The “Elephant in the Room” challenge in Obama’s reelection

Originally published in www.examiner.com
on November 16, 2012
by Don Juan Corzo

It’s easy to see why U.S. President Barack Obama was elected for a second term to run a country that was looking into possibly enduring a second Depression four years ago. Arguably, a great number of high-ranking members of the Republican party knew his reelection was inevitable (e. g. Karl Rove) and nevertheless, put in all its chips in the game hoping that its poker face would give it the edge to turn the hand dealt by a progressive America.

Though there were powerful individuals and groups with enough artillery to provide the necessary tools, so to speak, to prevent a reelection, at the end of the day, Obama was a more palatable option for the masses and the elites or, in other words, what more pessimistic voices referred to as “the lesser evil.”

Why did so many people have such strong feelings of dislike and even hate for our 44th President? Allow us to rephrase that question, because folks around the world overwhelmingly felt most agreeable with Obama’s leadership. How come so many American citizens felt so strongly against Obama’s helming America’s recovery?
There are several reasons that can be put forth to explain why the race count in the popular vote had a gap wide enough to securely grant us a winner, but it was still close enough to be split closer in the middle.

A. Disappointment: What some media like Forbes Magazine or Fox News liked to refer to as “Obama Zombies” showed up in lesser numbers to vote for their leader due to a gradual disappointment because Obama didn’t turn out to be their Messiah-in-waiting. These folks stood by the sidelines as a non-voting bloc in protest of an apparently continuity of the status quo and not enough “Hope and Change.” Some joined forces with the Occupy Wall Street Movement and others joined the legions of libertarian leaders like Texas congressman Ron Paul; while others simply sulked complaining about a two-party dictatorship that caters mostly to the wealthy and the powerful. It can be said that the Left and the liberals were let down by Obama when he turned out to be such a centrist. He has even been compared to his predecessor in many ways, among other things, for failing to pursue prosecutions of big bank honchos after the 2008 economic collapse and for cultivating warring habits despite being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009. There are obvious reasons why the president didn’t turn out to be their savior, but that will be another column.

B. Bigotry: It started in Obama’s first run for the White House in 2008 with individuals and groups voicing their disapproval and outright anger at the prospect of having a black president residing in the White House. One such group was the infamous the Ku Klux Klan, which posted messages or videos online voicing angry threats of violence. There were also such signs of prevalent racism seen at gatherings on the campaign trail of former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. After election, the Koch-sponsored grass roots movement the Tea Party arose from the people feeling there was too much government control and wasteful spending. But dangling from anti-government rhetoric came out the claim that newly elected President Obama was not a U.S. citizen, but possibly a Kenyan-born child who tricked the American people. That charade was continued up to the election cycle this year with media-obsessed billionaire Donald Trump’s ludicrous comments and propositions. There were still instances of traditional folks from the Heartland and Deep South still unhappy about retaining a black man as the POTUS, while ignoring his racial heritage is truly half white and half black.

C. Misinformation: Large numbers of conservative- leaning Americans were bombarded by right-wing propaganda about how a liberal President was leading the nation into a socialist path and his plans to destroy America’s core Christian and capitalistic values. In reality, the President attempted from the first day in office to be a centrist by even trying to recruit Republicans in his cabinet to reconcile differences between the Democrats and the Republicans accentuated under the Bush administration. His attempt at working with the GOP to bring change for the benefit of the American people was rejected by the Right moving further to the right. Many small business owners were led to believe that under the President Obama’s proposals, they were faced with ill-conceived policies to hurt them when all that was wanted is to return to the taxation of the wealthiest as seen in the healthier economy before 2001. And it begs the question, did President George Bush ever invite any Democrats to join his administration? Moreover, was it noted how Bush was absent from campaign events and fundraisers for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney while President Bill Clinton dominated headlines and stages while campaigning on behalf of Obama?

There are, of course, other reasons for the given outcome in the presidential race discussed and dissected on other media sources, but these are the some of the ones least discussed and, in essence, what the some of the GOP leadership hoped would have handed former Governor Romney the keys to the White House on election day. What they didn’t count on was the progressive minds in America and the refusal of the people to go back to the Dark Ages. The Great Old Party is, indeed, a dying breed if they don’t adapt to a new world. I didn’t say it. Darwin did.