Thanks for investing the time and mindspace to respond. Since you also see the President is a visionary, I appreciate your expansion of how his strategic work with China, as well as, isolating Iran is part of the international aspect of his vision.

However, I am perplexed by your statement: “I have too often been frustrated or disappointed by his performance, and I worry…that if he does not achieve a second term, many of his accomplishments will be undone or dismissed.” If he has not achieved anything (“his performance”) and therefore he hasn’t earned your willingness to follow, what ‘accomplishments’ do you fear he may lose? In other words, how could he lose something he has not accomplished? What did you want him to accomplish that he hasn’t? What do you fear he might lose?

You say you are “ambivalent”, “on the side line”, but “rooting for him”, and that you are not ready to work for his re-election. Does that mean you aren’t willing to contribute financially for his re-election? Who on the other side earns your respect and active support?

Richard

What do folks say about the ethics of adding these ‘friends’ to my GoSox email list?

As Richard Margolies knows, I am an “undecided” at this time and would not be a good candidate to join the two of you in the fall. Perhaps that will change. We will see. I do agree with Richard Margolies that our President is a visionary. His speeches on race and in Cairo were inspiring and historical. But, I have too often been frustrated or disappointed by his performance, and I worry, as Fallows suggests, in his conclusion, that if he does not achieve a second term, many of his accomplishments will be undone or dismissed.

I think, more than anything, I appreciate a new world view that he has brought to the international community. I am impressed by his accomplishments with China, though I think the Chinese are inclined to want to work with us and thus, perhaps some of his successes are because of the reality that China will become more and more a future partner with the United States. All eyes need to be on Europe, Iran, the Middle East and Afghanistan.

In the end, I fear that events beyond his control will dictate whether President Obama will achieve another term. Though still on the sideline, I am rooting for him. For now, that is where I am.

Thank you, (both) Richards.

Hugh

Here is the definition of fallow that was not copied into the response to James Fallows’ article. You will quickly see the connection to the critique:

fallow |ˈfalō|
adjective
(of farmland) plowed and harrowed but left unsown for a period in order to restore its fertility as part of a crop rotation or to avoid surplus production : incentives for farmers to let the land lie fallow in order to reduce grain surpluses.
• figurative inactive : long fallow periods when nothing seems to happen.
• (of a sow) not pregnant.

I realized this morning that I rushed to define the President’s vision and left out some key parts. His vision is inclusive of all Americans, no matter what their race, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation. He believes that we are all Americans and if we want to serve in the military or marry someone we love that it is not in the Constitution that the government should decide those choices for us based on passing some test. Of course to be in the military one has to pass a test of physical and mental capacity, but that is all.

Another aspect of the President’s vision is that health care is a right, not a privilege, which should be available to all Americans. He realizes that we do not have a health care system. We have an anarchic market of profit-seeking entities. The cost of receiving basic care is borne inequitably. Access is not universal, but is rationed based on ability to pay. In other words, the wealthy are able to get better health care than the poor. Creating an effective and efficient health care system is also a benefit to our national economy since the rising cost of health care is a burden on businesses. This seriously affects their ability to be sustainable and competitive. For example, in the cost of producing a car by one of the American car companies the cost of health care per employee is greater than the cost of steel in the car.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a part of his vision of creating a national health care system that improves the health outcomes for all who seek care, reduces the cost per capita, extends access to everyone irrespective of income, and improves the health of the American population.

Extending human rights to all Americans, irrespective of their demographic or sexual portrait, and improving the health care of all our citizens while creating a truly modern, quality-focussed health system is part of the President’s vision.

I will send other aspects of his vision as they occur to me. Richard, thanks for stimulating this dialogue.

Richard

–timball

OK. It’s a deal. I’m in.

But just for the record, I was born in Boston, which explains a number of things.

Thank you for your kind and appreciative reply. I value you as a friend also. I am delighted that you have accepted the invitation and have claimed a seat in the Prius!

I want to address your questions about out-of-staters. Let me first say that we are not born Pennsylvanians (my birth state), we are not born Floridians (your birth state), but we are born Americans! I worked in ’08 in Pennsylvania, with Cindy, in the primary against Hillary, and in VA, Indiana, and Ohio in the general election against John McCain. A friend, Mac Greene, a child psychologist from Indianapolis, drove to Cleveland where we worked Saturday through Tuesday, election day. The organization got us nice folks to stay with there. There will be again, I assume, an extensive and well-organized network that coordinates people, whether they are in-staters or out-of-staters, assigning us to precincts where we receive more detailed instructions. The tasks depend on the need and the days left to election. This includes walking the neighborhoods, knocking on doors of Democrats (working from a computer list) and asking if they are planning to vote, do they know their polling place, giving that information if they need it, offering to get them a ride, and of course discussing the candidates and the issues.

Meeting the American people, on their doorsteps, engaging them in serious conversation, hearing their stories, which often shock and surprise, is an education I could not have imagined. And also experiencing people’s lives and neighborhoods very different than my own. Nor can I imagine even now how to be enlightened like that in any other way than engaging them on their own doorsteps.

One story, among many. I was working a lower middle class, largely African American, rather run-down neighborhood on the far east side of Indianapolis. The houses were detached, but not in great shape, the yards didn’t have much grass, or flowers. I went up the walk and knocked on the door and after a few minutes, it opened about 4 inches and a woman in her 50s peered out, “Yeah?” “Good afternoon, ma’am, I’m from the Obama campaign, are you planning to vote?” “Yeah, I’m thinking about it.” “Would you mind sharing what you’re thinking?” The door opened all the way and she stepped out on the porch. She looked me over, and then looking over my head as if she was focusing on the other side of the street she said, “When someone hits you, you got to hit’em back!” I looked into her eyes and the thought flashed through my mind that perhaps she was psychotic, as the statement didn’t seem to connect with the conversation up to that point. Then I sensed she was there with me in the same reality and I started to quickly try to locate what she was concerned about. We stood there together for what seemed like a long number of seconds before I formulated a response. “Senator Obama is for a strong military, ma’am.” “He don’t always say that!” she asserted, “I’m liking that about McCain.” “Senator Obama just feels we have to use our military might in smart ways, and the war in Iraq is in his words, a ‘dumb war’.” “I got a daughter over there in Iraq!” “Yes, ma’am Senator Obama respects her service as I do, and we want to bring her back to you safe and sound.” “Yeah?…you want to talk to my other daughter, she’s inside. Hey, you come out here now [she shouts inside], and talk to this man.” Turning to me, she said, “She’s thinking of enlisting like her sister.”

Richard, I look forward to working with you for the President’s re-election.

Richard