The meaning of the recent upset in Massachusetts and victory by republican Scott Brown is still being deciphered by analysts and democrats.  However, the loss of a democratic senate seat thought to be safe could easily spell trouble for injury victims, consumers, and the public in general.  That is, unless democrats and specifically the President decide to lead.

Health care aside, there is still much work to be done to protect consumers, injury victims, and the public from predatory financial institutions, dangerous and defective products, and unethical business practices that have become all but common-place with insurance companies.

To be fair and honest, the loss of Edward Kennedy’s seat to a republican is disappointing to say the least.  However, democrats never truly had a 60 vote majority (Joe Lieberman) and republicans have never truly wanted reform of any sort.  What health care, banking, and financial reforms require is what the President has failed to deliver: leadership.

As pointed out in editorials, letters to editors, and readers comments in papers from San Francisco to New York the President has failed to lead on health care, on jobs and housing, and for consumer protections, and real banking reform that the country desperately needs.

President Obama inherited an economy devastated by 8 years of neglect and deregulation, two wars, and a ballooning deficit.  Any one of those difficulties could destroy an average presidency.  But what so many of us that supported this president believed in, was that this presidency would be anything but average.

The President must articulate his vision more forcefully and connect the dots between health care and the economy, jobs and financial reforms, housing and fairness, and consumer protections and the safety of our families for an angry and restless electorate .

The good news is that the President is still capable of providing such a vision; his approval ratings are historically solid, his likability is high, and he is perceived by the public as extremely trustworthy.  And while I am not one of the many voices calling for the President to simply double down – the only value in political capital resides in ones’ ability to spend it.

Tags: San Francisco injury attorney Brett Burlison discusses senate election results.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 21st, 2010 at 2:18 pm and is filed under Commentary, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.