US election battle pits major disappointment against scary alternative.
The country Obama inherited was indeed in shambles, but Obama took a bad situation and, in certain ways, made it worse.
– Film director Oliver Stone and historian Peter Kuznick.
One candidate for president of the United States supports privatized health care, extrajudicial killing of opponents in foreign countries, wiretapping without warrants and big business bailouts. This candidate’s US$1 billion campaign is heavily corporately funded, with Microsoft and Google among his largest contributors, and he has Wall Street economic advisors and the strong support of the former speechwriter for ex-right-wing presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.
The other candidate is Republican Mitt Romney.
So whether Democrat Barack Obama or Romney occupies the White House, corporate America wins the election.
And while there are substantive reasons for progressive US Democrats to work hard for their candidate, the political system is stacked against any president making what Obama himself called “Change we can believe in” before his 2008 victory.
Obama made big promises — to help unions organize more workers, close the horrendous Guantanamo Bay detention camp, increase the minimum wage, bring in a public health care system — not boost private health insurers’ profits, and much more.
Obama made big promises and four years later, those promises remain unfulfilled.
Four years later, those promises remain unfulfilled.
Obama can’t be blamed for all his failures. Certainly the Republican Party has done all it can to frustrate his agenda, especially after gaining a House majority in 2010.
But Republicans didn’t force Obama to appoint Wall Street millionaires to key jobs in his administration, or fail to jail a single banker from the 2008 sub-prime mortgage financial meltdown that rocked the world, or at least try to reform the insanely expensive US political system.
Obama’s disappointments have forced many progressive Americans to frantically plead with voters to ignore flaws in his record because a Romney presidency would be far, far worse — which is true, but not the most appealing argument.
Faced with that choice, most Canadians would vote for Obama, even though on many issues he is significantly to the political right even of Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Obama may overcome Democrat voter discouragement in his second term. But those voters should be under no illusion that he will magically transform into a progressive president.
He’s simply better than the alternative.
About Bill Tieleman
Bill Tieleman, president of West Star Communications, is one of BC's best known political commentators and communicators. Read political commentary from Bill every Tuesday in 24 hours, Vancouver's free weekday newspaper (also online) and in The Tyee — BC's award-winning online magazine.
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