Tavis Smiley & Cornel West on Election, Why Calling Obama Progressive Ignores His Record 1/2

Visit http://www.democracynow.org to watch more reports on Democracy Now!, an independent, global news hour that airs weekdays on 1,100+ TV and radio stations. As the most expensive presidential election in U.S. history comes to an end, broadcaster Tavis Smiley and professor, activist Dr. Cornel West join us to discuss President Obama's re-election and their hopes for a national political agenda in and outside of the White House during Obama's second term. At a time when one in six Americans is poor, the price tag for combined spending by federal candidates -- along with their parties and outside groups like super PACs -- totaled more than $6 billion. Together, West and Smiley have written the new book, "The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto." Watch part 2 of this discussion: http://youtu.be/Z3kD9z7nGPM Both Tavis and Smiley single out prominent progressives whom they accuse of overlooking Obama's actual record. "We believe if [Obama] is not pushed, he is going to be a transactional president and not a transformational president," Smiley says. "We believe the time is now for action and no longer accommodation... To be the most progressive means you've taken some serious risk. And I just don't see the example of that." West says that some prominent supporters of Obama "want to turn their back to poor and working people. It's a sad thing to see them as apologists for the Obama administration in that way." To watch the entire weekday independent news hour, read the transcript, download the podcast, search our vast archive, or to find more information about Democracy Now! and Amy Goodman, visit http://www.democracynow.org. FOLLOW DEMOCRACY NOW! ONLINE: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/democracynow Twitter: @democracynow Subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/democracynow Listen on SoundCloud: http://www.soundcloud.com/democracynow Daily Email News Digest: http://www.democracynow.org/subscribe Please consider supporting independent media by making a donation to Democracy Now! today, visit http://www.democracynow.org/donate/YT