Will hope be enough?

I remember years ago, during Arnold Schwarzenegger’s campaign for California governor, proponents used to say how nice it would be to have a “powerhouse” in office – a hero who could get things done.

I used to chuckle at the way they confused the movie character with the man, as if the new governor could use his laser gun to vanquish a room filled with Democrats.
Clearly, in 2008, we Democrats had the same problem, electing Obama the Hero, Obama the Man of History. A few months later, none of our fantasies have been realized.

It’s amazing how deeply we Americans disdain the political process in Washington, the gradual gathering of support for a plan of action, the slow work of building consensus, the need to appear evenhanded and fair while at the same time trying to expedite a bill that can actually get passed.

National reform is painstaking, very un-sexy, and you don’t get to say “go ahead, make my day” very often. 

Honestly, the process should be tedious, unless a president wants to arrest his opponents in the middle of the night and make them disappear. This is why I always chuckle when friends complain about the snail’s pace of politics.
I’m thinking, “Be careful what you wish for.”

To achieve national reform, a sitting president must deploy a mixture of sticks and carrots, of fear and friendship, must selectively extend the promise of support or the threat of opposition to more than 500 elected individuals who don’t see the world the way he does.

If he steps over his opponents, he’s accused of bullying and risks alienating their supporters. If he’s too conciliatory, his allies accuse him of watering down reform to the point that there’s nothing left.

Obama wants health care reform. Everyone except Republican leadership wants health care reform. But the president pretty much has to build it one congressman at a time.

It’s no wonder that during the early 1930s there were calls for President Franklin D. Roosevelt to deploy temporary dictatorial powers. Of course, there are those who claim FDR did just that. But then, there are many more who say FDR didn’t nearly go far enough chasing out the fat cats, and that his failure to do so led to the current crisis that is costing us $1.5 trillion and counting.

The best Obama can do is make a clear case for a public health insurance option. He can then hope that people tune in and listen to the facts.

His allies say that it’s time the president practiced a bit of arm twisting, cracked the whip and instilled some serious party loyalty. They’ll point out that the Bush-led White House did not brook dissent from rank and file Republicans.

In response, if Obama were a Republican, he’d have vilified his opponents months ago, calling them unpatriotic and immoral, a threat to national security, and associating them with terrorists.

That’s not his style, and it never will be.

Remember in the movie “Billy Jack” when actor Tom Laughlin karate-chopped a whole restaurant full of racists after screaming, “I just go berserk!?” Well, we don’t have one of those.

We just have this president who expresses himself quite well and hopes people listen. Will that be enough? We’ll see.

Mike Platz