Yesterday, President Barack Obama gave a stirring speech at the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin, Texas, to mark the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnson‘s signing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. In his speech (see video above), Obama talked about America’s struggle over civil rights for minorities, the heroism of President Johnson in getting the law passed, and the continued fight over civil rights taking place in America today. Watching President Obama speak from his heart, one has to wonder whether the President has gotten his Democratic mojo back, and whether he intends to continue espousing Democratic Party ideals for the next three years.
There is some evidence in recent weeks that President Obama is on a roll, and that his roll coincides with his pushing Democratic policies and values. For example, as of March 31, after Obama’s final push, the Affordable Care Act exceeded the President’s original goals and reached 7.1 million (now 7.5 million) new health insurance enrollments. That number is in addition to people covered by expanded Medicaid, and young people able to stay on their parents’ insurance plans until age 26, bringing the total of Americans positively affected by the ACA to as high as 33.9 million and counting. Furthermore, all insured Americans are benefitting from ACA provisions such as the ban on pre-existing condition discrimination and the ending of lifetime coverage caps.
Likewise, just a few days ago, President Obama signed two executive orders toward granting equal pay for women involved in federal contracting work. Obama held a splashy White House event and went all in on equal pay, even later criticizing a Republican U.S. Senate candidate who said that women weren’t interested in equal pay because they “have a different lifestyle.”
Perhaps President Obama’s strong identification with these Democratic Party ideals in recent days is why Obama’s approval rating, even as measured by the Republican-skewing Rasmussen, is now up to 50%. This leads to a conclusion which may even be a future messaging maxim: Good Policy is Good Politics. For example, equal pay is a popular issue that could help mobilize the Democratic base, including women, in the 2014 elections. Women voted 55%-44% for President Obama in the 2012 election, and presumably Democrats will need to maintain this advantage with female voters in order to do well in 2014.
If President Obama and other Democratic politicians remember the Democratic Party values that have led to so many successes in the past, they can continue to have successes in the future, including in the all-important 2014 elections. This means, for example, that Democrats running for office should run on, rather than away from, the Affordable Care Act. Running as Republican Lite won’t work for the Democrats, because if voters want Republican policies, they’ll vote for the real thing.
As for President Obama, we wouldn’t go so far as to say Obama now is acting like a liberal. Despite the wishes of many progressives, Barack Obama never ran for President as a liberal, and he has never governed as a liberal. But if Obama is now acting as a real Democrat, that’s a hopeful sign for the next three years.
It’s like Bill Maher said a week or two ago about Democrats: they need to stand their ground on some of these issues. And the polls reflect that. The best way the Democratic Party can mount an offensive come November is to make it clear to a populace that has been brainwashed into the idea that “both parties are the same” is to show exactly how false that narrative is.
You’re right, Robert! Here’s what I wrote in response to a commenter to the previous post (“How to beat the Republican billionaires”), who wrote that both parties were the same:
“It’s true that both parties spend a lot of time raising money, there are millionaires in both parties in Congress, and corporate interests try hard to influence both parties toward their profit agenda. But the similarities end there.
Average donation to parties? Small for Democrats, huge for GOP. Citizens United & McCutcheon decisions opening campaign money floodgates? Rulings by GOP majority Supreme Court, cases pushed by GOP interests.
Then look at the policies each side fights for. Democrats — Social Security, Medicare, Affordable Care Act, equal pay, unemployment insurance extension, women’s health, marriage equality, curbing climate change. Republicans oppose all those. What do they push? Tax cuts for the wealthy. Tax cuts for the wealthy. Loosen financial & environmental regulations on big corporations. Iraq War folly. More tax cuts for the wealthy.
As for campaign finance limits, Democrats are for it, Republicans other than John McCain are against it, and I think even McCain has since flip-flopped. Obviously, Democrats cannot then unilaterally disarm once the limits are removed by the GOP Supreme Court at the behest of GOP interests, but Dems are still eager to put those limits back on so that we get our democracy back from the Koch Brothers.
You’re excused for playing the false equivalence ‘both sides do it’ game, because that narrative is pushed by the corporate media. But it’s patently false.”