Open Letter To Obama

The Nation: There Have Been Troubling Signs That You Are Moving Away From Core Commitments

(The Nation)  The following is an open letter to Barack Obama signed by progressive supporters of his campaign published by The Nation.

Dear Senator Barack Obama,

We write to congratulate you on the tremendous achievements of your campaign for the presidency of the United States.

Your candidacy has inspired a wave of political enthusiasm like nothing seen in this country for decades. In your speeches, you have sketched out a vision of a better future -- in which the United States sheds its warlike stance around the globe and focuses on diplomacy abroad and greater equality and freedom for its citizens at home -- that has thrilled voters across the political spectrum. Hundreds of thousands of young people have entered the political process for the first time, African-American voters have rallied behind you, and many of those alienated from politics-as-usual have been re-engaged.

You stand today at the head of a movement that believes deeply in the change you have claimed as the mantle of your campaign. The millions who attend your rallies, donate to your campaign and visit your website are a powerful testament to this new movement's energy and passion.

This movement is vital for two reasons: First, it will help assure your victory against John McCain in November. The long night of greed and military adventurism under the Bush Administration, which a McCain administration would continue, cannot be brought to an end a day too soon. An enthusiastic corps of volunteers and organizers will ensure that voters turn out to close the book on the Bush era on election day. Second, having helped bring you the White House, the support of this movement will make possible the changes that have been the platform of your campaign. Only a grassroots base as broad and as energized as the one that is behind you can counteract the forces of money and established power that are a dead weight on those seeking real change in American politics.

We urge you, then, to listen to the voices of the people who can lift you to the presidency and beyond.

Since your historic victory in the primary, there have been troubling signs that you are moving away from the core commitments shared by many who have supported your campaign, toward a more cautious and centrist stance -- including, most notably, your vote for the FISA legislation granting telecom companies immunity from prosecution for illegal wiretapping, which angered and dismayed so many of your supporters.

We recognize that compromise is necessary in any democracy. We understand that the pressures brought to bear on those seeking the highest office are intense. But retreating from the stands that have been the signature of your campaign will weaken the movement whose vigorous backing you need in order to win and then deliver the change you have promised.

Here are key positions you have embraced that we believe are essential to sustaining this movement:

Withdrawal from Iraq on a fixed timetable. 

A response to the current economic crisis that reduces the gap between the rich and the rest of us through a more progressive financial and welfare system; public investment to create jobs and repair the country's collapsing infrastructure; fair trade policies; restoration of the freedom to organize unions; and meaningful government enforcement of labor laws and regulation of industry.

Universal healthcare. 

An environmental policy that transforms the economy by shifting billions of dollars from the consumption of fossil fuels to alternative energy sources, creating millions of green jobs.

An end to the regime of torture, abuse of civil liberties and unchecked executive power that has flourished in the Bush era.

A commitment to the rights of women, including the right to choose abortion and improved access to abortion and reproductive health services.

A commitment to improving conditions in urban communities and ending racial inequality, including disparities in education through reform of the No Child Left Behind Act and other measures.

An immigration system that treats humanely those attempting to enter the country and provides a path to citizenship for those already here.

Reform of the drug laws that incarcerate hundreds of thousands who need help, not jail.

Reform of the political process that reduces the influence of money and corporate lobbyists and amplifies the voices of ordinary people.

These are the changes we can believe in. In other areas -- such as the use of residual forces and mercenary troops in Iraq, the escalation of the US military presence in Afghanistan, the resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict, and the death penalty -- your stated positions have consistently varied from the positions held by many of us, the "friends on the left" you addressed in recent remarks. If you win in November, we will work to support your stands when we agree with you and to challenge them when we don't. We look forward to an ongoing and constructive dialogue with you when you are elected President.

Stand firm on the principles you have so compellingly articulated, and you may succeed in bringing this country the change you've encouraged us to believe is possible.

To see the full list of signatories, click here.

[ausus-2009]

veteran188,

Kennedy was rejected as the Democrats vice presidential choice by the Democrats in 1956.

FLIP FLOP?

[veteran188]

Four more years of bush better than Obama, well thats what you will have with McSame, he voted `with Bush over 95percent of the time in the last eight years,

think about this, the republicons ,at their convention,

rejected McCain for Bush, Remember

Buyers remorse? Or is Bush really a better president than McCain would be?

The republicons reject McCain and now they want him back

FLIP FLOP

[blitzder]

Even if your idiotic statement were true four more years of Bush would be a lot better than four years of Obama....Posted by cbscrash07 at 11:21 AM : Aug 06, 2008
-------------------

Listen to Bush press conferences and find one intelligible thoughtful sentence from your mentor, whereas in comparison when you listen to Obama speaking, Bush appears and talks like a moron and a buffoon, even after 8 years as the President. Point is, after 8 years with a nitwit, anyone with a pulse will do better than Bush.

[ausus-2009]

DaShortRound,

A number of people who occupy your part of the political spectrum accuse John McCain of being a man of the 20th century rather than the 21st. Your defense of trade unions shows you to be a relic of the 19th century in your beliefs.

For the most part, unions have passed their use by date. What they represent more these days is enforced mediocrity in the workforce and corruption in their organizational structure.

While the current administration is an easy target to blame for forcing manufacturing offshore, unions must bear a majority of the blame.

Ever heard the terms featherbedding, secondary boycotts, demarcation lines or work to regulation? These appear in many history books.

[dashortround]

@ alfailed:

Quote from the article: "restoration of the freedom to organize unions; and meaningful government enforcement of labor laws and regulation of industry."


Um...hello, wingnuts. The labor laws HAVE been enforced and that''''s why the unions haven''''t been able to further pollute our country.

Posted by alfailed at 12:13 PM : Aug 06, 2008

- - - - - - - - -

No, they have NOT been enforced - quite the opposite! Bush and the GOP have done everything possible to weaken and destroy all employee efforts to unionize, and to bargain collectively with their employers.

Labor unions are the ONLY thing that has ever kept business and wealthy business owners from treating workers like slaves, with no rights at all.

Read your history.

[dashortround]

Good politics absolutely depends upon being open to the idea that a certain amount of "compromise" with your opponents is always going to be necessary, if you actually want to get anything done. Without a willingness to compromise, all you get is political gridlock (just like we''ve had for the past decade).

Obama obviously understands this, and he wisely adapts his positions to the political realities in an effort to find that vital point of compromise.

Bush NEVER understood the principle of compromise at all, and I really don''t believe that John McCain really does either (if he does, then his GOP minders immediately beat any such notions out of him).

[taxguydave]

Senator John McCain--A man for the 20th century.

Senator Barack Obama--At least he''s not John McCain!

[gpnmoab]

Wow, after reading the letter the word naive comes to mind. Anyone that has any interest in politics knows campaigning is the time of promises that mostly will not and cannot be fufilled. The president, in fact, has little power to do much of anything on their own. They are a figurehead that takes direction from advisors and then final approval must come from congress for most all major decisions. OB will and is known for changing his stance and mind on a whim. He lacks the ability to stand firm on his beliefs and follow through with them. He changes directions like the wind. But nevermind, this country is today, will tomorrow and has always been the greatest country in the world. Whoever leads it does not make sweeping decisions on their own. Many wise, and not so wise, people are always involved and influence each change. I get tired of naive people who think any president can prevent hard times and cycles of prosperity and decline. Just look past all the grand-standing and look into their past - there you will find the answer.

[rkimball3]

why can''t the dnc & gop set politics aside for the good of the nation & get an energy bill passed? politics is killing us all. al gore may be right but we must work with the old & new energies during this transitional period. that means oil will remain a big player for many years to come. your views.

[wayneguillor]

Obama would you hire a building contractor to work for you just on words. You would want to sign a contract. So why are you allowed to run for President of the United Stated of America by only using words. That way if you don''t do the job correctly you don''t get you pay check. I would like to here what you have to say when the mike if turned off, like your friend Jessie Jackson. The super deligates, who ever they are need to paint the elephant white and the donkey black. The white will vote white and the black will vote for the first black canidate.

[wayneguillor]

I cannot seem to get my comments to be excepted

[notblue]

mt-GUY, the problem with your opinion is the fact that you think America is not the greatest country on earth, you need to go anywhere else in the world and regain your perspective. It is a tired false mantra of the left that couldn''t be further from the truth.

[alfailed]

"A response to the current economic crisis that reduces the gap between the rich and the rest of us through a more progressive financial and welfare system;"

So Phil Donahue, Gore Vidal, Tom Hayden and the rest of these nuts are all broke? Please. How patronizing. Millionaires who pose as just "one of us" are almost as bad as a politician...like Obama...

"restoration of the freedom to organize unions; and meaningful government enforcement of labor laws and regulation of industry."

Um...hello, wingnuts. The labor laws HAVE been enforced and that''s why the unions haven''t been able to further pollute our country.

I do find it amusing that the far-left wackos, mostly aging hippies and ''intellectuals'', have to pen an open and public missive basically begging Hussein Obama to not forget about them. Wake up, hippies. That''s what politicians do, especially elitist, racist ones like the nitwit you support. He got what he wanted. Now he''s done with you. Did you really think he would embrace and then espouse your crazy views of the world past the primary? Why, you''re all as naive as...Obama...

[mt_guy]

To me, Senator McCain does not represent progress but rather a firm grip on the past... the past that isn''t working so well currently.

Senator Obama represents going back to a system of government that involves dialogue and compromise between the two major parties. He cannot stand immobile in his policies if he expects to get anything done.

I disagree with the FISA vote, his universal healthcare plan doesn''t go far enough, and hinting that he might vote for a comprehensive energy plan that includes openion up offshore drilling is looking backwards, as McCain does by holding on to the use of fossil fuels, instead of the hard, sometimes nasty corrective course we, as a country so desperately need.

So I''m not going to throw the baby out with the bath water. Even given my disagreements with some of his positions, Barack Obama represents our chance to recover ourselves as a great nation once again.

[notblue]

Obama sounds more like Bush and McCain every day.

[bigsk8fan]

good folks don''t vote for mcclone. he offers more war, more recession, more or the same mcbush.

[Syndicate]

To say that a vote for McCain is a vote for Bush is moronic. Perhaps your new to politics, I am not. I have watched McCain fight with Bush for eight years now. I know for a fact the men are fundamentally different. Even if your idiotic statement were true four more years of Bush would be a lot better than four years of Obama.

[notblue]

Obama stance to get the nomination has now changed in order to win the general election, in other words he will say anything to get elected.

[wellhell3]

Obscamma''s already sold out! He was bought and sold the day he put his foot in the political arena...it was his goal to be so.

Note the Ego-encrusted new airplane, note the hiring of rock bands to draw people to his stumps for the appearance of thousand of adoring syncophants that didn''t even come to see him, note his willingness to corrupt himself with a new mansion in Hyde Park, note the corruptness of his earmark paybacks and payouts, note the votes on legislation he was paid for when his lying words screeched a totally different message...

This man is nothing more or less than a political HACK hell bent on the destruction of the country he hates, and his attempts to fool you, buy you, pimp himself, and lie and scam is almost beyond belief.

[peterp111]

For those who want to waste their vote on a third party - your vote won''t mean squat- it will only mean you don''t have the guts to make a decision on someone who can make a differance in the right direction.

For those who are supporting Obama, the wrong candidate, these people don''t seem to realize that Obama is making empty promises and is focusing on the wrong direction. He got chosen in the Primary for being a Liberal, now he is pretending to be someone else- If you are following him around like a sheep you are behaving as foolish as a cult follower- He will drop like a stone, because he is choosing to destroy this country with his lack of knowledge about issues and that will be painful for you. Wake up now. If you disagree with me, show some respect and avoid the name calling- that only shows you don''t know what you are talking about. Thanks.