Day 307- It's called a break-up because it's broken

Dear Mr. President,

So this morning my promised renewal of hope and optimism in the face of setbacks has not emerged. It could be that the demands of my school schedule this week have made "morning" a purely sunlight-relative term with little correlation to actual sleep. It could be the lingering questions as ballots are slowly processed in my home state. It could be denial, a malaise delaying the inevitable grief I can't yet allow myself to feel the full force of. I did like your speech today, and I thought you made several important points about the need to fundamentally change parts of our governing system.

I'm sure I won't be the first, last or most important person to say this, but I don't think this election means you should back down. Your agenda shouldn't change, shouldn't be compromised and should not be tempered. (Which is not say that compromise won't eventually be necessary.) Democrats should not give up on comprehensive energy, immigration, campaign finance and tax reform. For one thing, conceding too much at this point will only further weaken our positions once legislative battles really get underway. For another thing, i still think we're right; our policies are better, and our plan for America is the best one. Refusing to compromise our fundamental values is the only way to ensure that losing the house doesn't translate into losing the White House. This isn't to say that we shouldn't work with the Republican leadership, only that we should not be meek about demonstrating our goals and ideals to the American people.

A friend compared the way we feel this morning to the way we feel after a bad breakup. I think his metaphor is an apt one. After a break-up, you may re-examine your choices and your mistakes in the course of a relationship, but you don't change your identity in hopes that you won't get dumped again. Democrats need to work on our communication skills, our self-confidence, our willingness to assert ourselves. We might need to lose 5 lbs and reconsider our highlight strategy. Our wardrobe could probably use an update. But we do not change who we are, fundamentally. The things we believe, the things we value, all of the things that make us different from the opposition, those should not change. In the meantime, if you want to stay in bed and watch soap operas while eating chocolate ice cream in your pajamas for a day or so, well, you do whatever it takes to get through this. I know I will.

Respectfully yours,

Kelsey

Day 116

“I am deeply disappointed that Senate Republicans voted in a block against allowing a public debate on Wall Street reform to begin. Some of these Senators may believe that this obstruction is a good political strategy, and others may see delay as an opportunity to take this debate behind closed doors, where financial industry lobbyists can water down reform or kill it altogether. But the American people can’t afford that. A lack of consumer protections and a lack of accountability on Wall Street nearly brought our economy to its knees, and helped cause the pain that has left millions of Americans without jobs and without homes. The reform that both parties have been working on for a year would prevent a crisis like this from happening again, and I urge the Senate to get back to work and put the interests of the country ahead of party.

President Barack Obama, 4/26/2010

Dear Mr. President,

Today's setback in the fight for financial reform was disappointing, but I hope that senate Democrats will not back down. Are the Republicans ever going to stop obstructing legislation for the sake of politics? If my state had any republican Senators, I'd be incredibly disappointed in them. I hope voters in the states represented by these 41 no votes make sure their Senators are held accountable for being so out of touch.

Speaking of my home state of Washington, the Organizing For America e-mail today about our 2010 strategy got me thinking about Senator Murray's re-election. Dino Rossi, the man likely to be selected to run against her, has failed in his attempts to become our governor for as long as I can remember. He's not a complete hack; he's a tasteless campaigner unafraid of blanketing the state airwaves with negative ads, but when he served in the Washington State Senate he was relatively bipartisan and accomplished a fair amount for a republican. That being said, I was really hoping he'd slink off into the abyss of political obscurity after losing gubernatorial campaigns twice in a row. If OFA wants me to help Senator Murray hand him yet another defeat, I'd be honored to do so. Rossi, as a Washington Republican, might still be further left than many of the blue dog Democrats, but today's block of financial reform legislation clearly demonstrates that independently-minded Republicans certainly don't act that way when it counts.

I know that there will be many tight races this year, and a number of those Democrats will need your help campaigning and raising money. I hope that you schedule allows you to visit Seattle to help Senator Murray, as well. We're really a lovely city, and besides, your favorite chocolates are here, waiting for you.

Respectfully yours,

Kelsey