Come home, Mr. President

With the 2009 elections over, it is time to air a very significant debate now under way among high-level Democrats.

My view, held by a growing number of Democrats, is this: The president should come home to the first principles of his campaign and act more in the tradition of great change presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt and John Kennedy.

The president should be more engaged in the aggressive battles for real change, more activist with Democrats in Congress, more clear about the first principles of his presidency and more bold in appealing to voters to rise up and demand change as he promised in his speech accepting the Democratic nomination for president.

The president should consider replacing Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary with a secretary committed to major change in financial markets. He should wage a great battle for public- and private-sector programs to create jobs; he should appeal to Republicans for support; but he should also fight for a jobs program of substance and power.

The president should recognize that the nation voted for a Democratic president and Democratic Congress with a large majority and take full responsibility. He should contact Democratic senators on the public option and other matters and make it clear to them, in ways he has not done: “Your president needs you.”

Democratic senators should accept responsibility as a governing party and restrain their impulse to act like mini-presidents, or use every crisis to haggle for their micro-interests. Democrats were elected to govern, lead and act, not to engage in perpetual political positioning.

There is growing discontent among the large grassroots base of Democrats and a growing disillusionment among idealistic new voters who entered politics in 2008. They worked their hearts out for a great change president backed by a strong Democratic Congress, not for a benign version of an establishment they believe is corrupt.

Similarly, American politics now witnesses the growth of the angry or disillusioned independents. They are frustrated by a status quo that appears destined to rule forever, and uncertain about a president they like, who has not fought at the center of the arena for real change.

In the 11th month of the Obama presidency, we are only beginning a serious debate about true financial reforms that should have been enacted months ago. The healthcare bill, whatever its merits, bears little resemblance to bold changes advocated by great change presidents. It was largely hatched in backroom talks and fails to fundamentally attack the bloated costs of the healthcare system.

The problems that worry or anger Americans continue: Foreclosures. Wild speculation. Massive credit card rip-offs. Scandalous compensation at the top.

Declining wages for the rest. Hoarding of money by firms. Punitive premiums. Rising joblessness. More and more layoffs every day. Huge deficits. For what?

President Barack Obama has the talent and capability to be a great president. The voters like him, but on issue after issue, lose confidence in the policies that will define his presidency.

Come home, Mr. President, to the spirit and ideals you championed as a candidate. Come home to the notion that it is the president who must stand and fight for Americans who do not make the big campaign donations or hire the high-priced lobbyists.

Come home, Mr. President, to the defining truth of the presidency: that it is not the words or promises, but the hard battles at the center of the arena, that make great presidents great and lifts great nations to rise to the occasion.

Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen and Bill Alexander, then chief deputy majority whip of the House. He holds an LL.M. degree in international financial law from the London School of Economics. He can be read on The Hill’s Pundits Blog and reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .