Recently, Republicans have vowed to use obstructionism to stop Obama doing exactly what Ronald Reagan did: confirm a Supreme Court nominee within the last year of his Presidency. As Hillary Clinton said, Republicans are using racially coded language to prevent Obama from nominating a Supreme Court Justice, consistently holding the first African American President to a different standard than caucasian Presidents.
Not only did Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell say Obama shouldn’t be allowed to nominate a Supreme Court Justice during the last year of his Presidency [despite going against our constitution, historical precedent, common sense, and what the American people decided in 2012], he also vowed in 2008 to make Obama a “one-term President.” From day-one, Republicans have slapped away Obama’s good-will.
Literally the entire time Obama has been in office, Republicans have used every tool in their kit to stop Obama at every turn — even when he has acted in good faith. If one wonders why many Americans haven’t recovered 100% from the disastrous Bush years, one needs to look no further than Republican obstructionism. This obstructionism has led Obama to finally endorsing the Clintons ruthless pragmatic philosophy that led to success during the 1990s:
"Ultimately, I will probably have an opinion on it, based on both having been a candidate of hope and change and a President who's got some nicks and cuts and bruises from getting stuff done over the last seven years." ~President Obama
In a weird twist of fate, the original “hope and change” candidate is now endorsing what the Clintons warned him about: the Republicans will stop at nothing to destroy you and you must do everything you can to fight fire with fire. The best defense is a great offense. Bernie doesn’t realize how difficult it is to work within the system as President, something Obama has since discovered. Obama now endorses exactly what Hillary warned him about during the 2008 election.
Now, in 2016, both Obama and Clinton have lived through years of outrageous GOP obstructionism. Obama’s experience as President has given him the same insight Clinton had back in 2008. During Obama’s final State of the Union, he expressed regret that Washington has become more, not less, polarized under his Presidency. The Clintons, being firsthand survivors of the GOP onslaught during the 1990s, knew Obama was being naive in 2008. But I guess he had to learn the hard way. In 2016, however, I don’t want someone who requires on-the-job training. I want someone who can take the baton from Obama and hit the ground running.
Unfortunately, they say Democrats want to “fall in love” while Republicans want to “fall in line.” Well, we opted for an idealistic message in 2008. Now in 2016, Washington is more polarized than ever before. I’m ready for the pragmatic Clintons to go in there and fight. I’m ready for the Clintons to build on and defend Obama’s progress against relentless GOP attacks.
As President Clinton noted the other day, both himself and Obama only had Democratic majorities for the first two years of their Presidency. A revolution isn’t lower levels of turnout than what occurred in 2008, a revolution is 60 votes in the Senate.
Unfortunately for the Sanders campaign, one of their biggest talking-points [enthusiasm] is debunked by voter turnout being lower than in 2008. If Obama wasn’t able to bring a lasting revolution with him in 2008, why should we believe Bernie can do so with even lower voter turn-out?
In a post-Citizens United world, the reality is that it takes money to beat money. Hillary has raised $20 million for down-ticket Democrats to Bernie’s $0. Furthermore, a socialist platform will hurt Democrats in purple states. Meanwhile, the Clintons have deep roots of success in the South [Arkansas]. To this day, I still hear people say life was better when the Clintons were in power: 23 million new jobs, balanced budget, surplus, incomes rose as every level, and more people lifted out of poverty than at any time in U.S. history.
It appears as though Bernie’s philosophy of being a purist has led to no accomplishments regarding his lifetime cause: income inequality. Meanwhile, the Clintons and Obama have both accomplished a great deal despite having to work with an obstructionist Republican Congress — a hostile Congress that will be waiting for any future Democratic President. Given Bernie’s record vs. Obama’s and the Clintons record, I trust the judgement of the latter when it comes to how best to navigate Washington DC. The knowledge and experience Clinton possess is why the GOP and Karl Rove are working over-time to prop-up Bernie to hurt Hillary. The GOP would love another naive candidate in 2016.
For example, Republicans would love another fight over healthcare. They can use it to rally their base, obstruct, and prevent our President from getting to work on goals that can actually be accomplished.
As Hillary noted, pandering to young voters with empty promises will only further erode trust in our government in the long run:
“In my case, whether it's health care, or getting us to debt-free tuition, or moving us toward paid family leave, I have been very specific about where I would raise the money, how much it would cost, and how I would move this agenda forward.
I've tried to be as specific to answer questions so that my proposals can be vetted, because I feel like we have to level with people for the very reason, Gwen, that you are mentioning.
There is a great deal of skepticism about the federal government. I'm aware of that. It comes from the right, from the left, from people on all sides of the political spectrum.
So we have a special obligation to make clear what we stand for, which is why I think we should not make promises we can't keep, because that will further alienate Americans from understanding and believing we can together make some real changes in people's lives.”
I know I will get flack for this comparison, but just as Trump’s imaginary wall is a way to pander to his base, many of Bernie’s proposals are a way to pander to his base. Bernie’s promises and “no-starter” legislation will further erode trust in what government can do for you. Promises you can’t keep won’t build trust. It will only further build cynicism. The same cynicism that led to Bernie Sanders endorsing a book “How Obama Let Progressives Down.” Unfortunately, Bernie doesn’t realize how difficult it is to work within the system as President, something Obama has since discovered. Obama now endorses exactly what Hillary warned him about.
The ultimate endorsement of Clinton and her pragmatic philosophy is current President Barack Obama, the once “hope and change” candidate, who has now seen, first-hand, exactly what the Clintons warned him about. Just look at what the GOP is currently trying to do yet again with the obstructionism regarding the Supreme Court nomination!
The very reason the GOP is propping up Bernie is because he would require on-the-job training. The Clintons record of accomplishments prove they are best equipped to fight in a highly polarized world, something Obama now agrees with after being in Washington as President. A revolution is 60 votes in the Senate; a revolution is not lower voter turn-out than what occurred in 2008 and $0 raised for down-ticket Democrats in a post Citizens United world.
Don’t let Karl Rove, the mastermind who gave us Bush in 2000 and 2004, sew discord amongst the left.
”I trust the American people. They’ll get this. They’ll work through it. They’ll understand that they’re being sent a heavy signal: We don’t want to run against this woman. Just give us somebody else . Please. And so they think the Democratic primary voters will be so overwhelmed they’ll say ‘OK.’” ~President Bill Clinton
“The other party doesn’t want to run against her. And if they do, they’d like her as mangled up as possible.”
~President Bill Clinton
Currently, Hillary is building the coalitions and infrastructure needed to change the system through the system — this is what her and Bill have been working towards for the last 30+ years. Don’t be fooled — the “e-mail” scandal is a false scandal because the GOP does not want to go against the Clintons.
The Clintons have pledged, repeatedly, to criss-cross the nation to create this infrastructure — to build it from the local-level up [currently the *vast majority* of state legislators are GOP-controlled, which is why Planned Parenthood is being defunded on a state level – ie: Texas/Wendy Davis]. Unfortunately, Bernie does not have the ability to change this trend, which is why he is not receiving high-profile endorsements. Those with the most to loose are endorsing Hillary Clinton for a reason.
So let’s help Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton build the infrastructure needed to propel a progressive agenda forward within our existing political system. The last person the GOP wants to face in Washington D.C. is Hillary Rodham Clinton.
