Hello All:
A quick thought before the holiday.
Barack Obama has a growing enthusiasm gap. Not with John McCain mind you; his support would have to completely flat-line before it would sink below the enthusiasm of McCain's supporters; who have the collective enthusiasm of a group going for a root-canal. No, the enthusiasm gap is with his own supporters [myself included]; and our view towards Sen. Obama during the primary campaign compared to their view of him at the moment.
Sure, I don't think anyone has abandoned Sen. Obama. I still write the occasional blog in support of Barack and will certainly cast my vote for him in the fall. However, the frequency with which I'm donating to his campaign and expending energy on his behalf has markedly decreased. I've been disappointed with Sen. Obama's rightward tack since clinching the nomination. I understand why he's doing what he's doing [although I disagree with the political effectiveness of the strategy and strongly believe he is doing incredible damage to his political brand].
It seems to me that the Obama campaign, which to now has been quite forward thinking, has allowed itself to be drawn to the "center" based on what constituted the "center" in previous elections. Unfortunately, the "center" in American politics has drifted increasingly rightward over the past thirty years; which means it's somewhat of a false floor. And the only way to have the debate on Democratic Party turf is to strongly advocate progressive positions and pull the "center" back to a more traditionally center place.
Prior to this year's campaign I was a fairly apathetic [at least politically] registered independent that leaned towards the Democratic Party, although I did not always cast my votes for a Democrat. I gave money [for the first time] to the DCCC in 2006; a whopping sum of $50. This year I have given the maximum $2300 during the primary campaign, blogged, did volunteer work and raised an additional $1500 through my Obama Fundraising Page.
In short, I have expended a considerable amount of time and energy; time and energy that could easily be allocated to any number of other endeavors in my life. I did this [such as making some contributions on my credit card--I know, I'm not a smart man, but that's for another diary] because Barack was able to tap into the general dissatisfaction with the political process that many people genuinely held. I think there are millions of others out there that were there for the political taking, but just didn't see anything worth getting excited about. Barack expertly tapped into that dissatisfaction with Washington in general, and, politics specifically.
I started my Obama page in January. This is what I wrote then:
Barack Obama and I are committed to changing the political process with a campaign built on a broad base of support from ordinary Americans. We believe the only way to bring about lasting and needed change in our government is by rejecting the typical Washington-style slash and burn politics; by seeking to inspire voters by highlighting our possibilities rather than preying on our fears; and, by tapping into the hard work and ingenuity that has served us so well. But this can only happen with your help.
Today, I ask you to stand with me and believe that government can be more than driving up your opponent's negatives; that government can be more than lowest common denominator partisanship. Our government is a direct reflection of who we are. Our elected leaders represent us. It is not enough to merely replace a president with an "R" next to their name with someone with a "D" next to their name.
Those words seem kind of overly simplistic and, frankly, silly now. Maybe that's for the best. Maybe the old adage that 'Democrats fall in love & Republicans fall in line' is correct. I certainly wouldn't take any pride in some dreamy, wide-eyed idealistic losing campaign. The most important thing is to win. However, I have quite a bit to do during my day.
Like most people, I'm quite busy. I also have about $100K in law school loans and can't really afford to give any more money away. So, it's not too difficult to find an excuse not to donate to Sen. Obama's campaign. And not that I'm a harbinger by any stretch, but I think there are a lot of people out there like me. Sen. Obama isn't going to lose our vote. But he can lose our enthusiasm. In the end, that might be just as bad because it was the enthusiasm that allowed Barack to prevail over Sen. Clinton in the primary.
Maybe I'm wrong; perhaps it was inevitable at the end of a long, hard-fought primary campaign to lose a little steam. I certainly hope so. However, if I were with the Obama campaign, I'd be concerned.
Sincerely,
Jeff Cronin
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