Why Is It That President Obama Is The Only Dem Out There Promoting This,,,,

[global1]

economic stimulus bill passage? The Repugs and their talking heads are out their in force talking against it. Where are the Dems and why aren't they talking it up and supporting President Obama?

[LSparkle]

1. You're right -- where is all that unity we had at the convention, inauguration ...

It seems like the Congressional Dems (I'm mostly talking about
the HOUSE Dems) are all out for themselves and have no vested
interest in the president being able to claim a victory (not
to mention the AMERICAN PEOPLE winning because their government
has actually DONE SOMETHING for a change).

:wtf:

[Thrill]

2. Thats been the problem. And the Dems out there are Conrad and he's

bashing it.

[karynnj]

18. I didn't here Conrad - he was supporting the Finance committee's piece

in committee. The comments he made in committee were supportive, intelligent and good. I assume he is criticizing some pork put in by the appropriations committee - has he offered any comments on how he would like it changed.

[azmouse]

3. That's the $64,000 question.

[Hello_Kitty]

4. The Dems are working

The advantage of being the minority party is that you have more free time on your hands. And of course, with the MSGOPM, you're going to have plenty of opportunities to while away your time doing interviews.

[DJ13]

5. The bigger named Congressional Dems are DLC

The DLC didnt support Obama against Hillary.

[Enrique]

8. yes they did

the DLC very much supported and supports Obama, and they would agree with everything he has done and said so far.

[Enrique]

6. up until now, he's been the only dem not supporting it

an exaggeration, but seriously other dems have been out there. It hasn't been coordinated enough for sure. But who's going to do the coordinating if it's not Obama? They have to get on the same page. I remember Pelosi going out and defending the family planning funds on TV, then that same night Obama telling her to pull it.

[Wildewolfe]

7. I've been wondering

if it's all to get the repubs to fire off all that dry powder at once on something that universally makes them look horrid. Give them an opening let them sail right into it and then slam the door.

[TheDebbieDee]

9. Democrats ABANDON every Democratic President elected!

They leave him twisting in the wind without anyone to deflect or proxy for him and allow repuke pundits and pols drag him through the mud while all the Dems remain oddly silent.

Then they wonder why they they can't anything done, can't get a bill passed, can't get a cabinet nominee installed, etc.

In my lifetime, Dems have abandoned Carter and Clinton and it looks like they're doing it to Obama, too!

Somedays, like today, I'm EMBARRASSED to call myself a Democrat!

[uponit7771]

10. Our congress is leaderless, serious lack of leadership in that area

[Still Sensible]

11. It's because, as usual, our side can't look at the big picture

our congress people seem to each have their little niche they want to carve out in this thing and are more interested in winning their little battles than winning the war. Democrats--herding cats for centuries.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

12. I wondered that same thing a few days ago

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8161461&mesg_id=8161461

I'm thinking that they might not want to get on board with it unless Obama can successfully bring enough ("moderate") Repubs on board. I think that 1994 Congressional Democratic "massacre" is still fresh in the minds of many in the party and I don't think that many of them are as willing to stick their necks out for this plan without some bipartisan support- which is what Obama is out there working on. At least that's my theory. Obama IMHO is probably the only person out there with the political capital necessary to bring in some Repubs and move this plan forward in the Senate. It is HIS plan after all too. Of course, having the Repubs out there bashing the plan (there are a couple of Dems of course but it's mostly Repubs whom are bashing it) day in day out while Obama is (very publicly) trying to bring Repubs into the fold is probably not making the Repubs look better to the average voter. My guess is that the plan - albeit somewhat scaled back- will eventually pass. Roosevelt's "New Deal" was originally more ambitious than that which got enacted but it still helped tremendously in the long term. I think that most people want to see some change and would probably not be satisfied with months and months of Repub obstructionism while jobs continue to get lost, more and more people lose their homes, and they see public services continue to get cut. :shrug:

[MarjorieG]

13. Media controls who, and how often, surrogates get to the mic.

[emulatorloo]

15. Yes media very friendly to Republicans. Not so warm and welcoming to Dems EOM

[hileeopnyn8d]

14. :( Some of them are

Claire McCaskill has been out there working her tail off promoting it.

[karynnj]

16. There were Democrats out there on the Sunday talk shows - Kerry on MTP was excellent

Putting down all Kay Baily Hutchenson's talking points.

Now the Senate Democrats are all voting on the floor of the Senate. Obama has a better chance being heard - he is the President. (He also did a great job)

[rvablue]

17. I find the comments on this OP so, so naive. You all realize, right, that shows have bookers

it's not like any Congresscritter can shove their way on to a show.

Right now the cable and network news are addicted to the ratings they got during a very long, contentious and historic election cycle...and they are trying to keep them up by creating this fauxrage that we're seeing right now.

They don't want a unified country. They want an "us" and a "them" so they can shit stir and create a circus/battle atmosphere so that we are all ensured to stay tuned.

This has very little to do with the Dems in Congress and a lot to do with TV ratings and TV execs.


ed:typo

[global1]

20. They Can Call News Conferences ......

Either separately or in groups they can call a news conference and you can bet the media would come running because they have to fill a lot of air time.

I'm really concerned for the President. He is trying to do too much on his own. He needs backup to do some of the talking this bill up.

For a campaign that was run so flawless for 2 years to get him elected - it looks like he is struggling to get it right now that he is the Pres.

[Connie_Corleone]

21. Democrats always have news conferences, and they get very little attention from the media.

[rvablue]

24. Yep, and a presser on in the middle of the day cannot combat the droning, overpopulation of Repubs

on the evening and night time shows.

[sohndrsmith]

19. Dems do seem to have the very unhealthy trait of the erroneous (and in this case) dangerous

interpretation of "fairness" and "cooperation" that are admirable and honorable tenets of the Democratic party, (and necessary components of a healthy society when handled appropriately and in context).

Instead, they (we) turn it into a hyper-focused-blinders-on crusade to get so involved in the nit-picking of the details that either incorporate everyone or promote/highlight something that we have convinced ourselves is the only answer towards the greater good of all, that we debate ourselves into irrelevance and/or failure as we remain paralyzed in a vortex of our own making.

I also think that there may be some top-level Dems who (whether subconsciously or not) have their noses somewhat out of joint because it was just yesterday that Obama was not even a peer but a junior member of the club. They're Varsity and some might still be having trouble thinking of Obama as team captain, not the JV rookie he was yesterday.

I think it is very hard for some to think of him, much less treat him as being their superior (hierarchically speaking). Their seniority has remained unchanged, but I think they feel as though it is somehow threatened or marginalized (in their own minds, anyway).

Remember what Harry Reid said? He worked "with" Obama, not for him, which one could argue is technically accurate. Obama isn't a monarch, but he is a leader. A good one. But I think some have yet to fully assimilate that yet. I think part of it could really be as childish as this. I really do.

Of course, blind ambition is always a possibility, too, but I think the majority of Dems have honorable, noble intentions. Unfortunately it seems all too often they get stuck in the process, leaving the goal all but forgotten as they spin their wheels in the attempt to help the less fortunate and enact improvements for the greater good.

They'd do well to take a deep breath and step back a few feet and think a minute.

[OhioBlue]

22. they're working the grassroots I think.

I've seen Congressman Boccieri at 2 events in the past 7 days talking about the stimulus bill.

Senator Sherrod Brown's office has been in contact with our local community and from what I hear will be having conference calls tomorrow. (His mother, Emily just passed away on Monday and the funeral is Feb 14).

[OhioBlue]

23. We need to write LTTE and write to our Reps and Senators

in favor of the stimulus bill. Each Congressional Office monitors the papers in their district. We need to be loud.

[Spazito]

25. The media can't ignore the President whereas....

they have done very well at marginalizing any other Democrats that are out there promoting the Recovery Bill.

He has also written an article in the Washington Post that is a MUST READ, imo. You can find the link in this thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3724344

The Action Americans Need

By Barack Obama
Thursday, February 5, 2009;