What Obama Needs to Do Next. Lessons from the Impressionists
Reality bites. Obama is now beginning to learn just how circumscribed is the power of “the most powerful office on earth.” When campaigning, presidential candidates paint the spacious canvas of their reforms with a very broad brush, bold strokes and a vivid new palette. However once in office they find that our constitutional system of “checks and balances,” operating within the morass of entrenched special interests inside the Beltway, limits their vision to little more than variations on timeworn themes with slight innovations in style.
In the late 19th century, the French impressionists faced similar constraints by the French art establishment, when the Académie des Beaux-Arts refused to present their work in the Salon de Paris. The impressionists, made their appeal for their new vision directly to the public by exhibiting their work in their own Salon des Refusés. The hallmark of their success was the transformation of a critic’s epithet, “impressionist,” into a badge of honor and an enduring name for their movement. Obama could profitably borrow a page from their book with a shift of venue and direct appeal to the public, bypassing the Washington establishment.
The changes Obama promised will not come about by playing politics-as-usual within the confines of the Capital. Lacking the 60-vote super-majority in the Senate, to implement change Obama will routinely have to go over the heads of Congress and make his appeal directly to the public by barnstorming the country, as he did so effectively as a candidate. Only then will he become a true leader, both shaping and implementing public opinion rather than struggling vainly, like Laocoön, against serpents of the establishment who pretend to represent the popular will.
A key to success in selling his vision is for Obama to get out of Washington. So far he has made several attempts to reach the public, chastising Congress for inaction, speaking from the White House. Meanwhile, Congress continues to dither and hack away at the administration's proposals. What this communicates symbolically is a shouting match between one man at one end of Pennsylvania Avenue outnumbered by 535 members of Congress at the other. It also portrays Obama as stuck in the quagmire of Washington politics. Symbolism matters. What Obama must do to avoid being co-opted by the Washington establishment, is to stage large events outside the Capital, as he did during the campaign, so that the shouting match is transformed into one man backed by the approving roar of 50,000 voices from America’s heartland against 535 voices barricaded behind the Beltway. So much the better if such events are staged in the backyard of recalcitrant Republican senators, who will then be put in the awkward position of explaining why they are opposing the will of their constituents. Obama should stage such events routinely, regardless of how things are going in Washington a) to remind Congress that when he speaks, he does so on behalf of millions of voters loudly demanding change and b) to reassure the American people that he continues to listen to them and ask for their approval and support.
Another end-run Obama must employ is to harness the power of the Internet, as he did so effectively during his campaign. He needs to redirect the staff who managed his Internet campaign to mobilize bloggers and other Internet key opinion leaders to stir up public opinion in support of his policies. The objective of this campaign should be to deluge members of Congress with e-mail, snail mail and telephone calls demanding action on Obama’s proposals. Other opinion-shaping organizations have done this very effectively through e-mail campaigns which supply links to congressional e-mail in-boxes and suggested text for messages to be sent to members of Congress.
A representational democracy is a numbers game, and Obama needs to marshal large numbers in his favor from the heartland and in cyberspace.