Even for liberals, President Obama's tenure has proven a disappointment during the last three years. Obama's inability to effectively lead the nation out of the economic recession and "restore" the U.S. human rights record is particularly disappointing given the support he generated from liberal intellectual leaders in 2008. Instead of "change we can believe in" Obama delivered more of the same in politics, foreign policy and human rights.
Neither liberals nor conservatives, however, should be surprised by the inefficacy of the Obama administration. Obama signaled from the beginning that he was more concerned with achieving his personal objectives than he was in advancing true social or political change. This was evidenced by his allocation of resources during the 2008 presidential campaign.
Obama raised and spent approximately $730 million in 2008, almost double the campaign funds of his Republican challenger John McCain. And despite the economic recession that has been ravaging the economy, Obama has generated $86 million in campaign donations during the last three months for his re-election campaign and the Democratic National Committee. Obama's current fundraising trajectory indicates he will likely meet or exceed his 2008 fundraising levels. While Obama claims to be in touch with the needs of the middle class, the use of almost three-quarters of a billion dollars to promote his own political aspirations as the nation recovers from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression can hardly be heralded as fiscally responsible.
To be fair to the president, the realities of our political system require national politicians to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to win an election. The problem with this system - and the politicians it benefits - is that being an inspiring campaigner and impressive fundraiser does not require the same skills as being even an average statesman. Instead, the United States needs a candidate that is more interested in closing the federal budget gap than squeezing more campaign funds from citizens and the private sector.
Obama's constant focus on winning elections is not the only indicator he has fallen short of his promises to bring fundamental change to the U.S. political system. Obama has also failed to deliver on promises to reform what he views as U.S. human rights violations. Three years after winning election on a campaign platform that promised the closure of Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp, the prison remains open. Obama made a feeble attempt in 2009 to close the prison at Guantanamo but was largely foiled by the failure of Democrats to support funding for the transfer of prisoners to the U.S. It is disconcerting that a president would solicit citizen votes on a campaign platform that a majority of senators from his own party would not even support.
What is even more alarming, however, is Obama's apparent about-face on Guantanamo Bay and prisoners' rights. Despite his stated opposition, at the beginning of 2011 President Obama signed the Defense Authorization Bill, which legislatively prevented the transfer of prisoners from Guantanamo Bay. Then, in March of the same year, Obama signed an executive order that renewed trials by military tribunals for detainees.
To top it off, on the last day of 2011, Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, which Michael McAuliff of The Huffington Post described as "legally enshrining for the first time in 60 years the authority to hold citizens without trial." The White House has denied this interpretation of the law, but Andrea Prosow, a lawyer associated with Human Rights Watch, has also said the law "codifies the indefinite detentions of American Citizens".
In the race for the White House, Obama was billed as the leader untainted by Beltway politics who could renew Americans' trust in government. Obama's constant focus on fundraising and his unfulfilled campaign promises, however, should leave voters wondering whether the president is more concerned with changing Washington or staying there. In the last three years, the president has failed to usher in the positive change, renewed freedoms and economic prosperity he promised. The only question is, will the Republicans give us an alternative worthy of our votes?
Ginny Robinson's column appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at g.robinson@cavalierdaily.com.
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