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President Obama’s campaign was art in motion. He maneuvered, he amazed, he conquered. Among other things, he was able to credibly articulate the idea that American politics could transcend petty partisanship. However, in the dark shadows of political reality, our Commander in Chief had to make some lofty leftward promises and court a myriad of far left groups on his rise to the Oval Office. These constituencies have placed a lien on Obama’s presidency. How he will manage to satisfy his debt to the left wing and maintain his vision of a new Washington is beyond me. As a consequence, I cannot help but fear the prospect of his presidency being defined by his uber-liberal creditors.

credit: Kyle Lambert (kylelambert.co.uk)

Obama’s Debt: Will It Define His Presidency?

My fear is not that we will fall short of his goal due to his personal limitations, but that he may be controlled by partisan obligations rather than his own vision. If this is the case, Obama’s presidency will be less than transformational and the country will be worse off for it.

While both parties have their merits and political parties, in general, serve a purpose in democracy, the Obama campaign seemed to acknowledge that dogmatic adherence to either political philosophy would obstruct recovery – “We are more than a collection of Red States and Blue States – we are the United States of America.” The people believed Obama could change Washington not because we thought it to be any small task, but because we believed in his abilities and vision. Any non-conservative politician who can pry a compliment like the one below out of Rush Limbaugh at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) may be suited to tackle the impossible:

“[President Obama} is one of the most gifted politicians…one of the most gifted men that I have witnessed. He has extraordinary talents. He has communication skills that hardly anyone can surpass.”

Early signs indicated that President Obama would go beyond partisanship and heal this country by taking a practical-centrist-Lincolnesque approach to the Executive Office. This was evidenced by how he assembled his administration and his somewhat revised take on ending the Iraq War. He even shunned the silly Fairness Doctrine. Such concessions to the GOP demonstrated a honest commitment to change and bipartisan solutions.

While Obama owes conservatives very little based on their opposition to his election, he does not enjoy the same freedom from the other side of the aisle. The fact remains that supplanting Hillary Clinton’s base and acquiring the support of the fringe left came with a hefty debt. Political capital is never free. Benefactors are seldom without self-interest nor shy when the spoils manifest.

To complicate matters, the liberal majority in Congress is clearly not willing to risk forfeiting its turn at bat to promote Obama’s ambitious idea of a post-partisan Washington. Liberals have not enjoyed this level of control in decades and are loudly marking their territory. Democrat Senator Barney Frank, who was self-diagnosed with “post-partisan depression”, stated that Obama overestimates his ability to work with Republicans. Similarly motivated, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid revealed, “If Obama steps over the bounds, I will tell him…I do not work for Barack Obama.” In other words, if you value your limbs, you better get out of the way while we grind our axes.

Those of us who bought into President Obama’s bipartisan vision, can only hope he does not allow congressional liberals to hijack his presidency like they did the recent stimulus bill. While I agreed stimulus was a necessity, the hasty manner in which it was passed and the billions of dollars in pork barrel spending (which included $200,000 for tattoo removal) made a mockery of our democratic process. If there ever was a time when partisan politics were completely inappropriate that was it. Unfortunately, Obama appeared to condone this embarrassing miscarriage of democracy. In order to fully realize the hallmark of his campaign, he must control those defining moments. Similar situations will determine whether he will be able to re-establish his bipartisan vision and lead Congress and his liberal constituency or if they will lead and define him.

Will the 44th President’s legacy be his own or will liberal collection agencies garnish his unique vision?