Press - Buyer’s remorse : how Obama let progressives down

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Threshold Editions

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Copyright 2016 by Bill Press

The cartoon on appears Courtesy of the Artist and Susan Conway Gallery, Santa Fe, NM

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First Threshold Editions hardcover edition February 2016

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Interior design by Paul J. Dippolito

Jacket design by Daniel Rembert

Jacket image Brooks Kraft/Corbis

Author photograph by Paul Woodhall

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-1-4767-9261-3

ISBN 978-1-4767-9262-0 (ebook)

To my colleagues in the White House Correspondents Association, who excel in their dual responsibility of holding the presidents feet to the fire and telling the American people the truth

I speak as a proud liberal.

I speak as a strong supporter of President Obama.

I also speak as a liberal Democrat disappointed in his presidency, because he let progressives down so badly.

Indeed, you could sum up this book in one sentence: On too many issues, once he got to the White House, President Obama abandoned his campaign promises and disappointed the people who worked so hard to elect him.

At this point in the twilight of the Obama administration, looking at the differences between what was promised and what was delivered, more and more progressives want to know:

We voted for hope and change, Mr. President, but what did we get?

Sure, we got a better economy than Bush left us with, but we also have stagnant wages, a struggling middle class, rising income inequality, and a diminished social safety net.

Sure, we got health insurance reform, but without single-payer and with a monopoly for private insurance companies.

Sure, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars were ended, but now were still in Afghanistan and back in Iraq and Syria, fighting ISIS.

Sure, we decimated al Qaedas leadership, but now weve got killer drones raining death from the sky without due process, and the NSA spying on all our phone calls and emails.

And thats just the beginning.

Throughout this book, well go over the countless ways Obama fell short of what he could have accomplished. Time and again, he abandoned the progressive beliefs hed promised to uphold, on issues across the board, from the economy to the environment, from immigration reform to gun controlyes, even on health care.

Ironically, from a progressive point of view, Obamas best years may be his last two years. It was almost as if the burden of elections had weighed him down. Once the midterm elections of 2014 were behind him and he was freed from the obligation to campaign for himself or anybody else ever again, Obama suddenly got tougher and began to flex his political muscles at last, using the power of the executive order to take bolder action on immigration reform and climate change.

But by then, it was too little, too late on most fronts. For the most part, Obamas efforts were limited to actions he could take using executive powers alone. On Capitol Hill, Republicans, who now controlled both houses of Congress, were often able to block him and did.

That in itself was a painful reminder of all he might have accomplished, but did not, during his first two years in office, when Democrats were in charge of both House and Senate.

What makes our disappointment in Obama so hard to take is: It wasnt supposed to be this way. For passion and excitement, American politics had seldom seen a phenomenon like the Obama campaign of 2008.

For a dyed-in-the-wool liberal like me, that campaign was especially exciting. It was something Id been waiting my whole political life for. I got my start in Democratic politics in San Franciscoby volunteering for Eugene McCarthy for president in 1968. I went on to run local and statewide campaigns. I worked for Governor Jerry Brown for four years. I led a statewide initiative campaign and ran for statewide office in California. I served three years as chair of the California Democratic Party.

And since 1980, Ive been a liberal commentator and talk show host on radio and television. In Los Angeles, on KABC-TV and KCOP-TV, and KABC Radio and KFI Radio. For six years, I was the liberal cohost of CNNs Crossfire . I also cohosted The Spin Room with Tucker Carlson on CNN, and Buchanan and Press with Pat Buchanan on MSNBC. Since 2005, Ive been host of The Bill Press Show , broadcast on radio stations nationwide and simulcast, first on Current TV and now on Free Speech TV. And since 2009, Ive been a member of the White House Correspondents Association and attend daily press briefings at the White House.

Ill proudly match my progressive credentials against those of anybody in the media. Ive been promoting and defending liberal ideals on radio and television for thirty years. And Ive defended Obama, too. My last book, The Obama Hate Machine , outlined the relentless, racist, over-the-top (and often Koch-funded) personal attacks by the right against the president.

So, when it comes to fighting for liberals, I feel like Im the real deal. And in 2008 I thought President Obama was the real deal: the truly progressive president weve been waiting and working for all our lives.

And I wasnt the only one. Even celebritiesotherwise cool, rational people who live and breathe this kind of hype every daysuddenly caught a public case of Obamamania. Those gushing over Barack Obama included:

Halle Berry: Ill do whatever he says to do. Ill collect paper cups off the ground to make his pathway clear.

George Clooney: He walks into a room and you want to follow him somewhere, anywhere.

Congressman Elijah Cummings: This is not a campaign for president of the United States, this is a movement to change the world.

Caroline Kennedy: I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them.

Toni Morrison: Of one thing I am certain: this opportunity for a national evolution (even revolution) will not come again soon, and I am convinced you are the person to capture it.

Oprah Winfrey: For the first time Im stepping out of my pew because Ive been inspired. Ive been inspired to believe that a new vision is possible for this country.