As we get prepared to be underwhelmed with inadequate proposals for job creation that, mainly, seem taken out of old Republican playbooks (which is why, of course, today’s Republicans will reject them out-of-hand), my in-box is increasingly filled with people wondering whether they are going to take the path of MVANE (My Vote And Nothing Else) when it comes to President Obama’s reelection campaign.
Whether from those who desired single-payer health care (and wanted, at a minimum, a government option in a health bill) or those against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan or those who wanted financial reform focused on protecting Main Street rather than finding paths to further enrich Wall Street to environmentalists dismayed over the President’s soothing words about Clean Coal and support for off-shore drilling, the MVANE chorus seems to be growing in numbers and noise.
The President’s decision, last Friday, to throw aside science and take business claims about regulation impacts at face value in deciding to not follow Clean Air Act provisions for ozone (read smog) rules that would save 10,000s of lives per year seems to have been the final straw for at least a few acquaintances.
Too many that I know are asking questions like what we see in this video: ‘Is this the change we hoped for and that we worked so hard to enable?’
Many acquaintances who gave generously in 2008 — of their time, passion, and dollars — do not see themselves pounding the streets in support of President Obama’s reelection effort. Clearly, the Koch Brothers’ machine is gleeful at these prospects and the situation. The Democratic Party (or, at least its titular leader, President Obama) is lurching to the right while the Republican Party continues its headlong flight of fantasy into Ayn Rand fantasies. The reality is that ‘moderate’ concepts of a few decades ago are, well, rather to the left. “Centrist” perspectives, it seems, are to the right of 1980 Ronald Reagan. And, well, with the entire political machine moving to the right, this is sapping the enthusiasm of those who got President Obama elected in 2008. And, without this enthusiasm, the Koch Brothers’ glee might be magnified with a President Perry or Palin or … That last prospect, it seems, is the only reason why those who are considering MVANE might end up pounding the beat to assist the Obama-Biden campaign effort.