NY Times columnist Gail Collins addresses the "little Obamaites" that I so wanted to beat with a fly swatter during the primaries:
I dropped out of school for a semester to campaign for Barack Obama. And now I’m asking myself whether I spent four months living with my aunt and going door to door in Dayton, Ohio, just so we could have a stimulus plan written by a bunch of moderate Republicans and conservative Democrats in the Senate.I don’t know how many times we need to go over this, but this is actually a real-life version of what Obama promised during the campaign. Didn’t you jump up and cheer when your guy promised that he’d get Republicans and Democrats to work together?
I'm not saying I told you so, I promise, and I still believe in President Obama. In pure political theory, he's right on track: eliminating partisan bickering will eliminate partisan rule changes that have so polarized and paralyzed Congress for the past twenty or so years, going back to Gingrich.
But, what you learn in poli sci courses and at Harvard Law may not work out in actuality. I kept trying to explain that to people as I campaigned for Hillary - it's naive to think that one guy can coral 535 members of Congress, many of whom have been there far far longer than him, overhaul the behemoth beast of bureaucracy that is the federal government and institute every liberal policy we've had wet dreams about for eight years in one fell swoop.
I always feared that the young people who got so involved would become horribly disillusioned once this realization dawned on them. I just didn't think it would happen this fast. Some will vow never to care so much again, but most, I bet, will reprise their roles in four years with just a little more caution.
I personally think it's a good thing for young citizens to learn early - no politician can fulfill all your hopes or solve all your or the nation's problems. It's up to us to make an amenable politician listen to the will of the people.