections to perpetuate their dangerously ignorant policies. If a conservative were elected president now, GW Bush and the Neocons would look moderate. Reagan already does. President Obama has to stay in office. President Obama is exceptionally intelligent and knows how to win – by getting good things done!
