When Barack Obama ran for president in 2008, I was quite disappointed that he had virtually no substantive written material about his campaign to provide to voters.\u00a0 The policy positions that he made available on his campaign web site were extremely general and minimally informative.\u00a0 It was a campaign that in many ways was based primarily on slogans, and it worked quite well that way.\u00a0 At the very least it worked well enough for him to win the election, and that\u2019s a big part of what he wanted to accomplish.<\/p>\n

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel talks about the two types of followers that a politician has: (a) political hacks who are primarily concerned about winning elections, and (b) policy wonks who want to see implemented the policies that they support.\u00a0 During a campaign, the wonks and near-wonks are looking for whatever information they can get in order to provide some clarity and certainty as to what candidate stands for.<\/p>\n

In 2008 I found very little information from the Obama campaign that helped me determine what his views were on certain issues and what his style of governance would be.\u00a0 However, I had enough confidence in him to try to engage in some \u201ceducated speculation,\u201d or at least \u201chopeful wishing\u201d as to who he really was.\u00a0 I chose to put my contribution to his campaign into a special account that I established. \u00a0It was not legally connected with the \u201cObama for America\u201d campaign organization.\u00a0 It was essentially a one-person PAC.<\/p>\n

I created a flyer that spelled out the key wishes that I had; had over 6,000 of them printed; and had them mailed to households in swing districts in St. Louis County, MO. You can see a somewhat unclear copy of the flyer by clicking here for Side A<\/a> and here for Side B<\/a> (unfortunately I did not keep track of the digital copy from which the prints were made).<\/p>\n

Five years later, we can look back on my \u201cwonky wishes\u201d and examine how well Barack Obama satisfied this particular progressive.\u00a0 Here is a list of the stated wishes in the flyer and an assessment of how well the President has fulfilled them:<\/p>\n

\n
1. \u201cI hope that he is still an idealist with a primary concern for those less fortunate.\n
   \n
   1. <\/i>I would give him a \u2018B-.\u2019\u00a0 He could have done more with less obstinacy from the Republicans.\u00a0 He also has been cozier to the bankers than I would like, but he could have his reasons that will eventually work to the benefit of the less poor.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
   2. \u201cI hope that Barack Obama bases his decision-making on logic and compassion.\u201d\n
      \n
      1. <\/i>I would give him an \u201cA\u201d on this.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
      2. \u201cI hope that Barack Obama favors the strictest possible gun control laws.\u201d\n
         \n
         1. <\/i>I give him a \u201cB\u201d on gun control.\u00a0 It sure took him a while; it would have been great if he could have started this campaign in Tucson after Gabby Giffords was shot.\u00a0 But the timing was probably better with Newtown and once he embraced the issue, he became a relentless fighter.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
         2. \u201cI hope that despite what he has said, Barack Obama opposes the death penalty.\u201d\n
            \n
            1. <\/i>\u201cD-.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s been very disappointing to not hear the president say a word about abolishing the death penalty.\u00a0 It\u2019s particularly difficult to hear his almost glee when he talks about killing terrorists.\u00a0 However, his position is probably politically wise.\u00a0 I\u2019m holding out hope that when he writes his memoirs he will express significant reservations about the death penalty.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
            2. \u201cI hope that Barack Obama is genuinely committed to providing an effective economic and social safety net for disadvantaged or disenfranchised citizens \u2013 in fact for all of us.\u201d\n
               \n
               1. <\/i>\u201cB. \u201c With Barack Obama, it\u2019s no longer just the suffering middle class; it\u2019s also the poor amongst us.\u00a0 He has not turned his back on those with whom he worked when he was a community organizer.\u00a0 However, we do have to wonder about what he is willing to sacrifice in Social Security and Medicare.\u00a0 I\u2019 m hoping that\u2019s just a talking point with him.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
               2. I hope that Barack Obama could mock himself; the office that he occupies; and the absurd nature of the political game \u2013 much as Robert Redford did in the movie The Candidate.\n
                  \n
                  1. \u201cA.\u201d\u00a0 Just watch one of his White House Correspondents\u2019 dinners<\/a><\/i>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
                  2. \u201cHave a \u2018B.S.\u2019 detector similar to Jon Stewart\u2019s on the Daily Show.\n
                     \n
                     1. \u201cA-.\u201d It took him a while to learn that \u201cBoehner-talk\u201d and \u201cMcConnell-talk\u201d were B.S., but once he learned it in late 2010, he has not forgotten it.<\/i><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                        Overall I am quite satisfied with the job that President Barack Obama has done.\u00a0 Most of what I wanted that he has not accomplished is because of the recalcitrance of the Republicans and the ugly influence of money in politics.\u00a0 But he\u2019s doing about as well as can be expected.\u00a0 I\u2019ll give him a B+.\u00a0 This is not the average of the grades above, but I have to give him extra credit because he has had to deal with the political realities and I need to modify some of my wishes because of those same realities.<\/p>\n

                        I have already taken the liberty to express my advance wishes for what President Obama writes in his memoirs to truly clarify his progressive ideas.\u00a0 You can read them here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                        When Barack Obama ran for president in 2008, I was quite disappointed that he had virtually no substantive written material about his campaign to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[162,29,273,476,77,16,1815,573],"tags":[38,1770,757],"yoast_head":"\n