Borosage on ABC: Obama Should Lay Down The Gauntlet

On ABCNews.com's "Top Line" political podcast, Robert Borosage today counsels the Democratic Party to "put down the gauntlet" on a progressive policy direction for the country, with President Obama using his State of the Union address to signal his rejection of suggestions to tack to the center.

"If you take the Evan Bayh strategy (referring to centrist Democrat Sen. Evan Bayh) and you retreat, and you let health care go by the boards and you produce nothing, then you are going to see a lot of people stay home or stay on their hands in the fall. I think if you draw the lines and you give people a choice, that will stoke the base. If you take on the banks and you start pushing for jobs—and let Republicans argue about deficits and against regulation—you’ll see people come out in the fall."

Borosage says that Obama should point out in his State of the Union address that we've inherited the worst catastrophe since the Great Depression, and that we have to continue the progressive policy solutions that have begun to dig the nation out. He should put forward a forceful jobs agenda and challenge Congress to pass it within two months. And he should assert that "the banks can't keep getting away with what they're doing" and that Congress must act to break up the banks so that they can never again compel a taxpayer bailout.

Borosage says he sees no political upside in Obama and Democrats shunning progressives to win over Republicans in Congress because "Republicans have made it clear they’re not cooperating. They’re not in the bipartisan game -- they are in an obstruction game, and it’s working for them."

Besides, "Democrats have the majority; it’s time to produce. We’re going to be held accountable for it and ... you’ve got to let people know the choice. The fact is we had a set of policies that drove us off the cliff, that created the worst economic condition since the Great Depression and we have a Republican Party that wants to go back to those. You’ve got to draw the line and draw the distinction.”

Views expressed on this page are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Campaign for America's Future or Institute for America's Future