I enjoy a good glass of wine to end the day, perhaps a nice crisp Cabernet Sauvignon. But my gut tells me that the wine producers are getting a lot of orders from inside the beltway. And the ahem "whine" requests are ironically coming from the so called "Progressive" wing of the Democratic Party. What amazes me is that these are supposed to be the intellectuals, the ones that "get it". Yet, their hand wringing over the "Clintonian" look of the Obama cabinet, or President Elect Obama's decision not to actively campaign in the Georgia Senate runoff election is extremely disappointing. They continue to question President Elect Obama's change mantra as if competence is not a component of change, as if they fail to grasp the concept that the idealistic realities of a primary campaign and general election, may give way to the more sobering realities of the Oval Office in real time. They seem to have forgotten that the sixteen month Iraq withdrawal timetable introduced by then Senator Obama and supported by the left has been effectively adopted by both Bagdad, and the Bush Administration. And that Bush holdover Gates will be charged to manage that withdrawal. If you listen to the whine from the left, one would think Gates will secretly work to lengthen the conflict.
As I wrote in my blog Browner, Younger and Smarter, the Obama coalition that reflects that title, turned to Obama primarily because of their perception he would bring competence back to the White House. As it stands now the liberal wing of the Democratic Party seems to have gotten the case of "yes buts" meaning - yes Larry Summers, Paul Volker, Tim Geithner, and Hillary Clinton are competent, high quality picks, but whaaaa, what about us?
What about you on the left? During the campaign, those on the left, as well as many independent voters, decried Senator McCain's pick of Sarah Palin as the anthesis of "Country First". Now as it appears that President Elect Obama is making country first decisions, choosing direct reports who have respect on both sides of the aisle, as competent, intelligent policy technicians with gravitas both at home and abroad to pursue Obama's policy directives. The key formulation is these will be President Obama's policy objectives. No matter whose administration these individuals served under before, and their past political loyalties notwithstanding, President Elect Obama has made it crystal clear, they now work for him.
As a person who wrote in October 2006 that Senator Obama should stand down and give way to the inevitability of Senator Hillary Clinton, I understand the error of underestimating Barack Hussein Obama. Barack Obama is a very astute politician - a fact ought not to be "slept on". This is not a man who will allow his reports to undermine his vision. And let's be clear Rahm Emanuel, David Axelrod, Valerie Jarrett, will be in the room when every key decision is being made, protecting his backside. As for Obama's own political instincts recall that then Senator Obama understood the potential danger of Reverend Wright long before the media picked up on his speeches, and put distance between him by not allowing him to speak at his announcement rally in Springfield, he turned down public financing as it became clear to him he was sitting on a cash cow, and decided against the town hall debates with Senator McCain in order to get his message out with more clarity. Senator Obama while having the most liberal voting record has been moving toward a more pragmatic, and realistic centrist position since he won the nomination. Why, because that's where the country is. The country rejected writ large the failed policies that were driven from the extreme of the right, and President Elect Obama is wise not to allow the political pendulum to drift dangerously to the left. Remember his oft stump remark, this election is about "big things" and as the days and weeks have passed since his election, those "things" have gotten even bigger.
Senator Obama needs Republican support; he needs John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, as much as he needs Harry Reid, Ted Kennedy, and Nancy Pelosi. As Karl Rove mentioned President Obama will have about 180 days before the first Congressional break, he can't hit the ground running by marginalizing the Republican Party, or governing as if they don't exists. That is change we can believe in. This is change that makes sense. As for those on the left who feel they are shut out? The aforementioned troika of gatekeepers Emanuel Axelrod, and Jarrett are positioned to provide a listening ear to views of the left, and make sure that their concerns, and input is included in the process.
Members of the left, we should all raise a glass to the victory of Barack Obama, and a return of competent government, but let's not sully that glass with bitterness based on unrealistic views of what change means.
So what shall we make of this historic election. Scripture says by ye fruit we shall know thee". If one ascribes to the theory that it is much too early to get our collective arms around this election, then perhaps the better question is what is the fruit of the historic Obama victory? Pulitzer Prize author Thomas Friedman said the earth is "Hot, Flat and Crowded". Keeping with that spirit, one may describe the fruit of the Obama coalition as Browner, Smarter, and Younger. In the afterglow of Barack Obama's transcendent election, much is being said about the composition of the voters that were the cornerstone of his victory. Their vote speaks equally to the politics that it rejected as it did the politics that it embraces. While much was made of issues both real and nonsensical, what this election may have turned on was one word - Competence. Leaders have led this nation to war and/or opposed aggression, when a majority of Americans favored isolation (see Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt) but an assertive competent, case was made for intervention. During war, Presidents have stripped freedoms as sacred as Habeas Corpus, but they were supported by sound competent doctrine. (See Abraham Lincoln) - Thus the post 9/11 actions of the Bush Administration were not a historical aberration, but a constitutional nightmare. What has given Americans pause, if not downright outrage was the manner in which those decisions that were made, the lack of transparency, national security policy based on lies, and faulty documentation which has become the basis for American blood spilled in on foreign soil. Americans understand that the road to good intentions may have bumps in the road, but what she will not suffer - is incompetence.
Beyond the malignancy of competence lay three critical demographics. Brown, young and smart. Engaging this group is the Republican Party's 3 A. M. call. In 1984 the first year they had exit polls to capture the youth vote; those youth went GOP by 20%. Those 25-30 year olds are now almost 60. They are the core of the GOP coalition. An aging narrowing slice of the electorate. In essence, the Reagan Revolution planted the seeds of the generation of Republican voters which is now on the decline. If history repeats itself an Obama victory marks a reverse shift in power. To understand the roots of the Reagan Revolution - it was competence. Jimmy Carter the last Democrat prior to Barack Obama to get more than 50% of the vote was ousted politically due to a perception of lack of leadership at home with the energy (although his energy stances now seem to be vindicated) and the Iranian hostage crises. Young voters ironically went for the older Ronald Reagan, rejecting the perceived bumbling of the Carter Administration.
The heirs of Reagan, both named Bush failed to broaden his coalition, and one can safely say in terms of the younger Bush, constricted it. Now a generation later that coalition of Reagan is in tatters. What can be gleaned from this? Reagan governed from the center right, but had a vision, while many can debate his triumphs and failures, none can say he failed to have an impact. Yet the Reagan victory gave rise to a longing within the Republican Party to reclaim the power of the Executive Branch lost during the Nixon years. Ronald Reagan gave rise to a rebirth in the imperial presidency, but it was the Administration of Bush 43 that revived it. The Reagan coalition supported by the hyper active Religious Right saw the, dalliance of President Clinton as an example of the erosion of the moral fabric, and 9/11 attacks as an attack on Christian values. They ultimately leveraged that latter emotion into the invasion of Iraq, the horrors of Gitmo, and the Patriot Act and other intrusions on American life. After the 2001 election the divide in America was more real than imagined, the Bush Administration's response to Katrina allowed for such intellection offerings such as " would this have been allowed in Kennebunkport?' - As Americans were shamed with an utter lack of competence, coupled with mind numbing disconnect by its leaders.
The candidacy of Barack Obama said enough - enough of division, enough of malfeasance, enough of incompetence. This election was not about small things, this time in our history is not about small things, this election is about deciding what really matters, and in 2008, it is the fruit of the Obama victory those who are Browner, Smarter, and Younger are the "deciders". They have decided resoundingly that politics rooted in ideology won't work - a warning to both the right and the left - politics that is not competent and lacking transparent governance won't fly, politics that ignores the rich diversity of this country is outdated, and finally politics that continues to marginalize, and mortgage the youth will be rejected. In the moment it may not draw comparisons to the Boston Tea Party or Appomattox but as they say among the young, brown and smart - "don't get it twisted" we have witnessed a Revolution - Don't sleep on it.