2012 & 2016: Presidential Ambitions - Democratic Underground

H2O Man

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Sat Jul-16-11 09:40 PM
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2012 & 2016: Presidential Ambitions

“Let no one, he said in his most eloquent passage, be discouraged by 'the belief that there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world's ills – against misery and ignorance, injustice and violence …. Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.

“ 'It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against an injustice, he sends a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance'.”
Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.; Robert Kennedy and His Times; 1978; page 803.

One of the more contentious topics on the Democratic Underground has to do with the level of approval and support for President Barack Obama, as we enter the 2012 presidential election season. One group of people are generally satisfied with the President's performance, and are fully supporting his re-election bid. Another group is unsatisfied, and view the democrats and republicans in Washington, DC, as puppets of corporations, who are gaming the American public; hence, they have less enthusiasm about the 2012 election. And there are, of course, many other people who hold a range of opinions spanning the two extremes.

In my opinion, the 2008 presidential election created a great excitement, which produced a powerful energy force in America. People wanted change from the horrors of the Bush-Cheney years, and the candidate Barack Obama appeared – to many, many people – as offering the potential to institute meaningful change.

After the November, '08 election, far too many people assumed that their part was done. That they could sit back, and watch President Obama bring back the traditional democratic values in the wasteland of Washington. And while people can debate if President Obama would have provided the vehicle to meaningful change had the American public remained fully engaged, one thing is beyond question: way, way too many people sat back. The vast majority of the change that night have happened, had the public remained active participants demanding it, disappeared into the vacuum created by the ceasing of that powerful force's movement. The void is the realm that allows corporations and a crooked congress to destabilize our Constitutional democracy.

Because of the baggage associated with too many discussions of the upcoming 2012 election, however, I would like to talk about a situation involving another presidential election. The political landscape is such that, rather than arguing about if President Obama should or should not have faced a primary challenge, that it is worth understanding that already, there are people looking forward to 2016.

Although the news media's primary focus at this time is to confuse and mislead the public about issues and candidates for 2012, the operatives from political machines are gearing for the next election. One such politician is New York's Governor Andrew Cuomo. He has a strong combination of experience and family connections. He recently was on the national stage as an advocate of marriage equality. And he still enjoys access to the political support of his former in-laws. And although this cannot provide the credentials that candidate Barack Obama got when Carolyn and Senator Ted Kennedy endorsed him, Andrew Cuomo does plan to do what so many party members hoped his father would do: run for president.

Currently, Governor Cuomo is struggling with the issue of hydro-fracking. He is aware that in 2009, the NYS legislature received more letters and calls from citizens demanding a halt to fracking, than on any other issue in the history of the state.

He is also aware that in 2005, Halliburton attorneys closely connected to VP Dick Cheney traveled to Albany, NY, where they lobbied, pressured, and bribed state officials – who then exempted gas companies from both the NYS DEC and US EPA environmental standards.

Yet Andrew Cuomo is hoping he can pretend to reach a “safe” compromise, where he can cuddle up to the energy corporations by allowing fracking in most of upstate, but keep it away from both the NYC watershed and the city of Syracuse. By no coincidence, his close friend and ex-brother-in-law Robert Kennedy, Jr., has agreed to serve on the DEC's advisory panel on “safe” fracking.

The most recent polls by independent sources indicate that less than 3% of NYS residents favor fracking. Because they are vocal – and well-financed by energy corporations – they receive at least equal coverage as the anti-fracking forces, when it comes to the corporate media. The majority of residents are opposed to fracking, while a sizable portion is still “unsure.”

Thus, what the anti-fracking community organizers and environmental activists in our state are doing is
bringing that large energy force back into action. We are letting Governor Cuomo know that not only are we strongly opposed to fracking, but that we are united with many other groups, environmental activists, and community organizers across the nation. If he refuses to take the correct stance on this issue, he can forget ANY chance of getting home-state traction for a 2016 run for president. More, the very people he needs across the country will reject his calls for support. Unless he wants to try running with Dick Cheney's endorsement, that is.