Ethan Miller/Getty
Having served 6 of the 8 years granted to him by the Constitution, it might seem the Obama train is finally running out of steam. Since the start of 2014 the President has passed 23 executive orders relative to foreign policy and humanitarian aid. Symbolically, he has nominated the first African American woman Attorney General and outlined a military strategy to combat the Islamic State of Iran and Syria (ISIS). Even still, the first Black president’s reaction to Ferguson could barely hold a candle to the empathy expressed during his famous response to Trayvon Martin’s death, and the recent Midterm elections revealed dissension within his own party.
Politically, the African American community may not be at the bottom of Obama’s list, but it is surely not a President approaching lame duck status’s number one priority. Last Thursday’s press conference surrounding immigration reform is thus the best indicator of what the next two years of an Obama Administration will look like. If Democrats have any chance of securing a victory in 2016 they will need the support of a demographic rapidly growing in political influence – Latinos. Part of the President’s response to immigration is a provision creating a White House Task Force on New Americans. Every month, 66,000 American Latinos turn 18. By 2016, there will be 1.5 million more Latinos eligible to vote in this country.
If credited with the successful passage of comprehensive immigration reform and the dignifying of a strategic grassroots movement, Obama will have done so in response to the petitions of Latino voters, 58% of which personally know an undocumented alien.
____
Help Old School 100.3 Get To 50,000 Likes!
____
Moreover, he will have accomplished what no other President before him has been capable of…for the second time. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act aka “Obamacare” replaced the previous incremental solutions to America’s growing healthcare issues; something presidents dating back to Teddy Roosevelt (1901-1909) have been struggling to accomplish.
No matter how hard Republicans try to tarnish the reputation of perhaps the greatest politician of our time, they will be forced to give credit when credit is due; or in the words of the President himself, they can “PASS A BILL.”
words by: Ambur Smith of #TeamBlogzworth
