Managing a Big Tent

The Democratic Party that was revived under Franklin Roosevelt has been a party of diverse sub-coalitions. Unions, blacks, Catholics, city dwellers, etc. By the 60’s they were joined by the anti war, and pro-choice movement. In the last generation, gay activists, environmentalist, and Hispanics, have found a safe haven within the confines of the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party prides itself on its diverse makeup by calling it a big tent. Those subsets that formed the Democratic Party have looked for party leaders, and candidates to be change agents, reformers, progressive, and often an alternative to the more conservative, right leanings of the Republican Party. Those groups expect in exchange for their party loyalty, shares of the political prize which run the gamut from support to their causes, to high ranking appointments and rightly so.


In the years of the administration of George Bush, and under the influence of Karl Rove, the Republican Party moved further and further right and in doing so incurred the wrath of those core Democratic “tent dwellers”. The manner in which John McCain ran his 2008 campaign, and the selection of Sarah Palin all were in homage to that extreme right wing base of a Republican Party seemingly intent on stunting their growth. At the same those Democratic coalitions found in presidential candidate Barack Obama, a true reformer. They came to the Obama Campaign with both a wish list in one hand, and a promise of support in the other. The gay community wanted the repeal of the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy, anti war groups wanted a rapid withdrawal from Iraq, more “hawkish” in the progressive crowd nothing short of George Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney sent to prison for war crimes, Hispanics saw an opportunity for a kinder gentler immigration policy. Environmentalists hoped for more aggressive action on global warming. Ironically the one group linked more closely to Barack Obama, the African American community offered very little in the way of an electoral quid pro quo, and was promised the least. Candidate Barack Obama save for his dramatic speech on race in Philadelphia, said very little on race, as he understood with clarity the dangers in presenting himself as the black candidate – ergo in the minds of others - the black messiah.


Now the election is over, and those groups are marching to the White House with their due bill in hand. It is amusing that now five months after the inauguration; Fox News competes with the progressive standard bearers like Bill Maher, Arianna Huffington, and MSNBC’s Keith Olberman, and Rachel Maddow on who can slam the Obama Administration the hardest. The growing mantra from the left is how President Obama has either reneged or watered down campaign promises. The natives are getting restless. But lets’ be real clear, from the perspective of the left so much of this is their own hubris and political anxiety. Hunkering down for eight years during a Bush Administration that tilted the rewards and political booty so far too the right, the now left wants to restore balance, on there terms, and on their time table. And they saw in Barack Obama a pliable newbie whom they could manipulate. They hoped he would fill his administration roster with other neophytes and Left leaning acolytes so that their voice would be heard, but when he started filling his administration with holdovers from the Clinton Administration, and head bangers like Raul Emmanuel it gave them pause. But what the Left either forgotten, or ignored is that while they were rolling up their sleeves for a restoration of a progressive agenda, Barack Obama was moving chairs and tables to make room in the tent for disaffected Republicans, Independents, and a slice of middle class Americana that heretofore had little to do with the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. While the Left was planning how they would micromanage Barack Obama; the Obama administration is eyeing bigger fish - the remaking of the Democratic Party. With his eyes dead set on those Democrats who left the party in 1980 with the election of Ronald Wilson Reagan, Barack Obama has visions of a new political grand coalition that pushes the Republican Party to the brink.

Astute commentators like George Stephanopoulos of ABC and others noticed the political impact and message of bringing Republicans into his administration. These moves both fulfilled campaign promises while at the same time further marginalizing the right wing of the opposition. Elections have consequences and often those consequences if managed correctly have long term effects. President Obama is taking the long view, and in doing so showing a capacity for political calculation that many are now just coming to recognize. Barack Obama came to govern, but in governing he is working to rebuild the Democratic Party which means the party of the big tent now must make room to the right and center. This strategy can work to neutralize Republican efforts to label his policies as socialistic, or view President Obama as a pawn of the left; moreover, this strategy recognizes the golden opportunity to take advantage of a GOP that is unraveling, lacking both vision and a visionary.

Finally this strategy reflects the unprecedented challenges facing President Obama, and that in order for him to govern effectively he needs to be centrist in his approach, and pragmatic in his vision. This is governance in real time, not just position papers, in the abstract. Barack Obama has shifted gears, the campaign is history - Tehran is real. Recent polls show that he has expended a significant amount of political capital in his massive and costly government interventions. In an increasingly dangerous world with North Korea saber rattling, Iran in near meltdown mode, and a resurging Taliban in Pakistan, does President Obama really want to pick a fight with his generals who have informed him “not now” on “Don’t ask – don’t tell? With reform in health care, and energy policy still on the table do the vast majority of Americans want President Obama to get bogged down in a protracted inside the beltway beef?

When President Obama speaks to the nation, he is not just speaking to his friends on the left, but to those who ‘held their nose’ and voted for him in November, as well as those who didn’t. He is offering not a quick fix, but a down payment. In the midst of the Bush administration it was the left that warned that President Bush was becoming a pawn to his base, at the detriment of his party – and to the country. Now as painful as it is for them to swallow, America can not afford at this critical time to have a President be a mere appendage to the left.

President Obama is a student of history, and as such he understands the nuances needed to govern, politics is often devoid of nuances, its either black or white, us versus them. The left needs to recognize that the key component of the change mantra of last year’s campaign was competence, not quick fixes, or political expedience. Memo to the Left – Barack Obama is here for the long haul, strap yourself in, and develop some patience. Governance is about prioritizing, leading and consensus building, not merely responding to wish lists. Under President Barrack Hussein Obama the Big Tent is getting bigger, relax, have a glass of cabernet and make room for new friends.