{"id":8650,"date":"2009-04-24T21:11:38","date_gmt":"2009-04-24T21:11:38","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2009-04-24T21:31:20","modified_gmt":"2009-04-24T21:31:20","slug":"wheres-our-obama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/calitics.com\/index.php\/2009\/04\/24\/wheres-our-obama\/","title":{"rendered":"Where’s Our Obama?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Peter Hecht’s article in today’s Sac Bee is odd, to say the least. He argues that Democrats are “divided and dispirited”<\/a> heading into today’s convention. As one of the delegates currently on the way to Sacramento for the convention, I’m not really sure wtf he is talking about.  Hecht argues:<\/p>\n

But as thousands of party delegates and guests convene in Sacramento today for their annual state convention, the party is splintering over the state budget crisis, cuts in social services and a slate of special election ballot initiatives intended to resolve the fiscal mess….<\/p>\n

Now after a controversial budget deal Democratic lawmakers struck with Schwarzenegger and six Republican lawmakers in February to stave off a $40 billion deficit, the party’s potent coalition is coming apart.<\/p>\n

“If the administration’s goal was to break up the coalition that defeated them in 2005, they couldn’t have done it better,” said Phil Giarrizzo, a Democratic consultant and former union leader who directed state field operations to defeat Schwarzenegger’s special election initiatives four years ago.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s true that the May 19 propositions have led some Dems and progressives to come down on opposite sides of the issue. And I don’t think it’s coincidental that Arnold Schwarzenegger & Co. are gleeful at the prospect of wedging apart the Democratic coalition, even if that’s not quite what’s going on here.<\/p>\n

I’m just not seeing the kind of bitter divisions or “dispirited” attitudes that Hecht is describing. Most of us are keeping the May 19 election in perspective – it’s important, but it’s not going to solve our problems, no matter the outcome. All of us are focused on coming together on May 20, just as we did last year after the long but ultimately valuable primary battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama – ironically another moment when supposed Democratic divisions were seized upon by a press corps eager to continue the caricature of a chaotic and fractious party.<\/p>\n

That being said, there is some truth to the argument that Democrats aren’t completely fired up going into this weekend’s convention. But that is due to our recognition of underlying problems in this state and with this party, and concern that there isn’t yet the leadership or the vision to solve those problems.<\/p>\n

November saw major Democratic victories across the country, but though Obama won a landslide victory in California, Democrats didn’t match that performance downticket. We picked up 3 Assembly seats, but should have won 3 more. We failed to put Hannah-Beth Jackson in the State Senate and are now stuck with far-right wackjob Tony Strickland until 2012. The party’s failure to produce a candidate to challenge the very beatable Abel Maldonado was a particularly low point. There were numerous factors that led to our defeat on Prop 8, but the Democratic Party has taken persistent criticism over its perceived inability to do more. And now we face the worst economic crisis many of us have ever lived through, with a state government crippled and unable to act.<\/p>\n

Last night I was on Angie Coiro’s show on Green960 in San Francisco to discuss Prop 1A. She asked good questions, one of which was the usual “what happens on May 20 if these propositions fail?” I laid out a progressive agenda, including the need to build a sustained campaign to demand wealth taxes and to rally Californians to push back against Republican obstruction. Coiro doubted that could come together, that progressives aren’t ready to challenge the very effective right-wing machine in this state.<\/p>\n

“Where’s our Obama?” she asked. Skeptical that we can organize to defeat Republican obstruction without an inspirational leader who can offer the vision California needs, she seemed resigned to the belief that we had no other choice but to back the May 19 initiatives.<\/p>\n

Her question could well be the theme of this weekend’s convention. “Where’s our Obama?” describes not just the gubernatorial race (I’m liking what I’m seeing from Gavin Newsom, though he has some work to do before he can become the kind of leader CA needs), but the state of progressive politics in the state more broadly. <\/p>\n

We must never forget that Barack Obama was a political surfer. The wave that he rode was the product of the energy and determination of millions of Americans who were determined to produce real and fundamental change in this country. As with any surfer, if there aren’t any waves, your day is a bust. But even if the wave is there, you have to know how to ride it all the way to the end. Obama understood how to empower people, turn them into activists and organizers and agents of change. Even though Obama’s first few months in office have produced mixed results, I suspect that we have yet to see the final payoff of what he set in motion.<\/p>\n

When we speak of “Obama” as a political phenomenon, then, we’re really talking about the kind of organizing movement motivated by an empowered sense of how to produce change, fueled by the knowledge that Republican policies had broken the nation and that Americans were ready for something new, that characterized the 2008 election season around the country.<\/p>\n

And that’s what all of us headed to Sacramento this weekend want to produce. We’re frustrated that once again our leaders have chosen to offer flawed solutions, sold on the premise that we just can’t get anything better given Republican obstruction. We’re not unaware of that. My entire life has been lived in the shadow of successful Republican efforts to break the state, to kill our dreams, to damage my home. I’m sick of it, and so are many others.<\/p>\n

It’s time we brought “Obama” to California. Obama the movement. WE are the ones we’ve been waiting for – the ones who know what is wrong with California, who know that our friends and family and neighbors are ready to hear a progressive alternative, who are sick of Republican obstruction. We want to fight, we want to do the work to overcome these obstacles.<\/p>\n

What we’re doing this weekend is building the wave. And once you produce the waves, the surfers will come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Peter Hecht’s article in today’s Sac Bee is odd, to say the least. He argues that Democrats are “divided and dispirited”<\/a> heading into today’s convention. As one of the delegates currently on the way to Sacramento for the convention, I’m not really sure wtf he is talking about.  Hecht argues:<\/p>\n

But as thousands of party delegates and guests convene in Sacramento today for their annual state convention, the party is splintering over the state budget crisis, cuts in social services and a slate of special election ballot initiatives intended to resolve the fiscal mess….<\/p>\n

Now after a controversial budget deal Democratic lawmakers struck with Schwarzenegger and six Republican lawmakers in February to stave off a $40 billion deficit, the party’s potent coalition is coming apart.<\/p>\n

“If the administration’s goal was to break up the coalition that defeated them in 2005, they couldn’t have done it better,” said Phil Giarrizzo, a Democratic consultant and former union leader who directed state field operations to defeat Schwarzenegger’s special election initiatives four years ago.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s true that the May 19 propositions have led some Dems and progressives to come down on opposite sides of the issue. And I don’t think it’s coincidental that Arnold Schwarzenegger & Co. are gleeful at the prospect of wedging apart the Democratic coalition, even if that’s not quite what’s going on here.<\/p>\n

I’m just not seeing the kind of bitter divisions or “dispirited” attitudes that Hecht is describing. Most of us are keeping the May 19 election in perspective – it’s important, but it’s not going to solve our problems, no matter the outcome. All of us are focused on coming together on May 20, just as we did last year after the long but ultimately valuable primary battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama – ironically another moment when supposed Democratic divisions were seized upon by a press corps eager to continue the caricature of a chaotic and fractious party.<\/p>\n

That being said, there is some truth to the argument that Democrats aren’t completely fired up going into this weekend’s convention. But that is due to our recognition of underlying problems in this state and with this party, and concern that there isn’t yet the leadership or the vision to solve those problems.<\/p>\n

November saw major Democratic victories across the country, but though Obama won a landslide victory in California, Democrats didn’t match that performance downticket. We picked up 3 Assembly seats, but should have won 3 more. We failed to put Hannah-Beth Jackson in the State Senate and are now stuck with far-right wackjob Tony Strickland until 2012. The party’s failure to produce a candidate to challenge the very beatable Abel Maldonado was a particularly low point. There were numerous factors that led to our defeat on Prop 8, but the Democratic Party has taken persistent criticism over its perceived inability to do more. And now we face the worst economic crisis many of us have ever lived through, with a state government crippled and unable to act.<\/p>\n

Last night I was on Angie Coiro’s show on Green960 in San Francisco to discuss Prop 1A. She asked good questions, one of which was the usual “what happens on May 20 if these propositions fail?” I laid out a progressive agenda, including the need to build a sustained campaign to demand wealth taxes and to rally Californians to push back against Republican obstruction. Coiro doubted that could come together, that progressives aren’t ready to challenge the very effective right-wing machine in this state.<\/p>\n

“Where’s our Obama?” she asked. Skeptical that we can organize to defeat Republican obstruction without an inspirational leader who can offer the vision California needs, she seemed resigned to the belief that we had no other choice but to back the May 19 initiatives.<\/p>\n

Her question could well be the theme of this weekend’s convention. “Where’s our Obama?” describes not just the gubernatorial race (I’m liking what I’m seeing from Gavin Newsom, though he has some work to do before he can become the kind of leader CA needs), but the state of progressive politics in the state more broadly. <\/p>\n

We must never forget that Barack Obama was a political surfer. The wave that he rode was the product of the energy and determination of millions of Americans who were determined to produce real and fundamental change in this country. As with any surfer, if there aren’t any waves, your day is a bust. But even if the wave is there, you have to know how to ride it all the way to the end. Obama understood how to empower people, turn them into activists and organizers and agents of change. Even though Obama’s first few months in office have produced mixed results, I suspect that we have yet to see the final payoff of what he set in motion.<\/p>\n

When we speak of “Obama” as a political phenomenon, then, we’re really talking about the kind of organizing movement motivated by an empowered sense of how to produce change, fueled by the knowledge that Republican policies had broken the nation and that Americans were ready for something new, that characterized the 2008 election season around the country.<\/p>\n

And that’s what all of us headed to Sacramento this weekend want to produce. We’re frustrated that once again our leaders have chosen to offer flawed solutions, sold on the premise that we just can’t get anything better given Republican obstruction. We’re not unaware of that. My entire life has been lived in the shadow of successful Republican efforts to break the state, to kill our dreams, to damage my home. I’m sick of it, and so are many others.<\/p>\n

It’s time we brought “Obama” to California. Obama the movement. WE are the ones we’ve been waiting for – the ones who know what is wrong with California, who know that our friends and family and neighbors are ready to hear a progressive alternative, who are sick of Republican obstruction. We want to fight, we want to do the work to overcome these obstacles.<\/p>\n

What we’re doing this weekend is building the wave. And once you produce the waves, the surfers will come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[87],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-87"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Pvhz-2fw","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/calitics.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/calitics.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/calitics.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calitics.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calitics.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/calitics.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8650\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/calitics.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calitics.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calitics.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}