On Presidential Elections of the Future
Here on DU, the most popular election topic right now is the 2016 presidential election. Multiple threads about Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Hillary Clinton appear on most days. DU is all about national politics, it seems. We fret constantly over who will be and who is the President, while essentially ignoring the fact that the Presidency is less important than it seems to us.
We look at our current President and it's clear that the change we hoped for isn't coming fully to fruition. That's disappointing, to be sure. President Obama got elected for many reasons, among which is his personal appeal and his campaign that was based on a vague promise of change. Change has happened during his presidency, but not change in fundamental economic and philosophical issues. We remain a nation dominated by capitalism and economic concerns.
We elected President Obama in the only real national election we have in the United States. His election reflected the mood of the majority, so he won the 2008 election, and won the 2012 election, as well.
Sadly, though, the presidential election is the only election in the United States that reflects national opinion. Congressional, Senate, and state legislative elections do not reflect national opinion. That's the reality. So, in 2010, the House of Representatives got a Republican majority and the Senate continued to struggle with its antiquated rules that give the minority party more power to obstruct than should be the case. That balance of congressional power did not change in 2012, either.
The President's powers are limited, and that's an intentional part of the Constitutional balance of powers. Congress has to pass every law that becomes law. Congress has to make any changes that are made. The President can encourage, cajole, and attempt to shame Congress into doing what the President thinks should be done, but that's about the limit of his power when it comes to Congressional responsibilities. And congressional elections are most decidedly not national elections. Each one is a local election, either at the state or district level.
Whoever is elected as President is limited in his or her capability of making change by that fact. If the Congress does not send budgets and bills to the President for his signature, those budgets and laws do not take effect. The President cannot make law or implement a budget without the cooperation of Congress. He can only ask Congress to send him laws to sign.
So, the question of whether Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, or Hillary Clinton runs for the office of President is not really the question we should be asking in 2014. The question we should be asking is how we can elect a Congress, along with state legislatures, Governors, and other elected officials in 2014 who more closely reflect our views than the ones currently in office. The question should be how we can send legislators to Washington and to our state capitols who will do what we want them to do.
If we can do that in 2014, President Obama will have bills to sign that more closely reflect our views. Then, in 2016, we can not only elect a President, but also improve our majorities in Congress. Congress makes laws. The President administers them. If we forget that in our zeal to elect a President we agree with, we will succeed in continuing the gridlock in Washington that slows change to a snail's pace toward progress.
No President can succeed without a cooperative Congress. That simple fact should be the basis for our activism in 2014, and in every election year. We must elect a Congress that will do what we want, or the President we elect will be stuck in the same powerless situation that has maintained during President Obama's presidency.
It is 2014. Let's send a Congress of our choice to Washington. If we do that, the presidential election of 2016 will really make a difference. If we do not do that, it won't matter much who we elect as President in 2016. It truly won't.
All that is needed is for us to:
GOTV 2014 and Beyond!
= new reply since forum marked as read
better than I could.
