Obama’s failed promise to heal a polarized nation

U.S. President Barack Obama. (Reuters)

As he climbed the political heap, a young Barack Obama roused audiences with promises to unite the nation. He was a Senate candidate in 2004 when he told the Democratic national convention, “There is not a liberal America and a conservative America. There is a United States of America.”

In 2007, he declared early in his presidential run that “I don’t want to pit red America against blue America. I want to be the president of the United States of America.”

A year later, after he won the Iowa caucus, he promised, “We are not a collection of red states and blue states. We are the United States of America.”

And on the November night in 2008 when he was elected president, he insisted his victory proved “we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states. We are, and always will be, the United States of America.”

Oh, well, that was then. Reading those “yes we can” speeches now is like gawking at museum relics. Obama’s promise to heal a polarized nation has proven to be as big a lie as his promise that you can keep your health insurance.

America is now so divided and demoralized that there is no hope Obama can fix it. As last week proved, he doesn’t even pretend to try any more.

To continue reading Michael Goodwin's column in the New York Post, click here.