The thing that aggravates me the most about where we are now politically

[dsc]

is that President Obama burnt alot of time and capital on the health care bill. The time and capital spent on that was time and capital that wasn't spent on immigration reform. ENDA, voting rights, or any other thing that would have more directly benefited our base. In terms of policy he likely did the most important thing, but the benefits of it went in no small margin to people who didn't vote for him and won't vote for Democrats anytime before the sun burns out. Because he decided to help the most people possible he didn't help his base. What if we used our majority to pass a new voting rights law? We will never know but we know where we are thanks in no small measure to people who benefited from that time and capital and voted GOP the entire time. Some people are heavier to carry than others that is for sure.

[Squinch]

1. I started to read your post with an "Oh, yeah???" attitude, but your point about, "what if we

had gotten a new voting rights law through?" is a really interesting one.

[MedusaX]

2. It is not about serving one's base... True Leaders serve ALL-- not just those who voted 4 them.

In reality....
*45 was elected by active measures which manipulated data in key swing states...
Hence, no amount of Voting Laws or
time spent focusing only on the needs of the party base would have changed the outcome of 2016 election.

The very idea that Anyone would consider Obama's commitment to doing things beneficial for ALL, rather than serving only DEMS needs, to possibly be problematic is indicative of why we are now ruled by a kleptocracy.
POTUS & all Legislators should be expected to serve ALL
and consistently held accountable to that expectation....
When the people no longer believe that elected officials should serve ALL ... and instead believe that the elected officials should only serve their party /base... the Constitution loses value and democracy becomes vulnerable to exploitation by charismatic tyrants dressed in faux-patriotism.

IMO/FWIW

[dsc]

3. the voting rights act sure would have helped immensely

all of those voter id laws could have been put on permanent hold for example.

[Alice11111]

4. Well, it's been that way w every Repub prez since Reagan &

everytime the Repubs control the House & Senate...the majority of the time.

[Alice11111]

5. Very good point, though many Dems, like me, were also

helped. Gutting the VRA set us back decades to refight old battles.

I often think about a smilar argument for prisoners and felons. It's the left out here trying to get the right for them to vote once they have served their time. It's the left that doesn't want prisons run for profit. It's the left that wants rehab and education. The left wants to do sway with the death penalty & mandatory sentences. Guess what? Most of those prisoners will get.out and vote Repub, especially Trump Republican. In the USA, that is no small percentage of the population either. Ten percent at one point will be incarcerated under the present system.
Maybe that's why some Repubs, Sessions, want to get tough on crime still.

[JI7]

6. the problem with the voting rights was the Supreme Court

he couldn't do anything more than he already did which was appoint justices. and the republican congress denied Garland on the court. that wasn't his fault.

[dsc]

10. the court gave a specific reason and specific part

The formula for section 5 was the problem according to them. The formula could have been rewritten or eliminated entirely with section 5 applying to all jurisdictions.

[JI7]

11. I understand your point about the law itself but it was also overturned

After Obama got re-elected. I don't think people would seriously have thought of this before. And especially not early in Obama's presidency when he was working on health care.

But no question that law itself would have helped democrats.

[dsc]

12. they pointed out the problem

and signaled the coming decision in 2008 or 2009 can't recall which year.

[Hoyt]

7. Obama's effort saved lives. You could make argument that Trump's victory will kill many,

but Obama's effort --for which he gets bashed -- saved lives and will continue to save lives. I'm biased, but Obama's choice on HC was right. Not sure about his call on Russia, but it was a tough decision.

[Awsi Dooger]

8. Correct

Obama absolutely picked the proper battle. Even if Republicans gut almost everything there will still be remnants helping a significant amount of people, far beyond what they would have had if Obama had never acted, and on top of all the benefits from the past few years.

Just imagine Trump and this Republican congress taking over if there had been no such thing as the Affordable Care Act. They would start from where we were and then screw the poor and middle class in unimaginable cruelty. At least this way they feel pressure to keep something.

A so-called voting rights act can be attacked and essentially negated from innumerable angles. Never underestimate the GOP's ability and determination to suppress, especially on the state level while dominating so many legislatures and secretary of state offices.

The health care bill was never as popular as it rightfully should have been. Obama did a poor job promoting it in simple terms and the surrogates were inept. Then the website was pathetic on debut. I thought the website criticism was probably overblown until I sampled that site. Nope, it was actually worse than the reviews allowed. You couldn't go anywhere without being forced to start over again. Every click felt like a risk.

[Hoyt]

9. Yes. How they messed up the website is beyond me. That had to get it right.

But they blew it. He's lucky to have gotten support for the ACA. But we had to pass something, as deficient as it was. And then the website was pitiful.