Obama Wrote Me. I Wrote Back.

I received the following email today from Barack Obama. Apparently we’re on a first name basis: He calls me “Peter” and signs his “Barack.” Which is kind of weird because if I met him I somehow can’t see me calling him “Mr. President” and him saying, “Please, call me Barack.”

In any event, this was the letter:



This is in your hands, Peter

Peter –

There have been many times in my life when I’ve been counted out — told that I couldn’t do it, told not to speak out for what I believe in, told to not even run in the first place.

I’ve only gotten this far because I’ve had people like you with me every step of the way.

Right now the other side is trying to obliterate the hard work we’ve put in on the ground in this campaign by flooding the airwaves with factually inaccurate, negative attack ads.

If they win, they’re going to dismantle everything we’ve accomplished together over the past three and a half years, and turn back the clock to the same failed policies that got us into this mess in the first place.

We cannot let that happen. Please donate $3 or more today:

Thanks. It means a lot to know you’ve got my back.

Barack

And because I was in a mood, I responded thusly:

Dear Mr. President:

With all respect–and I know you won’t read this–it’s not my job to have your back. It’s your job to have the backs of millions of people. People who are counting on you. People whose health and in many cases lives are hinging upon your reelection.

Yes, I’m aware that in the debate, you won on the facts. And in 1960, Nixon won on the facts (at least to anyone who was listening on the radio.) But being on television demands other characteristics upon which many Americans base their judgments. Romney had it. You did not. Granted, Romney had much less to lose than you did, but you can’t stand there and appear that you’re afraid of losing.

The fact is that more people are like George W. Bush than anyone wants to admit. They judge not based on fact, but on their gut. No one, not even your most ardent supporters, could watch the way you handled yourself and have a good feeling in their guts about it.

I’m fully aware that debating Romney is like falling into the middle of the Monty Python “Argument Clinic” sketch. “You’re lying!” “No, I’m not.” You need to realize what Romney is: he’s a bully. A bully needs to be stripped of his power, and the best way to deal with the bully that Mitt Romney is is to laugh at him. Don’t take him seriously. Explicitly state that it’s hard to keep a straight face debating with him because he’s so ridiculous. Treat him like a joke. Tear him apart. Reduce him to a punchline. Because that’s what we need you to do.

Have our back.

Very truly yours,

Peter David