Barack Obama
Related: About this forumIt's All Been Done: How Barack Obama Already Achieved Bernie Sanders' Revolution ( BOG POST)
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Trevor LaFauci | February 24, 2016
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When it came time for him to run for president starting in 2007, Barack Obama did not run on a promise of revolution.
What he did run on was convincing millions of Americans that were was a better way to govern. That we were all in this together and that if enough Americans stood up and voiced their concerns then Washington, D.C. would be forced to listen. His soaring rhetoric was based upon the idea that through hope and change we could advance the mission of our founding fathers and get ever so closer to our perfect union. That was his pitch: not simply that he would go in and overturn nearly 220 years of constitutional governance but that he would advocate for a way to govern more effectively. By voicing their support for his candidacy, Barack Obama's supporters were confirming that they too, agreed that we needed a candidate whose policies and whose views on government would best provide a way to make our system run as it was intended to run.
And so in 2008, America made history with its resounding election of Barack Hussein Obama. It was such a decisive victory that even Fox News had trouble describing it: nearly 69.5 million popular votes, a 365-173 victory in the Electoral College, and the winning of nearly all swing states including Florida, Ohio, and even North Carolina. Even better was the fact that Democratic senators rode Obama's coattails and with the defection of Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and the delayed seating of Democrat Al Franken of Minnesota, Barack Obama found himself in April of 2009 of having a filibuster-proof Senate and a Democratically-controlled House. Here was his chance to enact a progressive wish-list with things like universal healthcare, a way to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, an increased minimum wage, and free colleges and universities.
Does any of this sound familiar?
It should. Because it is the very same platform that now Senator Bernie Sanders is echoing for president. Yet despite this huge "wave" of enthusiasm that brought Barack Obama into the White House, he faced stiff opposition from not only Republicans, who vowed to make him a one-term president but also Blue Dog Democrats who felt Obama's "radical agenda" wasn't in the best interest of the American people. During a bitter and fought-out battle for the Affordable Care Act, not only did the landmark legislation not receive a single Republican vote from either the House or the Senate but Obama had to compromise on the legislation and even the idea of a public option was too much for certain Blue Dogs to swallow. The ACA that we now have in place passed after a nearly eight-month battle on Christmas Eve of 2009 with Obama needing all 60 votes in the Senate as well as having to fend off 34 Democrats who voted against the legislation in the House.
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The American people are living through a revolution. It is not a revolution from a seventy-four-year-old democratic socialist from Vermont. It is the revolution from a fifty-four-year-old biracial man from the south side of Chicago. A skinny man with large ears and a funny middle name who has put our country on the path to prosperity for decades to come. A man staked his presidency on providing affordable healthcare to tens of millions of people. A man whose actions staved off a second Great Depression despite the fact that these actions gave his opponents the ability to misinform the public and to retake Congress. A man who slowly and methodically worked with Congress to improve our crumbling infrastructure. A man whose very first bill was a bill to help protect women in the workplace. A man who has used the bully pulpit to advocate for higher wages and more affordable college. A man who has done all this despite having two of history's least productive Congresses since 2010.
Read More: http://www.thepeoplesview.net/main/2016/2/24/its-all-been-done-how-barack-obama-already-achieved-bernie-sanders-revolution
BOG
I will miss this man when he is gone.
************************************BARACK OBAMA GROUP****************************************
dhill926
(16,953 posts)ismnotwasm
(42,454 posts)He is a evolutionary president as well as a revolutionary one.
sheshe2
(87,469 posts)Thank you ism, he is revolutionary.
Cha
(305,385 posts)I've seen members of the Obama Diary talk about this before.
What do they think happened in 2008?! We had a revolution that shocked the repubs so hard they vowed not to help President Obama at all .. at the cost of their country. Their hate for him is stronger than giving a shite about America. Think about that.
"But that's how America works: we have no sense of history. We don't understand just how bad it was right before the 2008 election. In actuality, we were losing 700,000 jobs per month. Unemployment was twice what it was now. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was below 8,000. The financial industry had crashed the global economy and was seemingly continuing those very same actions as if nothing they had done was even wrong. Retirees were losing their life savings. Millennials were unable to find their first jobs and were being crushed by student debt. Our country was bogged down in two costly wars that were contributing to the deteriorating conditions and instability of the Middle East. While all this was going on, the rich in this country, seemingly unaffected by everything going on around them, continued to profit at record levels."
President Obama has been an Excellent President who not only brought us back from the brink but navigated us through so much success! He's been a transformational CIC!
And, I feel sorry for those who refuse to see that.
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sheshe2
(87,469 posts)The Revolution started without him, yet he thinks he is doing something unique.
Hey you~
Cha
(305,385 posts)He's refusing to acknowledge it. Depending and capitalizing on people's short memories.
I can't wait until the GE when the President is out there campaigning with Hillary and reminding the People. Because you know he will!
Understandably, Obama doesn't want all the blood, sweat and tears to go down the rabbit hole of history.
He knows Hillary will build on his legacy and make her own.
berniesanders doesn't get to rewrite it.
sheshe2
(87,469 posts)Not sure why Bernie missed a Revolution that was already in place.
Cha
(305,385 posts)Such Good Luck in Mass, she!
sheshe2
(87,469 posts)Not sure what will happen here. Polls are wacked. I think we can do this.
lunamagica
(9,967 posts)Thank you lunamagica.
mcar
(43,500 posts)Best president of my lifetime!
unflapped
(18 posts)Heck yeah! At the same time, it's 8 years later now and the path has been paved for Bernie to step in and double-down on this progress. I won't be satisfied until THE PEOPLE run this country rather than the CORPORATIONS; until the foreign policy of this nation is PEACE; until the poor are taken care of; and until we have a level playing field so that no matter where you are born or to whom, you have just as good a chance to find success as anyone else.
Obama has done a great job taking us partway there. He probably did just about as much as could be done given the constraints put on him. Now Bernie must continue the job.
It's not over. FORWARD!
You said it. Bernie will move this country forward. Hillary will not.
ucrdem
(15,703 posts)free at last!
Love and
I am so loving Skinner. He listened to all our jury alerts. He watched. He knew,
Then he set us free!
Tarheel_Dem
(31,443 posts)PowerToThePeople
(9,610 posts)ncovington89
(17 posts)The political tides have turned. More people than ever are progressive and are more "radical" than before. 250+ Berniecrats are running for office. He could change the country.
sheshe2
(87,469 posts)He is
Hey you. New here, huh? You took a wrong turn. This is The Barack Obama Group. I do believe you want to post in the BS group.
See ya!
lovemydog
(11,833 posts)his inspiration encourages many more to keep fighting and keep voting. We still have a long way to go toward a more perfect union. And I feel economic inequality is a major problem going forward too. We first had to stabilize the economy. We can keep on pushing toward more social justice and less inequality!
sheshe2
(87,469 posts)He always knew, all would not be accomplished in just eight years, yet he set the foundation. We are the ones that need to keep building.
"We are the ones that we have been waiting for. "
lovemydog
(11,833 posts)Very well said sheshe2. As always. Hope you enjoy a wonderful weekend!
dchill
(40,469 posts)What kind of bubble of privilege do you live in to happily spread this puff? All the bad stuff is STILL HAPPENING. There's no single payer or public option. New income goes to the top 1%. Banks too big to fail are now bigger. The minimum wage is still way under $10 on most areas, etc.
sheshe2
(87,469 posts)Sad you pay no attention to what is happening.
This is the Barack Obama Group. You are not welcome here! YOU ARE NOT WELCOME.
Bye.