Senator Obama told us over and over in 2008 that he needed our help. That we were in this together. That there was much to do and he couldn't do it all himself. And we worked hard, canvassing, making calls, donating when we could have put that money somewhere else. And then, together, we celebrated our victory.
But then, while he was figuring out how to dig us out, he didn't communicate his need for help. Like he has said, he was so busy, he forgot about telling us what he was doing. And some of us weren't that thrilled with what he did. His half-measures angered some. Even caused them to not trust him to do what was needed. Thought he was weak. Thought he was too conciliatory. Even thought he sold us out. And maybe some of that criticism was warranted. But he had said that he needed our help, and we were so busy evaluating everything he did, we failed to help. We complained, but we didn't offer to help.
Now we've helped get him elected again. And we've celebrated together again. And we've gloated. Oh, have we gloated! We've had diary after diary pointing out every detail of this election. All the numbers. How crazy the RW is. And on and on. But now it's time to get serious.
I've already heard doubts that the President will stand firm. He's too conciliatory. He'll sell us out on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. He won't allow the upper income taxes to be raised.
Now is the time that he really needs our help. If we really want him to negotiate with strength, he needs to know we have his back.
I'm suggesting that we all put our Senators and Representative on speed dial. And every time there is an issue we care about, we need to call those people and let them know how we want them to vote. To those of you who have done it before, you know it only takes a few minutes. But it counts. They literally count the pros and cons. And request that your friends and relatives make those calls as well.
There are those on the right who are saying that this election wasn't a mandate. Let's prove them wrong. Let's remind them every time a bill has to be voted on.
I'm not sure how to accomplish this. Perhaps the best place is the FP. Maybe create a place on the site for ACTION posts. But I really think this is important. We have the gerrymander working against us, but that means there are people in almost every district who believe as we do. Let's shake up those representatives who think they're in safe districts.
Our President needs our help. We can't let him down. We can't let us down.
All suggestions welcomed.