A "Newer" New Deal for Obama and the U.S.?
Even before Obama was elected president, a recurring issue that was brought up by commentators and the political left has been whether his election is a prelude to a new version of FDR's "New Deal." The New Deal revitalized the American economy at a time of its worst depression through government investing in jobs programs. According to Michael Lind over at
Salon.com , a "Newer" New Deal is just what is needed in the Obama administration; further, according to him, by promoting economic liberalism, Obama would then bring in a supermajority of conservatives into the Democratic coalition.
First, consider Lind's findings on public support for New Deal policies. From expanding unemployment benefits (76%) to supporting a public-works style jobs creation project (86%), the American people have incredibly strong support for these New Deal policies. Lind's second proposition is one with which I have qualms: He believes that if Democrats emphasized these "Newer Deal programs," that "social conservatives" would be "welcomed to a big-tent party defined almost exclusively by economic liberalism." I unabashedly oppose conservatism, whether it is social, economic (well, not completely there), or otherwise; the thought of sharing a coalition with social conservatives, those who oppose gay rights, abortion rights, and stem cell research, is a chilling one for me.
Would Democrats rule for perpetuity under a New Deal-style economic pursuit with the Obama administration? This seems to make sense, but Lind doesn't go into whether social conservatives would then have a voice in the Democratic Party, something I don't want.
Labels: Barack Obama, Michael Lind, New Deal, Salon.com
Barack Obama for President
For those of us who envision an American foreign policy that balances aggression with circumspection, a domestic policy that favors policies towards the working and middle class, and a theory of governance that considers special interests to be an anathema to democracy, there is only one choice in this presidential election, and that is Barack Obama. At this critical juncture in the country's trajectory, at this moment where America is on the precipice of a major financial crises, strong, capable leadership is what is required, and this is exactly what Obama can deliver.
Obama's economic plan and health care plan, admittedly, would require some financial investment up front, but both would ensure long terms savings in consumer spending and would genuinely assure, at least in health care, real reform for the first time in years. On the environment, a topic that has all but disappeared from American public discourse, Obama would restore the environmental regulations that have all but disappeared under the Bush presidency, and he would bring the country into a new green economy, one that McCain would only be drawn kicking and screaming into.
Obama offers the promise of a new foreign policy in Iraq, one that finally withdraws troops from that neverending conflict, and he would provide some much-needed immediate credibility in foreign relations, something that has been severely damaged during the cowboy diplomacy of the Bush administration.
For these and a host of other reasons, including the prospect of having someone as talented as Joe Biden also in the White House, I wholeheartedly endorse Barack Obama for president.
Labels: Barack Obama, John McCain, president
Good Things Happening for Democrats in Virginia
As a native Virginian who headed home over the weekend, I was reminded how much the electoral politics have changed in the Old Dominion State. For example, in the 1990s, the U.S. senators were both Republican, and Gov. Wilder notwithstanding, so were the governors; ditto for the state senate and state delegates. As of 2008, there is a Democratic governor, a Democratic state senate, and, almost certainly, two outstanding Democratic senators in Jim Webb and (hopefully) Mark Warner. Warner has helped draw enough support in Republican parts of the state, including the Shenandoah Valley, to change the dymanics of Virginia politics. At least one congressional district, the 11th, in which Tom Davis, a moderate Republican, is retiring, is going from red-to-blue; and one near Hampton Roads might do the same.
Grassroots action on behalf of local Democrats, coupled with enough financial backing and a good strategy, has yielded some very favorable results. Is this enough for Obama to win Virginia, though?
Labels: Barack Obama, Democrats, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia
Bayh or Biden?
From what I'm reading online, and the general buzz surrounding vice presidential candidates, it seems that this is now a two-person race between Indiana Senator Evan Bayh and Delaware Senator Joe Biden for Obama's VP. My personal evaluation is that either of these candidates would be attractive ones, but that is a pragmatic assessment more than anything else; I think they would balance the ticket.
First, either one will be unwelcomed by elements of the progressive netroots; both senators supported the Iraq War, with Biden working especially closely with the Bush administration in its initial planning. Both, to be fair, have since basically repudiated their support for the war, and each favors a withdrawal from Iraq.
Biden is from a blue state, with a Democratic governor (Minter), which means that Dems won't lose a senator, should Obama be elected. Bayh is from a Republican-leaning state, with a Republican governor (Daniels, who is leading against Thompson), and would probably be replaced by a Republican. Strategically, it makes sesnse for Biden to be chosen, even over a Jack Reed of Rhode Island (Republican governor), in this regard. Biden, of course, would be in his 70s at the end of Obama's two terms, should Obama win, which would make him a somewhat old presidential candidate.
Both Biden and Bayh would be friends of labor, both would understand the dymanics of the progressive turn of the country; but a presidential election, of course, is based upon who is at the top of the ticket, so perhaps the pick wouldn't have major ramifications one way or another, and this holds true for McCain, too.
Labels: Barack Obama, Evan Bayh, Joe Biden, vice president
