Eric Holder's Big Mistake In Opposing Legalization Of Marijuana

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder made a serious political and legal error in issuing a statement that if pressed, could cause Holder's boss, President Barack Obama, to lose the very youth constituency that put him into office as President Of The United States.  Even before his misstep, Oakland City Attorney John Russo came out in favor of California Proposition 19, which, if passed, will legalize marijuana use for recreational purposes.   Here's the video:

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder 

Eric Holder issued a letter to nine former chiefs of the US Drug Enforcement Administration, writing, according to The Christian Science Monitor, "Let me state clearly that the Department of Justice strongly opposes Proposition 19. If passed, this legislation will greatly complicate federal drug enforcement efforts to the detriment of our citizens."

But what Eric Holder has done in issuing the letter at this time, two weeks before the November midterm election, is completely ill-timed and frankly just plain stupid.

By sending out that letter now, thus catalyzing Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca to host a news conference, thus thrusting Holder's statement into pop culture focus, Holder changes how Obama's key group, young people between 18 and 30, see the administration.  It goes from being the "Change we need" to the "status-quo" we can do without.

As this is written, "Eric Holder" the name has become the fourth most popular "Hot Topics" on Google Trends, and all because of Holder's letter. By not waiting until after the November elections to issue his statement, Holder not only threatens to damage the enthusiasm of the very constituency that thrust President Obama and he into office in 2008, but could set the state for Obama's early exit as President; something this video blogger does not want to see.

Holder should have stayed out of the issue altogether. If asked, Holder should have said "There are Federal Laws on the books that call for the Federal Government to prosecute federal drug offenses, but we will take this on a case-by-case basis," and leave it at that.

That approach would have been more systemically effective than what Holder did. But he did it. Holder should now either determine a way to walk back his statement or just stay out of the subject altogether.

This is an election, and the next two years are a time, where Democrats have a complicated set of social changes to deal with that call for new, more intelligent approaches than in the past. Attorney General Holder must fall in line with the new society before he damages the Democratic Agenda and harms the Obama Administration's prospects for future success.