When things do not go our way or the way we expected them to, the temptation to place blame looms over us and clouds our vision. So, whose fault is it that Martha Coakley did not win? Was this a referendum on President Obama, or on Coakley’s campaign strategy? Did voters deliberately send a message? One could find a way to say “yes” to all of the above and more. Rather than place blame at each other, at the President, we need to look beyond and take two steps back to where we started and then spring forward.
Politics has Changed
Whether we want to believe it or not, politics has changed and business as usual does not hunt any more. Our success has to be one of first communicating with the people on the ground by listening; really listening. We must engage folks not in fear but in the process and take them seriously.
We must foster life to life connections. I recently talked to someone about establishing solid roots for a candidate by doing just that and I was assured that “we are in good shape because folks will come out for this candidate … no need to worry … we have to focus on other things.” That is a recipe for failure; tried and true.
We are at a Crossroads
We are at a crossroads that has many layers, one being inter-generational. Our youth are tired of the baby boomers who are concerned about what is going to happen to medicare and social security. Baby boomers cannot seem to get across their point of view to the next generation. We are at a crossroads on race. Does it matter? You bet it does. Some use race to spurn hate and unrest in order to find a way to make our President fail. If the Commander-in-Chief fails, we all fail. Whether we like it or not or even like the person we are standing next to, we are still in this boat together.
The Message
At the end of the day, it is still all about the economy. The current health care system is killing our economy — and people — every day. Insurance premiums are driving up the cost of living, putting small business out of business, driving people into bankruptcy, causing people to lose everything they have. The insurance industry cannot be allowed to continue to be exempt from anti-trust laws, which flies the face of a free market society that benefits Main Street, and the rest of their predatory practices. The abhorrent conduct of Senators Lieberman, Nelson, Landrieu and others who sought political gain on the backs of the sick, the poor and the dying cannot be allowed to rule the day anymore. Ample time has been given to Republicans to right an unrightable wrong in allowing greed, avarice and hunger lead our nation through too big to fail industries. The President and other leaders have done everything humanly possible to engage Republicans in the process.
Enough is enough. If we have to go to reconciliation on every bill hence forth, then so be it. Let’s get real health reform done and fix our economy. Let’s remove the anti-trust exemption from the insurance industry and let other potential small businesses in the door. Let’s break up the big industries so that Main Street get’s a fair piece of the pie. It is small businesses that drive the economy not big conglomerates.
