Is Obama one of the most radical liberals ever?

I would like to welcome everyone to my Politics and Government Blog. This blog will give local citizens a chance to discuss and debate current public policy issues and political events. I’ll be making entries on local, state, and national issues. I look forward to your comments and discussion. I hope it will be lively and informative.

For those who don’t know me, I have been active in politics since 2003. I have volunteered for several campaigns at the local, state, and national level. In 2005, I worked as Political Director for a PAC that assisted in 7 state legislature races. As of September 2008, I have returned to college at Indiana University Southeast to complete a BA in Political Science. Upon completion of undergraduate work, I plan to obtain a Master’s Degree in Political Management and Communications.

Although I don’t always hold liberal stances, more often than not I’m on the left side of issues and therefore I consider myself a liberal. Not many people are comfortable labeling themselves as that anymore and I find it quite sad. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a liberal. So was Robert Kennedy, one of my political heroes. If we want to have a real political debate in this country, then we must have both sides represented. The left is usually undermanned in this respect.

Speaking of being liberal, there’s this notion, particularly among the Tea Party crowd, that President Obama is one of the most radical liberals ever to walk the Earth. Certainly, President Obama is to the left of his predecessor George W. Bush. He is absolutely to the left of the Tea Party (who isn’t really?). However, Barack Obama is certainly not governing as a liberal.

Perhaps those who call President Obama an (for those reading aloud, take a deep breath here) AfricanKenyanCommunistSocialistMarxistFascistIndonesianMuslimTerroristUnAmerican-tarian have a perception problem. Perhaps where they stand makes moderate policy look extreme. It’s something worth exploring at least.

Certainly, universal health insurance coverage might look extreme if the Tea/Republican Party is advocating trading chickens for medical coverage, as Sue Lowden did in Nevada. I’m sure I would think that comprehensive immigration reform, which includes fines and paying back taxes, would look leftist if my position was placing landmines along the border and repealing the 14th Amendment, as Tea/Republican party candidate Tom Mullins and Sen. Lindsey Graham have advocated. I’m sure someone might find President Obama’s opposition to the Citizens United ruling a radical position if they were supporting a repeal of the 17th Amendment (popular election of Senators), as Tea/Republican party candidate for Senate Ken Buck has called for. I’m sure enforcing civil rights, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and continuing farm subsidies would seem absolutely communist if we were opposed to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, The ADA, and farm subsidies, as Tea/Republican party candidate Rand Paul is. I’m sure workplace safety regulations and environmental disaster clean-up would look like Soviet-style communism if we held the position, as Rand Paul does, that “accidents happen” when a worker is killed or the Gulf of Mexico is nearly destroyed. And, I’m sure that a cooperative relationship between the state and federal government would seem like a foreign plague if someone was advocating secession from the Union and armed rebellion, as Tea/Republican party officials Rep. Zack Wamp, Gov. Rick Perry, and candidate Rick Barber have done.

Perhaps President Obama’s harshest critics have more of a problem with projection of their own problems rather than objection to his policies. This is something to consider next time these gentlemen are on cable news talking about a radical take-over of the country. Perhaps the “radical take-over” actually happens if one of these political sideshows gets to hold office.