Is Obama Destroying the Democratic Party?

Interesting question. I highly doubt it, but you have to wonder what is going on in the White House some days.

Obama gets involved in a lot of issues that do not require his direct attention. Case in point, the Ground Zero mosque. I am torn on this. On one hand it is about as appropriate to build that there as it would have been to build a Shinto Temple near Pearl Harbor in 1950. Then again, I am a firm believer in property rights. Build it, but don't complain if a gay bar or a pork restaurant show up next door. And don't violate noise ordinances by blaring a call to prayer at 5 AM.

Obama didn't have to say anything except that it was a New York City issue and none of the business of the President, which it certainly is not. Then again, Obama thinks your kids' waistline is his business too. 70% of Americans are against the construction of this mosque. So Obama holds a Moslem dinner at the White House and voices his support.

Really? Do you honestly think that this will help your party win elections this fall? This is not the only time that Obama has undercut the diminishing support of his party with elections coming up.

So let's speculate. Why would Obama want to destroy the Democratic Party? Where would he gain? Will Rodgers once said "I belong to no organized party. I am a Democrat." That holds true in every era. Democrats have grown like an onion since the 1790s, with fully functioning and distinct layers from a Jeffersonian core to the New Left. These prevent any kind of real ideological unity such as you see in a European political party. Obama would love to have that kind of control and has exhibited a Messiah complex at times. He would love to have an obedient, compliant, and efficient party at his command. Instead, he has the Democrats.

If the Democrats lose in large numbers this fall, they could conceivably evict Obama in the primary season in 2012. If he foresees that, he might try to split his supporters off, a la Theodore Roosevelt to the GOP in 1912. Obama could create his own organization, own party, and try to campaign on personal appeal again against the GOP and a weakened Democratic organization.

It wouldn't work and this is all speculation. That being said, Obama seems rather uninterested in his own party's chances of success this year.