( … to the letter I posted yesterday)
You remember that Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell pronouncement, at the very start of the Obama presidency, to the effect that the top priority of Republicans must be to get rid of him?
It seemed like an outrageous statement at the time, only hours into the new President's tenure, but his party has remained faithful to the literal word of that injunction. Since then, they have proved adamantly obstructive to every initiative and every nomination that the President has made. They have embraced every procedural trick in the Congressional rule book to thwart his legislative agenda. They have voted virtually unanimously, as a bloc, against his every proposal, no matter how inconsequential. They have perverted the political process. They have not hesitated to stoop to personal insult, loudly and in public. They have not been ashamed to accept the chilling embrace of hatred or the fanaticism of extremists when it served their cause in diminishing his power and rendering him vulnerable to attack. They have maligned his every idea with distortions and lies. They have been openly rude, un-generous to a fault, and intolerant. They have gone out of their way to ridicule him personally—and have not even spared his wife. They have been relentless in their attacks on his character as well as on the policies and goals for which he was elected.
In their eagerness to get rid of him, they have maliciously misrepresented him to voters. They won the mid-term elections with promises they have not attempted to fulfill, relying instead on their ability to foment still greater dissatisfaction and distrust among their followers. They have on multiple occasions arrogantly spurned the genuinely friendly hand held out to them, preferring instead to humble with their disdain the man who generously held it out.
In all this, Obama has managed to retain his dignity and poise. He has been consistently statesman-like in both speech and action. He has declined all opportunities to descend to the level of those attacking him, and has been unfailingly respectful of even the hostile and opinionated views of others. He has invited the opinion of opponents and has been willing—some would say too willing—to find grounds for compromise. He has for the most part brushed aside insult with quiet humor and politeness. Accused of weakness, he has shown strength, decisiveness, and remarkable courage. Accused of remaining silent on important issues, he has wisely demonstrated the value of biding his time and speaking forcefully at the right moment. He has shown infinite patience with detractors to left and right. He frankly admits to his mistakes and acknowledges—indeed, shares—the disappointments and frustration of many of those who supported him.
Given his ability to negotiate obstacles placed in his way, I am astounded that he has managed to achieve as much as he has done thus far. I support his re-election not out of resignation that the other side only offers worse, but because I believe that he still has the vision that most nearly reflects my own, along with the determination to do everything in his power to make it happen. I am encouraged by yesterday’s news about the extraordinarily successful initial fund-raising for his campaign—a success that will undoubtedly be used to denigrate him further, and sadly by both political opponents and many of my friends on the left. I am hearted to know, in view of dire predictions that he has alienated his political base, that his campaign has managed to attract hundreds of thousands of new supporters, and that the modesty of the majority of donations suggests a groundswell of grass roots support that will confound accepted political wisdom.
I believe, in short, that there is a new "silent majority" of Americans who share my view of Obama and who will come out to vote for him. Republicans may believe that they can fool enough of the people enough of the time to achieve McConnell's goal. I myself believe that they are only just now beginning to reap the bitter harvest that is ripening from the rotten seeds they have sown.
