Obama and CAFE standards
May 8, 2007
Since I hit Obama pretty hard a few days ago, for not backing up the rhetoric of his stump speech with actual policies, I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the basic soundness of his proposal to raise CAFE standards, and to link environmental improvements from automakers with a deal to ease their health care burdens (with a potential added bonus of decoupling one’s health care from one’s employer).
It’s taken for granted that Democratic politicians have to Sister Souljah someone at some point in the primary process. And since normally pro-environment Democrats have traditionally avoided pressing Detroit too hard, for a number of perfectly understandable political reasons, it’s nice to see a Sister Souljah moment that actually makes a real political point.
But then again, this sort of thing is small potatoes. It’s opposed by auto companies, and by Republican politicians, but it’s not opposed by any actual voters. Nor is it the sort of thing that gets your own supporters to the polls.
It’s a perfectly good policy, and it’s the sort of thing that, as senator, Obama is great at getting signed into law. Especially with a Democratic president, Obama would be a fantastically productive senator. And as president, he would be quite good at getting these sorts of proposals through Congress.
But he’s not running for senator. He’s running to be the voice of the Democratic Party, and of the country, for the next eight years, at a time when we face huge policy challenges domestically (*). Now is the time to win an electoral consensus for universal health care, or poverty reduction, or greenhouse gas reductions, or whatever (just pick one!), and to convince us that, as president, you’re willing to lead.
(*) Not to mention the need to rebuild our reputation internationally, and play a productive role in world affairs. On that front, Obama is clearly the best candidate from either party.