Dear Mr. President: Please stand your ground against GOP

Dear Mr. President:

I heard some of your comments on "60 Minutes" Sunday night. Apparently, with all your resources, pollsters, and Beltway advisors, you still don't understand the meaning of the election or what qualities people expect from a leader.

Democrats weren't soundly defeated because a majority of the people in this country reject what you've done. In fact, a majority of registered voters polled just prior to the election favored Democrats over Republicans for Congress by a margin of four percentage points. The problem is that too many of those people stayed home because you've done such a poor job of communicating what you've accomplished and, therefore, they didn't think they had anything to gain by voting. The people who elected this Congress are the same people who voted against you the last time. In other words, nothing has changed.

And, when given the opportunity to speak to a national audience, why would you act like a whipped dog trying to please its abusers and talk about compromise with people who have publicly stated and repeatedly proven that they have no interest in compromising with you and are sworn to defeat you at all costs to the country? You've been there and done that and what did it get you? It got you a weakened health-care bill, primarily benefiting insurance companies, without the public option necessary to true reform, and you didn't get one single Republican vote in return.

It was a nice idea to go to Washington and bring people together, but if you are as smart as you seem, you must by now understand that that's not possible when the other side isn't interested in getting together. By persisting in that misguided notion, you're simply missing opportunities to accomplish the agenda you were sent there to accomplish. Worse, you look weak, which no one respects.

Most people don't require a leader with whom they agree on every issue. But they do want a leader who stands for something and is willing to fight for what he or she stands for. If we learned anything from the 20 terrible years of the Bush and Reagan administrations, it should have been that fact. The Republicans understand this. You're smarter than they are. Why can't you?

You need fewer advisors from the Ivy League, where problems are solved theoretically, and more like-minded advisors from the heartland - especially some with a working class background - where people solve real problems on a daily basis. Apparently, "Street Smarts 101" isn't part of the curriculum at Columbia, Harvard, Yale, or Princeton.

You need to spend less time thinking about what your role model Lincoln would do, and more time thinking about what Harry Truman would do. Lincoln was a great man, but his circumstances aren't relevant to our current situation.

The accomplishments since you became president, slightly more than 21 months ago, are amazing and benefit nearly everyone in the country. When given the opportunity on "60 Minutes," you should have talked about them. Nancy Pelosi's accomplishments in the House were even greater. You should have defended her and given some examples of bills she passed that were killed by the Republicans in the Senate.

Speaking of the Senate Republicans, who are they to talk about the mandate from this election? Do you and they forget that less than two years ago, the mandate was to rid government of their leadership and their policies that nearly brought this country to ruin and that for the past two years, they've done everything possible to frustrate that mandate? The country didn't seem to care. It would have been nice if you had pointed that out. That's the kind of thing that leaders do.

And when they simultaneously talk about the impending horrors from our national debt that they created (which I believe are real), and the need to renew tax cuts which by 2018 will account for 60 percent of that debt, why do you not only let them get away with it, but, in fact, reinforce the big lie by suggesting this is an area for compromise. This is not an area for compromise, and most people would agree if you pointed out that the future of our economy and quality of life depends on reducing the national debt and that it simply can't be done by renewal of the unfunded Bush tax cuts.

Why do you appear to be so easily manipulated by people who have less power than you to control the outcome on this issue?

I believe you are a good person with good values. I'm glad you were elected president and still believe you have the potential for greatness. It just gets frustrating to see how much more Republicans are able to do with power - even without broad public support for their agenda - than Democrats are able to accomplish when they have broad public support. Your election was an opportunity to make this a better country. No one ever said everyone would like you for the effort.

Whether or not you are re-elected or have a Democratic House, you're still the President and have two years to govern. I hope you will use every tool at your disposal to accomplish what you know is right without looking for help from people who are determined to see you fail. Maybe then the people who elected you will be inspired once more to vote in 2012.

Terry Trieweiler, of Whitefish, served on the Montana Supreme Court for more than 12 years and was named the Trial Lawyer of the year in 2010 by the Montana Trial Lawyers Association.