March 3, 2011 - 4:27pm
Blogging Blue: Let Obama be Obama
BY WILL BUTLER
I can’t help but think about this one amazing scene in the television series “The West Wing” every time I hear the news about President Barack Obama potentially backing down on the Bush tax cuts, every time I hear about progressives criticizing Obama and every time I hear about another Democratic legislative loss.
In case you were unaware of the brilliance and television magic created by “The West Wing”, I’ll explain the scene for you: After a terrible day in the office — in which Republicans threatened the Bartlet Administration’s Federal Election Commission nominees — a wounding memo was leaked, legislation allowing gays to serve openly in the military fell through (ironic, right?), and President Bartlet along with his staff felt ineffective. Leo, Bartlet’s chief of staff, confronts the president about this timidity and challenges him to become more politically courageous. He tells the president to be himself, to “let Bartlet be Bartlet,” and to let his staff “off the leash.”
I have been hoping and praying that this scene would occur inside Obama’s Oval Office. Obama would be yelling about losing the extension for unemployment benefits and about having to make a deal on the Bush tax cuts for politics sake and Chief of Staff Pete Rouse would come in confronting him about his insecurities facing Republicans. At this point, Rouse takes a big sharpie and a yellow legal pad and marks down in large capital letters: “LET OBAMA BE OBAMA.” And from this point on, Obama is the progressive fighter we all hoped he would be.
But in my mind, I know that the genius hands of Aaron Sorkin doesn’t guide presidential legacies. I also know that while progressives are disappointed in the president right now, I know that he’s not politically timid. He boldly pushed for health care reform — despite how much political capital it cost him — because it was the right thing to do. So while I want to “let Obama be Obama,” I’m pretty sure he was — and still is. The only way to let him succeed is to support our President, because the real West Wing is nothing like “The West Wing.”
