On the Town Hall Protests pt. 1
Friday, September 25, 2009 at 9:14am
Over the past summer, in the midst of the Obama administration's campaign to reform healthcare—one of the most heated and divisive issues of our time—America has witnessed the televised spectacle of raucous (and in many cases violent) protests taking place at the town hall forums. These forums, set up to promote the administration's agenda, have instead become at the least a microcosm of the polarized state of American politics today.
But what strikes me the most is not as much the zeal and energy displayed by healthcare reform's opponents, but rather the feckless response of its supporters in their apparent failure to seize the moment for their side. NPR's Liz Halloran sums it up: "A growing problem for the White House, strategists say, is that passion now resides on the side of health care overhaul opponents."
While the message of the Right seems to be coursing full speed ahead—as evidenced by bellicose town hall disruptions, crowded demonstrations such as the other week's "9/12" march in Washington DC, and the Tea-Parties of several months ago—The Left, it appears, has been waylaid and can only offer tepid scoldings and mild denunciations.
As I observe the state of nation I am left with only one simple question:
What has happened to that familiar chorus of idealistic youth?
Allow me to explain:
A year and a half ago the American public awoke to image of exuberant crowds of Obama supporters—the most visible of them between the age of 18 and 30—cheering on their candidate in attendance of his dynamic speeches, chanting slogans such as "Yes We Can!" and "Change We Can Believe In!"
As the conservative commentator Rich Lowry points out in a post-election NY Post editorial: "McCain never could match Obama's hipness or physical prowess." He continues, "The techniques and the tone with which the Obama campaign courted young voters - the text messages, the social-networking sites, the idealism with a certain knowing edge - all reflected the candidate." And "Young voters indeed turned out for Obama."
Lowry's rueful attitude aside, it does give me pause to see the absence of Obama's highly publicized young idealistic supporters in the present healthcare fight, and to see see the vacuum created by their absence filled by protesters carrying placards deriding Obama as a "Nazi" or "Communist," a great deal many of whom, incidentally, appear to be working men and women between the ages 35 and 50.
I ask myself where have all those young idealists gone and why are they not fanning out in full force in counter-protests supporting the President's healthcare plan?
As a 26-year-old man who voted for Obama, I am not meaning to sound derisive toward people of my own age-group. I merely feel it is a time for reflection and self-criticism.
Some, such as Rich Lowry would be of the opinion that the fading away from the public eye of young idealistic Obama supporters represents a certain dilettantism. That voters with little experience in the working world are likely to be attracted to a politician's "hipness" as a candidate, but not likely to show similar excitement over complex issues such as healthcare. After all, there aren't many catchy three-word slogans to chant over healthcare reform, now are there?
While I do not endorse Lowry's cynicism and certainly will never call myself or any friend of mine a dilettante, (after all, it must be remembered that plenty of voters under 30 are affected by the struggle over healthcare as are our elders) I remain very frustrated over what I see as a cession of momentum to the opposition.
Where are those large crowds shouting "Yes We Can"? What are they doing now? These crowds, although not instrumental to Obama's election victory, at least provided the spirit to the campaign. If they are still around, they could be of good use now.
From my travels,
This is Joe the Mailman
Works Cited
Halloran, Liz. "Why Obama Can't Brush Off Health Care Protests."
National Public Radio. 13 August 2009. Web. 25 September 2009.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111812494&ft=1&f=1001
Lowry, Rich. "SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH." New York Post. 14 November 2008.
Web. 25 September 2009.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/sweet_bird_of_youth_S2yQzqxaVgPpN0hGlOkCAM
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