Unfortunate Disloyalty and Opportunism

Last week, in its editorial page, The New York Times referenced the panic that had spread among a handful of Democratic senators and representatives facing the possibility of not being re-elected in tomorrow’s election in the United States. Perhaps, one of the most meaningful references in the text is the disloyalty of the legislators who arrived to Congress in 2008 thanks to the popularity and campaign promises of Barack Obama. The hope that Obama’s campaign awakened and the government’s plan were decisive for the millions of votes that the Democratic Party got at the polls.

Six years later, Obama’s popularity has fallen spectacularly as a result of a sapping campaign by the Republican Party toward the president’s campaign promises. The editorial in question mentions the stampede of Democratic candidates, who have abandoned the projects that they themselves had subscribed to and applauded with Obama in 2008, when the president was elected, and even in 2012, when he was re-elected. It is unfortunate that some Democratic candidates have camouflaged themselves among Republicans and have ignored the most important achievements of this administration: ending the economic depression inherited from Bush; reducing unemployment from 11 to 6 percent; decreasing the fiscal deficit; and perhaps, the most important, reforming health care. Fully aware of the benefit that the reform has meant for millions of Americans and of the triumph Obama achieved, the Republican Party has torpedoed the reform over and over again.

No longer out of loyalty, but rather out of personal interest, one wonders: Why, instead of taking advantage of the most important achievements of the government and highlighting them in their campaigns, are many Democratic candidates now ignoring and even distancing themselves from these victories?

In an environment where ignorance abounds and the vade mecum of the daily lives for millions of people is determined by the opinion of ultraconservatives like Rush Limbaugh and the Fox News channel, the attacks against the president’s agenda, mainly against health care reform, have been fertile ground. Because of ignorance more than conviction, voters have rejected everything that has to do with Obama and his party.

It remains to be seen if Obama will be destroyed at the voting polls by a margin that does not appear on the ballot. Thus, there is the possibility that health care reform will be reversed; social programs will be cut; the gap between the poorest 90 and richest 10 percent of the population will increase; U.S. troops will return to the Middle East; and immigration reform will remain in limbo. It is not clear if the president will give up on the proposals that have been the banner of his adversaries, or if he will impose his plans by decree. In summary, the question is whether Americans are capable of creating a society where development is more equitable and just, or one where inequality and the interests of a minority over those of the majority prevail.