The Legacy of Barack Obama

Legacy demands a great building

Late into the night on Tuesday November 4th, 2008 history was made. For the first time in over two-hundred years of Presidential contests, the American people elected the first non-white man to be President of the United States. The election of 2008 had it’s moments of racism and sexism, but they were mild. The candidates who fought it out to gain their parties nominations played politics in a manner that Americans had become accustomed to. There were the typical smear campaigns, but most of America did not care. The Republican Vice Presidential nominee, Governor Sarah Palin, was downright civilized compared to the person she would become. The GOP’s Presidential candidate, John McCain, was out on the campaign trail corrected voters who believed that Barack Obama was a secret Muslim trying to usurp our nation. It was a different era. The feeling was that America had matured beyond the damage of things like the Swift Boats and the Southern Strategy. Barrack Obama won the 2008 election, by a large margin, because American voters believed in his vision of hope for the nation. The first non-white man to win the Presidency happened because Americans believed that we could all do better, and Barrack Obama was the leader who was going to bring the best out of us.

Within minutes of Obama being inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States, the Republican thought leaders worked to make the new Executive’s job a living hell. Glenn Beck would go out of his way to paint Obama as a dangerous communist, and a racist. The half-wits at Fox News went into their old “Bill Clinton” mode and amplified any minor story out there that would embarrass the White House. The fringes of the Republican party constantly questioned the President's place of birth, and therefore his legitimacy to be President. The morons who pushed the birther issue were given more news coverage than the people trying to restore hope back to America. From the very beginning, President Obama faced a temper tantrum throwing right wing media, and a ratings starved mainstream media, who refused to let his vision of hope to take hold.

While the network news, and the jv squad that is cable news, were incompetent and unamerican in their activities, the Republicans in the US Congress were historic in their dealings with President Obama. Then Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader John Boehner would use every arcane rule in the history of the United States Congress to stop President Obama’s agenda. When McConnell and Boehner would not get their way, the two would run to the media and complain about the President trying to do his job. There was little hope to found on Capitol Hill.

Once the Republicans took over the House, and eventually the Senate, the Republican obstructionism went from outrageous to downright dangerous. McConnell proudly declared that his number one job was to make Obama a one term President. The Republican leader failed miserably at this number one job since Barack Obama was easily reelected in 2012. Since McConnell could not accomplish any tasks, he worked to make sure the President could not govern. The “highlight” of Mitch McConnell’s tenure has to be the Un-Constitutional act to not allow the President’s Supreme Court nominee to have a hearing or vote. Never in the history of the United States has a politician spit on the ideals set forth by the US Constitution like Mitch McConnell has.

Eventual Speaker of the House John Boehner, and his replacement Paul Ryan, used their power to tie up the legislative authority of the US House of Representatives with meaningless show votes, and expensive politically motivated subcommittee hearings. The endless votes to repeal the Affordable Care Act were taking up time that should have been devoted to combat the rise in gun violence, and the price gouging being conducted by unscrupulous pharmaceutical companies. Elementary kids being killed with legal guns, and other kids being denied lifesaving medicines because of personal greed, was of no importance to John Boehner’s caucus. Along with Mitch McConnell, John Boehner and Paul Ryan assured their place in history as the most ineffective, and immoral, Congress in the history of the United States.

How did President Barrack Obama deal with a historically terrible Congress and a media that was ineffectual? With little choice, President Obama seemed to present his vision through the pulpit of the White House, and not get in the way when history started to move forward. The President is an incredible communicator, and was be artful in presenting his message. On the campaign trail in 2012, Obama was able to dull the right wing noise, and make people believe in hope again. Once the next group of people were killed by a bad man with a bad gun, the President would share the heartbreak of the American people. With historic movements in rights for the LGBTQ community, the President communicated his joy and compassion towards all Americans. When the GOP Congress would spout off Tea Party talking points, the President would counter them head on, and present a better view of the nation. President Barack Obama will go down as one of the greatest communicators who has ever occupied the Oval Office.

Much like Ronald Reagan before him, Barrack Obama has been given credit for many things that happened because he was in the White House when history happened. In the 2008 campaign, then Senator Obama was not fully onboard with gay rights. In fact, no major viable political candidate was embracing basic human rights for the LGBTQ community. Generations of hard work by people on the ground led to the landmark decisions made by the courts to give all Americans equal rights. Obama did not create this culture, but he did not impede it either.

The death of al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden is also listed as a high point in the Obama Presidency. Many people give credit to Ronald Reagan for the release of hostages from the Iranian government, not thinking about how the Carter government really did all of the work. The killing of Bin Laden happened because President Obama gave the order, but any person in his position would have done the same. Like it or not, the George W Bush administration created much of the ground work to finding Bin Laden We were going to find the al-Qaeda leader no matter what, it was just a matter of time.

When it comes to actually policy, the Obama legacy is a little thin. The last eight years have not been as impactful as what Lyndon Johnson, Theodore or Franklin Roosevelt accomplished. Some things like the Lilly Ledbetter act should have been done decades ago. The stimulus was a necessary program started under Republican President George W Bush. The booming stock market has been great for very few. The growth in the economy has been slow, but has moved in the right direction after the disaster of the previous administration. All of these actions occurred mainly because President Obama did not get in the way and allowed them to happen on their own.

The one signature law championed by the President and passed by Congress is the Affordable Care Act. Once again the do-nothing Republicans, assisted by the media, painted the law as something extremely terrible. The fact is the Affordable Care Act is not that great. It has been responsible for the rise in healthcare costs, mainly because there is no incentive for the self serving health care companies to lower costs. The bill was loaded with so many corporate handouts not just because of Republicans, but also because of Democratic leaders like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. The congressional democrats wanted to make sure their corporate donors were rewarded in this massive government program. In a place where President Obama could have led, he instead stayed out of the way as the Pelosi/Reid Congress passed a flawed law. Even the President’s incredible communication skills could not hide the problems behind the Affordable Care Act.

The Obama Presidency should also be judged by the state of his political party. The Democratic Party is currently in the worst condition it has been in for over a generation. Under Obama, the Democratic Party has lost a massive amount of elections at all levels of government. Terrible Governors like Chris Christie in New Jersey, Sam Brownback in Kansas, Bobby Jindal in New Orleans, Rick Scott in Florida, Rick Snyder in Michigan, and many many more have won reelection after awful first terms. They win because the Democratic Party spends no resources to launch any meaningful campaign against these terrible leaders. If the party spends no resources on Governor races, that means they spend no time working to get people elected to any levels of government.

This lack of resources is directly related to Barack Obama and his campaign machine. In 2008, and again in 2012, the Obama campaign would take all of the resources out of competitive states and leave nothing for the local candidates (what we like to call The Ohio Problem). When the President does not care about the down ticket races, the down ticket loses badly. This strategy extended to the Hillary Clinton campaign, and 2016 saw even more losses for the Democratic Party. Couple this with the fact that President Obama would defend ineffectual leaders like Debbie Wasserman Schultz at the Democratic National Committee, President Obama staying out of the way, and not intervening in down ticket races, has been detrimental to the majority of the country who support the ideals of the Democratic Party.

Does President Barack Obama leave with a historic legacy? Will his Presidency be notable, or just another one of insignificance? It is easy to look back at the end of one man’s Presidency and think about what has been, and what could have been. Anytime a new President takes office, we are filled with angst. Barack Obama’s legacy will not be truly known for many years. In the meantime we can have our immediate reactions dictate what impact the man has had on the nation, and the world. Will his great communication skills be studied? Will his laissez faire approach to the moment of history be admired by future leaders?

The fact remains that Obama’s election was a moment of great historical significance. He will be one of the most recognizable Presidents of students in the far future. The question is will he be remembered like the Roosevelts for being figures of profound change, or will he be remembered like John Quincy Adams for being someone of trivial curiosity.

RD

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Do have thoughts on legacy? Tell us all about it.

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The Ohio Problem: The Curious Case of PG Sittenfeld

Believe it or not, but there is a choice in the Ohio Democratic Party US Senate Primary

As goes Ohio, so goes the nation.

Well that is a big problem.

The Ohio problem is not unique to the fine people of the Buckeye state. National political leaders have been starving the local activists in many states for years. Ohio just seems to be the epicenter of the failed local work exhibited by the National Democratic Party. This Tuesday the Buckeye state will hold its Republican and Democratic primary elections, and the Ohio Problem has once again surfaced in the form of a Democratic primary for the US Senate.

Republican Rob Portman is currently the junior senator from the great state of Ohio. Senator Portman is not a hateful republican, just a non curious and greedy one. He was a trade representative and budget director for the George W Bush administration.  All reasonable people can agree that the Bush administration did not do a stellar job with trade and the economy. Rob Portman does not have the best resume to be a senator from any state, but not being a hateful idiot seems to help his elect-ability in Buckeye country. Senator Portman's ease of getting elected can be directly tied to the fact that the Ohio state Democratic party has been disorganized and lacks experience. For over a decade the same incompetent people have been losing elections years after year. Their only victories have been the two times President Obama carried the state. Two national wins and countless of local defeats to extremist Republicans equals a decade of no accountability. The ease of incumbent Senator Portman's reelection looked inevitable again in 2016.  The Ohio democrats seemingly could not mount any credible fight against the incumbent Republican. The 2016 election was again going to be all about the President, the rest of Ohio's democrats would be on their own.

Surprisingly a newcomer did step up to the plate for the Ohio Democratic Party in the race for the United States Senate. Cincinnati City Councilman PG (Alexander Paul George) Sittenfeld decided in early 2015 to challenge Senator Portman. No other credible challengers had emerged, and Councilman Sittenfeld stepped up for the Democrats. The Councilmen is very youthful, just over the age of 30, but a formidable fundraiser and campaigner.  Sittenfeld easily won two elections for the Cincinnati City Council, and is very active on social media and with the local press corps. If the people of Cincinnati could only name one member of council, that member would be PG Sittenfeld. His energy, bright personality, and independence has made him popular with Republicans and Democrats alike. Sittenfeld was one of the first millennial politicians that seemingly could challenge the baby boomers in the establishment.

Not long after PG Sittenfeld announced his intent to run for the US Senate, former Ohio Governor Ted Strickland threw his hat into the ring. Strickland had served in the US House of Representatives for a long time and was a one term governor for the Buckeye state.  Many political pundits thought that Governor Strickland was the only hope to defeat Senator Portman in the 2016 election. Strickland was well regarded by many in Ohio. He held an A rating from the NRA, and this man is a Democrat. He has a long history and Washington DC, and that history has given Strickland a nice pipeline for fundraising. The fact that Strickland has already won one state wide race, and was narrowly defeated in another, shows that the former Governor has good name recognition with the voters in Ohio. Ted Strickland had a clear path to the Democratic party's nomination for the US Senate.

Even with the Governor Strickland's perceived inevitability, Councilman PG Sittenfeld was not ready to concede the race. There were some new ideas coming from the youthful Cincinnatian. PG Sittenfeld was talking about things that effected the largest growing voting block, the millennials. His canidiacy was bound to bring energy and excitement not tied to the national Presidential election. PG Sittenfeld was going to excite Ohioans about issues that face Ohio.  By the time Ted Strickland filed to run for the US Senate, Sittenfeld had already brought in a campaigning staff, and he had received donations from some big donors (including Google's Eric Schmidt). The Cincinnati council member was not ready to abdicate the nomination to Governor Strickland.

Unfortunately the Ohio and National Democratic party leaders wanted to  force Sittenfeld out of the race in an undemocratic way. Soon after Ted Strickland entered the race, many state and national political leaders endorsed the former Governor. To endorse a candidate in a state primary more than a year before the election was unheard of. Many of the local Democratic activists were also encouraged to endorse Strickland over Sittenfeld. A smear campaign against the Cincinnati council member quickly followed. The state party was telling the media that Sittenfeld had promised to leave the race if Strickland decided to run.  The narrative being sold by the establishment of the Democratic party was that Sittenfeld was hurting the party's chance to pick up a senate win in 2016. The opposition to an up and coming Democrat was unprecedented. PG Sittenfeld was going to lose this election, his first loss, and it would be better for his career if he left the path clear for Ted Strickland. The Ohio Democratic Party did not want to give people a choice in the matter. 

PG Sittenfeld represents the future of the Democratic Party in Ohio. His early career in the Cincinnati City Council should bring support from the national and state party. The councilman even sided with the establishment of the Democratic Party when he changed his opposition on the Cincinnati street car project. That flip-flop, and inexplicable reasoning by the councilman to continue to spend on construction because money had already been spent, will haunt Sittenfeld his entire political career. He took that risk for the better of the party, and they have not been grateful. In many other, not as controversial areas, Sittenfeld has been a bright spot for the party. He fully embraced First Lady Michelle Obama's Keep Moving campaign. He has been outspoken on equality for the LGBTQ community. He is extremely active in the community when it comes to violence and poverty. If there is a cause important to Democrats, PG Sittenfeld has been one of their champions.

The Strickland / Sittenfeld primary contest perfectly represents how bad the Ohio Problem is. The Buckeye State will once again be home to many out of state campaign experts. The Democratic Party will once again put a great emphasis on winning Ohio for their Presidential candidate. Ted Strickland is part of the old establishment, he is seen as a nice compliment to Hillary Clinton (if she wins the nomination). PG Sittenfeld is too much of an unknown, the party does not see his value to winning Ohio. With no dedicated, experienced, political operatives in Ohio all of the political decisions for the Buckeye State are seen through the national party's needs. Councilman Sittenfeld has even fallen victim to the Ohio Problem. He has been put in a position to replace most of his locally grown campaign staff with people who do not live in Ohio. He has changed his main focus from student debt relief to gun control. This pivot in campaign strategy has netted some high profile endorsements for Sittenfeld, with most of the endorsements coming from out of state celebrities. PG Sittenfeld has been very active travelling the state and discussing his Senate run with local Democratic Party activists, but in order to stay relevant he has had to lean on influence makers who do not live in the Buckeye state. The lack of support and structure for a strong local candidate has been detrimental to PG Sittenfeld's hope to be in the United States Senate. Ted Strickland, who mainly works in Washington DC, may be from Ohio but his strength lies with his ties to the national Democratic party. Sittenfeld's support from the state is no match for Strickland's DC connections.

The Ohio Problem is still contributing to the electoral problems in the Buckeye state. Cincinnati City Council member PG Sittenfeld may seem to not have a chance to defeat former Governor Ted Strickland, but the state party has never really given the upstart Sittenfeld a chance to compete. The national Democratic Party establishment has used their outside influence in Ohio to try and make the state Senate primary as undemocratic as possible. It is frustrating that the national and state parties have tried to go out of the way to force Sittenfeld out of the race since day one. The people of Ohio deserve a fresh perspective. PG Sittenfeld can help end the Ohio Problem, if only he had a bit more local support.  The leaders of the Ohio Democratic Party may have changed, but their incompetence and fidelity to the national Democratic Party establishment is the same as it ever was. This cycle needs to end. The people of Ohio deserve to have their interests represented by politicians who focus on Ohio.  The people of Ohio deserve democracy

As goes the country, so goes Ohio. That is the core of the Ohio Problem.

RD

RD Kulik is the Head Editor for SeedSing and the host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He is tired of the old failed ways of state parties who focus on presidential races and leave behind their own local candidates. Ohio is not alone in this practice, tell us about your state's failures in electing true leaders - write for SeedSing.

SeedSing's 10 Most Popular Posts of 2015

Follow me to great writing

SeedSing was born into existence in May of 2015. The idea behind the website was to bring a common voice to the politics and pop culture of our society. We started with the goal to post 3-5 articles a week and hoped to get around 100 unique visitors in each week. We are grateful that the websites traffic has grown beyond those numbers and are looking forward to all the new readers, and contributors, 2016. Today we present the 10 most read articles on SeedSing for 2015.

10. Thank You for Inhaling: Money, Freedom, and the Legalization of Marijuana  The movement to legalize Marijuana made its way to Ohio in 2015. Head editor RD Kulik takes  a look at the reasons for the sudden acceptance, and failure, of marijuana legalization.

9. We Must Halt the Dumbening of our Society  When Tina S contributes to SeedSing, it is always brings the intelligent discourse up a few notches. As someone who respects science, and facts in general, Tina is appalled that we  embrace and celebrate stupidity in our culture. This needs to end.

8.  The Greatest American Band Debate: The Introduction  SeedSing is filled with music lovers. In July Ty decided we should argue about who is the greatest American Band ever. With this introduction the debate was set, and many bands have been nominated since, with more to come.

7. Marty Will Be Here Soon. Do We Have All the Tech He Needs?  Kirk Aug wanted to kick off the celebration for Marty and Doc's arrival to 2015 by wondering how far we have come in inventing all the tech from Back to the Future II. We have come a long way, and even surpassed, many of the films predictions. Still no time travel.

6.The Ohio Problem  One of the very first posts on SeedSing discussed how the national political parties are leaving the cupboard bare for the local politicians. With the 2016 Presidential campaigns kicking into high gear the Ohio Problem will rear it's ugly head once again. Something must be done.

5. Our Future Source for Meat Will Not be the Animals  One of SeedSing's most recent posts quickly has become one of our most read. Kirk Aug looks at the present, and future, of lab grown meat. On top of the nutritional value, what will be the moral value of meat from the lab?

4. What is Real Food?  The debate of genetically modified organisms and how we label food intensified in 2015. Kirk takes a look at the science, and law, surrounding gmo's. Does the place your food was created really matter to the value of your meal?

3. In an Era of Bad Sports Announcers, Cris Collinsworth is the Worst  Early in the 2015 NFL season Ty decided to blow off some steam and label NBC sports personality Cris Collinsworth as the worst announcer in America. The public seemed to agree. Every Sunday night, SeedSing has seen a spike in readership based solely on Ty's piece. Maybe Cris Collinsworth really is the worst of a bad lot.

2. #ILookLikeAnEnginner Needs to have Meaning  Over the summer the twitter campaign #ILookLikeAnEnginner became a big news story. Tina S, a real engineer, was concerned with how this campaign was distorted the world of engineering. Many people agreed with Tina, and her post was shared on a variety of sites across the internet.

1. Please Leave Me Out of Your Cool Beard Club Ty decided to write a small rant about the rise of "cool beard guy" and why he did not care  for their club like mentality. What was supposed to be a small, humorous, post quickly turned  into the most popular piece ever on SeedSing. Dudes with beards seem to be very protective,  and sensitive, about how others view their facial hair lifestyle. If they are not careful, Ty may  just have a few words to say about their jeans and glasses.

Thanks to everyone for your support in reading SeedSing during 2015. We look forward to bringing more intelligent, humorous, and thought provoking pieces in 2016. We are the only place on the internet where you can read about the future of food, the current structural problems in politics, and the annoyance of the "cool beard guy". What more could you want?

RD Kulik (and the contributors to SeedSing)

RD is the creator and Head Editor for SeedSing. You can make the most read list of 2016 by writing for us.

The SeedSing (half) year in Politics and Society

What is the opposite of progress?

SeedSing was launched on May 1st (National Workers Day) so we could look at politics and pop culture from the common person. We are not interested in influence or telling stories that will protect the egos of the well connected. What started out as one man's personal political philosophy has grown into a discussion covering a variety of topics. Join us for a look back at the year in politics and society.

The first article posted on our Politics/Society section was about The Ohio Problem. Every presidential election states like Ohio become very important to the national Democratic Party. Out of state consultants are brought in to fund raise and create a massive voter outreach program for the presidential nominee. In their effort to secure the state, the Democratic Party forgets about the local candidates. The lack of voter turnout during non-presidential elections is a direct consequence of the Ohio problem. There was another election in November of 2015, and the Commonwealth of Kentucky saw the election of a Tea Party zealot for Governor, large in part because voter turnout was so low. This is directly related to the Republican Party taking over the majority of local offices in many blue states. We identified the The Ohio Problem, and then tried to find out how to solve this issue. Technology and an emphasis on local messaging are two solutions we put forward. In 2016 SeedSing is looking forward to many other solution oriented ideas on how to fix a problem like Ohio.

The how and why of the modern Republican Party was featured many times on SeedSing. The hypocrisy, lack of global leadership, the need to be hateful, the absence of vision, and the celebration of failure, were all on display for the Republican Party this year. The only glimmer of hope in their dreary future seems to be Senator Rand Paul, but the Republican Party does not seem to care about a candidate who can grow the parties voter base. The parties faithful base would rather rally behind a loudmouthed bigot idiot that has never heard of Muhammad Ali or Kareem Abdul Jabbar.

The traditional press and the original internet taste makers were beginning to show their incompetence in 2015. The rise of Donald Trump is upon us because the news people on television love to have a good story. It is time to ignore the press before they really bring disaster to our society. The old icons of the internet were not behaving any better than their television counterparts. Reddit and Gawker may be letting out their final breaths. At SeedSing we believe it is time for the old walled ways of the internet to die, and it is time to make way for a new open discussion.

How we live and the way we define people became a topic of discussion all over the internet. Tina S shared her views on what #ILookLikeAnEngineer really means. The saga of Rachel Dolezal briefly made us talk about how we identify race. Kirk Aug recommended books on  the failure that is the war on drugs, and the policy side of death. We took a look at the legalization of marijuana, and it's eventual failure at the Ohio ballot box.  Who we are and how we live will determine the type of society we will die in.

Gun violence became a larger problem with a solution falling farther away. Guns were used as tools of destruction for a racist. Guns were used to kill two people trying to do their jobs. Guns were used to cause terror at rural community college. Guns were used by crazy people to insight terror in Paris. Predictable we decided to fight this terror with more destruction. Each event was covered by the news, and as a society we tried to find meaning. The public was never able to discuss the gun as being part of the problem, and the violence continues. 

We had many challenging discussions at SeedSing about the state of our politics and our society. 2016 looks to be an even more exciting year. We have a Presidential election to look forward to. Will Hillary win it all (probably)? Have something to say about the state of politics and society? Come join our conversation.

Thank you for 2015. On to 2016

RD Kulik (and all the SeedSing contributors)

RD is the Head Editor for SeedSing. Do you love SeedSing, but do not want to write? Money is always welcome around here.