I was at the airport this morning on the way back to Ann Arbor after spring break. CNN was on above our heads, broadcasting the President’s speech at Arcadia University. Here’s the amazing thing: most of the people around me were watching attentively. They paused over their pizza. They put their Blackberries down. Some of the passengers even stood up and moved closer to crane upwards at the screen. The speech was a community event in the town of La Guardia.
The speech carried me back to Election Night and to the reasons why so many people support President Obama: he is determined, smart, and straightforward. He knows there’s bad press about his “message” over the past year. He’s fighting back, almost lunging for our better angels, using all the powers he can summon to reach and convince everyone within range of his voice.
I believed today, listening to him, that his message was authentic:
[W]hen you’re in Washington, folks respond to every issue, every decision, every debate, no matter how important it is, with the same question: What does this mean for the next election? (Laughter.) What does it mean for your poll numbers? Is this good for the Democrats or good for the Republicans?
And on health care:
Now, since we took this issue on a year ago, there have been plenty of folks in Washington who’ve said that the politics is just too hard. They’ve warned us we may not win. They’ve argued now is not the time for reform. It’s going to hurt your poll numbers. How is it going to affect Democrats in November? Don’t do it now.
My question to them is: When is the right time? (Applause.) If not now, when? If not us, who?
Fear of rocking the boat may lead to the boat actually drifting backwards, in irons, sails flapping uselessly. There is so much fear in DC. But – “If not now, when? If not us, who?”
Essentially, my proposal would change three things about the current health care system. Listen up.
Our current President is a teacher. That’s a good thing. He’s commanding attention, and he has fully internalized the details of what he wants to do.
This was my favorite part, the part that made me fully remember what it was like at the beginning:
“So let me remind everybody: Those of us in public office were not sent to Washington to do what’s easy. We weren’t sent there because of the big fancy title. We weren’t sent there to — because of a big fancy office. We weren’t sent there just so everybody can say how wonderful we are. We were sent there to do what was hard. (Applause.) We were sent there to take on the tough issues. We were sent there to solve the big challenges. And that’s why we’re there. (Applause.)”
President Obama reminded us today that “We just had an election.” It’s not time to worry about the next one. It’s time to do what is hard.