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NationofChange / Op-Ed
Published: Thursday 18 October 2012
“The debate left me relieved — the President’s performance will almost certainly stop Romney’s momentum, and may turn the tide — but also left me perplexed.”
Obama is Back
He’s back.
Tonight our president was articulate and forceful — in sharp contrast to his performance in the first presidential debate. He stated his beliefs. He defended his record. He told America where he wanted to take the nation in his second term.
And he explained where Romney wanted to take us.
For example: “Romney says he’s got a five-point plan. Governor Romney doesn’t have a five-point plan; he has a one-point plan. And that plan is to make sure that folks at the top play by a different set of rules. That’s been his philosophy in the private sector; that’s been his philosophy as governor; that’s been his philosophy as a presidential candidate. You can make a lot of money and pay lower tax rates than somebody who makes a lot less. You can ship jobs overseas and get tax breaks for it. You can invest in a company, bankrupt it, lay off the workers, strip away their pensions, and you still make money.”
And:
“Governor Romney … was on ‘60 Minutes’ just two weeks ago, and he was asked, is it fair for somebody like you, making $20 million a year, to pay a lower tax rate than a nurse or a bus driver, somebody making $50,000 a year? And he said, yes, I think that’s fair. Not only that, he said, I think that’s what grows the economy. Well, I fundamentally disagree with that.”
Obama told voters what Romney’s plan was for women (take away their freedom of choice), and for Hispanics (allow police to stop them and demand proof of citizenship, as in the Arizona law “that’s his [Romney’s] policy, and it’s bad policy.”)
He took responsibility for the security lapse in Libya, but made sure Americans understood the danger in Romney’s shoot-from-the-hip, rush to judgment approach to foreign policy.
And the President explained why the way to create more jobs and to get the economy back on track is to strengthen the middle class, in sharp contrast to Romney’s trickle-down redux.
Romney was as combative as in the first debate, but our newly-invigorated president made Romney’s combativeness look like that of a child in a tantrum rather than a principled adult with facts and detailed proposals to support his position.
Romney was also an automaton — moving robot-like across the stage, repeating the same scripted paragraphs in answers to different questions as if he had been programmed with a limited number of options.
Obama, by contrast, seemed steady and relaxed.
The debate left me relieved — the President’s performance will almost certainly stop Romney’s momentum, and may turn the tide — but also left me perplexed. Where was this Barack Obama in the last presidential debate? Was it the altitude in Denver, a failure of preparation, exhaustion, a temporary emotional glitch?
Mostly, though, I’m glad Barack is back.
This article was originally posted on Robert Reich's blog.
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ABOUT Robert Reich
ROBERT B. REICH, one of the nation’s leading experts on work and the economy, is Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He has served in three national administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton. Time Magazine has named him one of the ten most effective cabinet secretaries of the last century. He has written thirteen books, including his latest best-seller, “Aftershock: The Next Economy and America’s Future;” “The Work of Nations,” which has been translated into 22 languages; and his newest, an e-book, “Beyond Outrage.” His syndicated columns, television appearances, and public radio commentaries reach millions of people each week. He is also a founding editor of the American Prospect magazine, and Chairman of the citizen’s group Common Cause. His widely-read blog can be found at www.robertreich.org.
11 comments on "Obama is Back"
October 19, 2012 5:47am
I could care less how Obama did in the debate. He is a criminal that should be thrown in prison not re-elected. I’ve been a registered Democrat all my life and I’ll be dammed if I will vote for any Democrats as long as they support Obama or anyone else on the right. Obama is even further to the right than Richard Nixon. If the two were running against each other I would vote for Nixon.
October 19, 2012 9:24am
Robert Reich, you are so unbelievably delusional it's hard to comprehend. How you are a comentator in any sort of political publication is beyond me. You are so partisan and in the tank for Obama, and so blatantly against anything that Romney says, that it negates any shred of credulity you could have. Non-partisan, objective, logical, coherent, and unbiased are terms completely foreign to you. You support EVERYTHING the far left says/does, and deny and mock EVERYTHING the right says/does. In your mind, Obama can do no wrong, and Romney can do no right. It's not that clear cut, it's not that black and white.
Your postings would have more weight (or any weight for that matter) if you offered some bit of rational and objectivity to them. Until then, your musings are laughable.
This is a decisive and pivotal election for our nation's course. Do we want MORE government intervention, HIGHER taxes for all, LESS individaual freedom? If so, vote Obama back into office. This is a very dangerous path we are choosing. I fear for my country, and for the future of my children.
October 18, 2012 8:53pm
The other evening I wound up in a long, heated discussion with an old friend who happens to be a right-winger. I learned something I had only heard about previously. They truly are locked in the bubble. They ignor or deny facts, argue that the truth is spin and see the world through the eyes of folks like Rush Limbaugh. Attempting to convince these folks that they are out in the wilderness is a loosing battle. It can't be done. So here we are preaching to the choir. Well, it doesn't matter if Dr. Reich is correct or not. We all know that the policies of Mr. Romney & Mr. Ryan, like the policy positions of the entire Republican party are a disaster in the making. We have seen it play out at least 3 times in modern history. The panic of 1898, the depression of the 1930's and the current mess caused by the policies of Reagan, Bush, Bush. So what can we do? We can work to see to it that President Obama is re-elected AND that he has a Democratic majority in both houses of Congress. Harry Reid has said that he will kill the filibuster. The appointments to the Supreme Court will then shift the balance toward the progressive side. And the programs begun by the president will come to fruition. If we fail, there is no way to predict what will befall the nation. Mr. Romney has not said what he would do nor could he be relied upon to do what he said as he changes his position as he deems necessary.
Four more years of shifting the nation's wealth upward to the top 0.01% combined with the hammer lock of the Citizens United ruling will insure that eh oligarcy gains complete control of the government. Represntative democracy will be just a show for the public to pretend that everything is fine. But we'll know the truth, even if no one is listening.
October 18, 2012 12:46pm
My initial reaction was who cares. Mind you Obama has the more difficult fine line to follow. While Romney can be unapologetic in his stance as a fixed market disciple, Obama must walk the fine line of giving lip service to progressive ideals , all the while knowing who really calls the shots. This requires Obama to hint at a progressive stance while delivering milk toast legislation on matters of importance to the power elites. On subjects of little importance to the power elites he is free to do as he wishes. So on side issues Obama can be a Democrat, but where it really counts he must not intercede in the ebb and flow of the universe as conducted by the power elites, just like Romney already does. I'll probably vote Green and Jill Stein and have a clear conscience...
October 18, 2012 12:14pm
Robert Reich's comments are always "interesting" but he is a continuous shill for Obama Democrats as that must be the hand that continues to feed him. Although I've never been a professor at Berkeley I have had a long life of devotion to education. Does he really believe Obama is going to do a damn thing that he is talking about when he is totally controlled by his corporatist masters? Has Professor Reich been awake for the past four years. Continuing to buy into corporate media propaganda on behalf of the two party system is the problem, Mr. Professor. Try to get your head out in the daylight and offer an objective opinion. BTW, where were the alternative political party candidates in this debate or did you even notice?
Thomas Baldwin, Ph.D.
October 18, 2012 11:58am
President Obama wants to raise taxes on the rich only 4%. This is way too low. In order to bring back the economy, put millions to work, balance the budget, and pay down the National debt; he needs to raise the top marginal rate to 60% or more. But not only raise the top marginal rate, he has to extend the Tax Brackets to reach into the incomes of the rich and super rich. I would love to see a proposal for "20 Brackets to $20Million, & top marginal rate of 60%". We need to get back the country these Republicans have been slowly stealing for the last 30 years. We need President Obama and all Congressional Democrats to push the higher rates and more tax brackets. God Bless the Middle Class.
October 18, 2012 11:26am
Well, I do hope that Obama gets elected because he is the last hope, the last barrier or obstacle that can to stop the froward march of the oligarchy or plutocracy in America. Actually, America is already in a quasi-oligarchy. The election of Romney would consolidate the oligarchy and make it very difficult to get part of the American democracy back. The full recovery would require more than Obama: a true revolution by the people. Obama would need majorities in both the House of Reps and the Senate, and two appointments to the Supreme Court to make progress. God forbid that Romney gets that opportunity. Don't forget: four of the present justices are 73 years and older. So, it will be a tough battle to get even partly the American democracy back. Obama's election would be a step in that direction. Let us pray that Americans will not be so ignorant, fanatical ans stupid as to elect that dreadful duo Romney/Ryan. Ryan at a heartbeat of the U.S. presidency, that's a truly frightening prospect...
October 19, 2012 5:52am
The last hope! Where the hell have you been this past four years? Hope is a marketing tool and people like your just keep falling for it over and over. The Democrats are a right wing party and the only way to get them to shift back to the left is to stop voting for them until they do. We can’t hope for change if we keep voting for that which we want to change; that’s insane.
October 18, 2012 11:14am
What has been affirmed by this debate is that the RNC seeks straw men to run for office that they can manipulate from behind the scenes. Its more a policy of gesticulation than articulation. When pressed, we get the scripted, well rehearsed obfuscation of a make-it-up-as-you-go charlatan rather than a deeply felt conviction from a thoughtful representative of a principled electorate. This policy was obvious during the Bush administration and we are only now beginning to heal from that debacle.
How would the Right have handled it if thoughtful Dems had mounted the same thoughtless, mean-spirited attack on them after 9/11? It didn't happen, and why didn't it happen? It didn't happen because a true American does not stoop to "gotcha" politics. A true American looks to the well-being of their fellow men first as those heroic first-responders did in NYC on that fateful day rather than exploiting if for political expediency.
I believe that it's time we put Rove-ian political opportunism behind us, recognizing it for the lowest in human nature that it represents and return to the middle-class values that made America the envy of the world. We trusted our "job-creators" to run things for a while and they did create jobs-in China, Mexico, India and Indonesia. The bottom-liners have proved to be bottom-feeders and we need to practice what we learned in first year Latin class, who-watches-the-watchers?
October 18, 2012 10:40am
Nice to see that the WIDE spectrum between far-far right and near right are being effectively covered...
Too bad majority opinions about the Economy, the Environment and War and Peace are utterly absent from this circle-jerk of the Duopoly...
http://tinyurl.com/948hb4w
OUR voices aren't just ignored, they're incarcerated...
October 18, 2012 9:31am
I agree, Professor Reich, and I'm also relieved. I was delighted to see the President so animated and on the attack. That's what it takes to make an impression in these TV performances for the non-thinking voters.
The worst part of that first debate, at least for me, was watching Obama staring trance-like at his notes. It was almost too painful to watch. So, when the President came out swinging in this debate, I was delighted. I don't know if he "won" the debate - though I think he did -but he was active and engaged and ready to rumble with robotic Romney.
Has everyone seen that picture of Romney at the end of that Libya gotcha that failed for him? Man, does he look angry and downright mean and hateful. And I think I finally got a glimpse of the real Mitt in that picture, because a man couldn't be a silver-spoon scion who once said he didn't care about the poor, or famously said that 47% of the nation are dependent and irresponsible and not his concern, without having a heart of stone that never bled for any American below the 1%.
Anyway, if you haven't seen that photo, try to find it on the internet. It's priceless, I tell you. The REAL Romney finally stood up, without his smiley-face mask!