President Obama, Back in Campaign Mode

Although President Obama will be securing the Democratic nomination for the 2012 presidential campaign, he is slowly putting more emphasis on acting like a pure Democrat, as opposed to a bipartisan facilitator.  Quite often during primary races do candidates tend to the extremities of their respective parties, as can be readily observed by watching the GOP presidential debates.  Yet it appears that this phenomenon occurs even when the primary race has no competition.  The perfect example of this is the current Democratic primary “race,” during which the president is making his liberal tendencies very clear to his support base.

As outlined in Dan Balz’ article for the Washington Post, “Obama turns fire on Republicans," the president is changing his approach to various issues in an effort to appeal to the Democratic voters who would reelect him.  No longer is he willing to concede as frequently to Republican wishes as before.  Instead of striving for a consensus – which at times afforded the president grief from his own party for giving in too easily – he is now “drawing lines in the sand” to make it absolutely clear where his allegiance lies.  In short, his political moves are being made now for the purposes of reelection. 

President Obama’s push for taxing the wealthiest Americans is perhaps one of the most manifest examples of his effort to appease Democratic voters.  The outrage of many Republicans, who claim the idea is merely class warfare, makes the political distinction necessary to properly label the Obama Campaign a partisan enterprise.  That is, he is giving the electorate a tangible example of why he can be trusted to uphold  the Democratic platform should he be elected once again.

Another important distinction made in the last few days is the president’s view on Medicare (link).  Both Republicans and Democrats have expressed the need to revamp the program to make it more economical and sustainable. However, the president was sure to articulate his intention to prevent the insurance companies from taking advantage of citizens by avoiding the possibility of the program becoming a “voucher plan.”  This distinction is unlikely to be maintained since it is a relatively complex issue that is subject to political rhetoric geared toward confusing the electorate.

And finally, an issue that has caused President Obama much grief recently – the Palestinian application for statehood – can be viewed through the prism of a primary/general election campaign.  Although the president initially pushed Israel to accept the borders that were in place pre-1967, a political decision that aggravated the Jewish electorate in the United States, he has now taken the stance that the United States should veto the Palestinian’s bid for statehood.  One can easily make the argument that one of the president’s intentions is to once again acquire the support of Jewish voters.  The effort, though, may simply result in a loss of support from voters who subscribe to both sides of the argument.