Matters of Church and State

THE UNHAPPY WARRIOR

          William Wordsworth’s early 19^th century poem “The Happy Warrior” – rarely seen or recited in its original form any more – has been kept alive in this country through politics.   In nominating Alfred E. Smith as the Democratic candidate for President in 1928, N.Y. Governor Franklin Roosevelt used the term to characterize Smith for his upbeat, intrepid spirit.

          Later, that same term was applied to Roosevelt himself during his 12 years as President.  FDR exemplified the happy warrior, even during the throes of the Great Depression and World War II.  Newsreels and newspaper photos rarely, if ever, displayed a dour, defeated looking President.  Always the smiling face, with chin uplifted, instilling courage and hope in the midst of the worst of times. His fireside chats, mostly about hope, rallied a nation to believe that tomorrow was going to be a better day.

          Likewise, one of Ronald Reagan’s greatest gifts was his infectious smile and upbeat attitude that exuded hope and a sense that everything was going to be all right even when it wasn’t.  This attitude was a welcome relief to the country following a defeatist President who whined and complained of the country’s “moral malaise.”

          More recently, during the 2012 Democratic Convention, President Obama referred to his running mate Joe Biden as the “happy warrior.”  Scrappy and combative, but never defeated, Biden has that same “happy warrior” attitude.  You get the impression that he likes doing battle in the political arena.

          Which brings me to President Obama.  As widely reported in the news media, his recent news conference was a display of just the opposite.  He was “an unhappy warrior.”  Even we strong supporters cringed when we witnessed the exchange between the President and Jonathan Karl of ABC News.  Karl asked the President if he still had enough “juice” to get his agenda enacted, the President resorted to whining and self-pity, suggesting his hands were tied because of the recalcitrant Congress.

          The President is absolutely correct on that point of the Congressional opposition, of course.   No President since FDR has inherited a bigger mess than he did when becoming President in January 2009.  And certainly no President, in the face of such difficulties, has ever faced the level of entrenched political opposition he has faced, even in his second term.  FDR enjoyed huge Democratic majorities in both the House and the Senate when he proposed his New Deal initiatives.   Lyndon Johnson, also cited for effectiveness with Congress, also had majorities in both houses and was able to get signature legislation enacted because the country was still mourning the death of President Kennedy.  JFK had originally proposed the Civil Right bill, for example, and other important measures were later enacted under Johnson.

          So, to be fair, President Obama does not have any of those advantages and his political opposition is heavily concentrated and unusually fierce.  For example, Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, one of the Republican sponsors of the defeated bill requiring more extensive background checks for gun owners, said one of the reasons for the bill’s defeat is that some GOP members did not want to hand Obama a victory because they don’t like him.  This despite the fact that an overwhelming number of Americans favor more extensive background checks.

          Still, the President cannot take to the podium every time things are not going well and blame it all on Congress.  He is beginning to sound whiny and defeated.  He cannot afford to do that, either for himself or the country.

 

          Although the clock is ticking, there is still time for the Administration to get important legislation enacted – including more extensive background checks for gun owners, an immigration bill, and deficit reduction.  Americans strongly favor all three, but the latest polls show that they fault President for failing to provide the necessary leadership.  So, the President has to pick up his game and use the full range of political tools he has at his disposal.  He has to hold his nose and do more schmoozing on Capitol Hill, repugnant as that is for him, and he must hit them where they hurt if they don’t cooperate.  He has a lot of weapons in that political arsenal.

          And, most importantly, he needs to play the happy warrior, even if he has to fake it at times.  He should never let his opponents see him "bleed," as he did in the recent news conference.  Once they smell blood in the water, they’ll go into a feeding frenzy and absolutely nothing will get done.

 

Jerry