by Chris Slavens
The American people voted for change on November 4, 2008, many envisioning a new era of progressive politics and social reform under Barack Obama. The newly elected president got to work immediately, depending on a strengthened Democratic majority and high approval ratings in early 2009 to justify pushing a radical liberal agenda through Congress. One year later, public enthusiasm has shifted to the other side.
Young, uninformed voters who jumped on the Obama bandwagon have moved on to the next social trend, some regretting their votes upon finding that the president’s version of change is not what they expected. Tea parties organized on a grass roots level are gaining widespread popularity and momentum among the working and middle classes, despite an intense media propaganda effort to portray the movement as marginal. But while Obama’s plummeting approval ratings reflect an increasingly disillusioned citizenry, his position is safe for the moment.
The same cannot be said for House Democrats. They will reap the consequences of President Obama’s policies, and their roles in a legislative experiment gone wrong.
Democrats across the country are switching parties or retiring, probably because they place greater value on their political careers than in blind party loyalty or supporting a far-left agenda. A new Rasmussen poll indicates that 36% of Democrats “believe their representatives in Congress have lost touch with the party’s voters”, while only 54% say they “have done a good job representing their party’s values over the past several years.”
Obviously, Democrats are not on the same page as their supporters, let alone independents and Republicans. Which page are they on? Whose interests are they representing? And how can they possibly believe that ignoring their constituents will be helpful in winning reelection in November?
Some don’t, which is why they’re getting out of the game with their reputations intact. The rest, who go along with Obama’s disastrous agenda, seem to be committing political suicide, sacrificing their careers to implement long-lasting changes in U.S. government and society that the people do not want. Like Japanese kamikaze pilots of the Second World War, they fly a one-way mission. But this brand of liberalism is no “divine wind,” and the inevitable crash will affect the entire country.
The House of Representatives was designed to reflect shifting public opinion. Today’s problem is that opinion is shifting, and House Democrats aren’t reflecting. They continue to pursue federal health care reform that is unnecessary, unpopular, and unconstitutional. They ignore, or support, the president’s alarming use of policy “czars,” sidestepping Congress and the voters in an unprecedented increase of the Executive Branch’s power. If Democrats refuse to address the problems in the Obama administration, and continue to disparage the legitimate dissent of concerned citizens, they will be dealt a severe blow in the coming 2010 election, which could result in a lost Democratic majority and lame duck presidency only halfway through Obama’s first (and possibly last) term.
This is not to say that Republicans are safe, either. Some in Washington, like Representative Ron Paul and Senator Jim DeMint, are active and vocal in their opposition to the current mad dash toward big government and socialism. Others are disturbingly silent. So-called RINOs (Republicans in name only) may find their seats to be equally at risk in the coming election.
Both major parties have an opportunity to represent the best interests of the American people by embracing the Constitution and the free market, and slowing Obama’s progressive agenda. They have less than ten months until Election Day. There is no doubt that voters will be watching their actions very carefully.
Chris Slaven, former member of the Wilmington News Journal’s Community Advisory Board, is a guest Liberty Features Syndicated writer for Americans for Limited Government.
