Media Rants Video May 7, 2025: Papal Bull?

 

An Open Letter to President Obama

An audio version of this Media Rant can be found here.

Note: From 2009-2017, Barack Obama served as the 44th President of the United States. Though I voted for him twice, his presidency disappointed and frustrated me. I don't usually seek out insights from the actor Matt Damon, but I thought he was spot-on when in 2011 he said that Obama had "misinterpreted his mandate" and failed to follow through on the significant changes voters were looking for. It is true of course that the Republicans openly obstructed everything Obama tried to do, but even that I thought could have been overcome if he had used his exceptional political skills to rally the masses in support of fundamental change.   

Now I know that the latest Democratic Party rhetoric is all about "the future," and I get the school of thought that says it is time to make a break from all of yesterday's Dems, including Obama. The counter to that view is that Barack Obama is one of the few national level Democrats capable of dominating more than one news cycle. In 2007 and 2008 his ability to inspire was needed to help Americans find hope during the disastrous second term of President George W. Bush. In 2025 the disaster of the second Trump term makes George Dubya's failures look like innocent mistakes. Maybe it's time for Obama to work the magic again? 

Here's how he can do it: 

Illinois Senator Richard Durbin recently announced he would not seek another term in 2026. That  provides an opening for President Obama to get off the sidelines and back in the game. I think he should once again run for the United States Senate from Illinois (he represented Illinois in the US Senate from 2005-2008), and after he gets elected the Democrats should immediately choose him to replace Chuck Schumer as leader.  Even the act of campaigning for the seat would provide Obama with a legitimate platform from which to educate the population about the true-threat of Trumpism, and once again provide hope. I'll lay out more of my reasons for thinking Obama should run in the open letter below. 

Dear President Obama: 

I hope this letter finds you well. As you know, Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois announced recently that he will not be seeking reelection in 2026. I'm writing to ask you to run for that seat. When you win, the Democrats should immediately move to make you their leader in the US Senate.  I understand that former presidents running for Congress after they leave office is rare, and that throwing your hat in the Illinois ring would be considered extraordinary. But we are living in extraordinary times; a civic emergency the likes of which we have not seen since the 1860s. The Trump Administration's extraordinary disregard for, and dismantling of, the US Constitution requires an extraordinary response from the opposition. 

Before dismissing my plea out of hand, please consider my three reasons why you should run: We need hope, we need unity, and we need congressional leadership. 

First, We Need Hope:  Your 2004 DNC Keynote Speech, along with your presidential campaign rhetoric of 2008 and 2012, inspired hope in a way that was and is unprecedented in modern American history. When you visited the college campus where I teach (the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh), your appearance was the first and ONLY time the majority of my students asked if they could skip class to see a political speaker--without me having to offer any extra credit. They came back "fired up and ready to go."  

Of course you are not the only contemporary political actor able to inspire hope. But you are the only one who would be able to spread the message of hope daily, and get nonstop coverage in broadcast and social media while doing so. Just as important, you would inspire hope candidates to run for local, state, and national offices all over the country.   

Second, We Need Unity: Even as the Trump Administration demolishes everything that made America great--from the guarantee of due process to trusting the judgement of The People over a King--the Democrats remain hopelessly divided. Too many Democrats with national stature seem more interested in occupying the "progressive lane" or the "moderate lane" or the "rural lane" than in doing the hard work of uniting the factions against a common and dangerous foe. In your first inaugural address you quoted the immortal words of George Washington, which are even more relevant now: "Let it be told to the future world . . . that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive . . . that the city and country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]." 

Third, We Need Congressional Leadership: With all due respect to Senator Schumer, he is not the Senate leader the Democrats need at this point in history, when the risk of losing our democracy is no longer just hypothetical. You are one of the most popular politicians in America. Given your stature not just as a former president, but also as a former United States Senator from Illinois, you would be able to fight to restore the rule of checks and balances to our federal government in a way that no other politician can. With you as an elected leader in the United States Senate, we will get the Obama v. Trump debates that the presidential term limits did not allow. I am confident that not only will you win those debates, but will role model for the citizenry how to stand up to Trumpism effectively.  

As you know, President John Quincy Adams got elected to the House of Representatives after he left the White House. From 1831 until his death in 1848, Adams was the most principled, articulate foe of slavery in the Congress. He once said that " . . a Constitution of government once changed from freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever." As we see our liberty slipping away in real time, we need a new JQ Adams to be the principled, articulate voice of freedom in the Congress. That new JQ is you. 

Allow me to close by asserting that I realize the Democrats' general aversion to anything labeled "crazy" makes it difficult for them to entertain even the possibility of what I am suggesting in this letter. But I know that you admired the late civil rights movement icon, the Reverend Joseph Lowery, who taught us that in the struggle for justice there is "good crazy" and "bad crazy."  You've also many times sparked citizen activism by citing Dr. King's assertion of "the fierce urgency of now." The fierce urgency of now requires Barack Obama to get off the sidelines and back on the political field. 

Would President Obama entering the race for US Senate from Illinois provoke a media feeding frenzy? Yes. Would your return to formal electoral politics generate a Hollywood level of drama and theatricality? Yes. But would your entry into the race demonstrate your commitment--and the commitment of your Party-- to "walking the walk" on saving our democracy in a way that no other action can? Also yes. Your announcement of a campaign to run for the US Senate is the "good crazy" we need right now. 

Please take this plea seriously. Your country needs you.  

Sincerely, 

Tony Palmeri