In a 2012 interview with CBS, President Obama said that the biggest mistake of his first term was that he didn’t translate his policies into a story that would give the American people a sense of unity and purpose. He was right. The tragedy at Sandy Hook has handed him the perfect narrative for his second term if he has the courage to use it: save the children.
The focus on the tragically murdered children at Sandy Hook has changed the gun control discussion in a way that other mass shootings did not. Instead of talking about the balance between the Second Amendment and gun control regulations, we are discussing how the right to bear arms compares to a child’s right to grow up. There is no simple answer, but at least we’re asking the right question.
Gun violence, however, only accounts for a small percentage of childhood deaths; other causes, like health care and accidents, are larger contributors to child mortality. By framing other issues around decreasing childhood mortality, the president’s agenda begins to form a cohesive tale.
For chapter 2, consider the implementation of Obamacare. Among the largest beneficiaries will be the millions of uninsured U.S. children, provided that states implement the expansion of Medicaid.
Rather than engaging in a constitutional argument about the scope of federal laws and states’ rights, why not simply say: “Gov. Christie, why would you risk the health and well-being of New Jersey’s children, even if you can?”
Chapter 3? Comprehensive immigration reform. Too much of the imagery on this issue involves chasing down people who jumped over a fence. Move the focus to the smallest biggest victims of our failed policies – the young children of immigrants.
Many of the children are U.S. citizens with an unassailable right to health care services that their parents are unable to access for them. Their well-being is also threatened by a detention system that rips apart families and leaves children without advocates.
Environmental regulation becomes chapter 4: decreasing childhood asthma rates. If the president hurries, he might still be able to make the prologue “How we built a child safety fence on the fiscal cliff.” Spoiler alert, it involves tax hikes on the wealthy.
Some will argue that children should not be politicized. It is a nice idea, like Santa Claus, except with less basis in reality.
Children have been part of political warfare for ages. My Catholic high school theology classroom had a poster with pictures of evacuated fetuses. In 2008, children were a focal point of the “Yes on Prop. 8” ads. So forgive me if I think that keeping children alive is a compelling reason to bring them to the front of the discussion.
President Obama was looking for a narrative. Tragedy has given him the chance to continue his presidency as a children’s story, one not for their enjoyment but for their safety. Unless he wants the biggest mistake of his first term to be the biggest mistake of his second term, he should start writing.
