The Reflexive Anti Obama Syndrome and the trivialization of DU

[grantcart]

http://www.gallup.com/poll/121199/Obama-Weekly-Job-Approval-Demographic-Groups.aspx

I have been quietly waiting for today because I had a theory of where the President's numbers were going to be after the Senate finally passed the flawed yet historical and hugely helpful Health Care Bill. I was guessing that the President's numbers among Democrats was going to go up near historic highs. At the same time DU has becomes consumed with a "Reflexive Anti Obama Syndrome" that has made rational conversation almost impossible as DU becomes increasingly trivialized in its approach to policy and governance.

Democrats +2 to an astronomically high 86% among people classifing them selves "liberal" +1 Liberal Democrats +1, Pure Independent +4 Liberal/moderate Republicans +8. Nonwhite + 4 and Hispanic +7.

Conservative Democrats -4, Conservatives -3

First the President's latest numbers

The Monday report by Gallup is interesting because it goes way beyond the daily approval numbers and shows who is supportive and who is not by elaborate category. It also shows who is getting really enthusiastic and who is getting pissed off.

After "selling out the country to the corporatist whore mongers" and other related DU screeds you would expect the President's numbers among Democrats to fall and among Independents and Republicans to increase.

Second the Trivialization of DU

Currently there is a poll that is showing that 70% of DU believes that Obama has abandonded the Left Wing of the Party.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x96457

What can account for the huge discrepancy between the Democratic Party as a whole and the increasingly Reflexive Anti Obama Syndrome. Three currents account for it:

1) Disappointment in a particular policy. Some people are so invested in one particular policy that the President has not yet acted on, or has already taken action on, that their animus towards the President is so personal that they now intend to demonize the President in a fervent and almost religious way. Everything the President does is now seen as part of a larger betrayel, even though the President really has just gotten started on his Presidency having spent the first 8 months just trying to keep the place running after the Republicans had sent the system into a sink hole.

2) Self Appointed Anti-Hero Heros. There are some that have created mini careers and public persona in fighting against. That is their default position. Really there is no satisfying this group because the goal posts will always be moving. Stop unemployment, then the President should have already increased rehiring. Employment figures start to go up then the President could have gotten us to 4% if he didn't love companies so much. When unemployment hits 4% then the wage level will be unacceptable and so on. Some people have become addicted to their own self annointed position as "Leader of the anti" and no matter what set of events happen will never show support for a progressive President.

3) Anti establishment populist sentiment. We are living in a time of spectacular human evolution and there is simply no question that most of that innovation has come because of the power that the market has to revolutionize and popularize consumer products. While much of it is banal, much of it is not. It will take a couple of decades for humanity to catch up with the capacity of the IPhone. Think of a future when people can have frequent Iphone communication face to face with their doctor without having to actually go in for a physical meeting, and so on. Most Democrats want to use the best parts of the private system and expand the government to eliminate private abuses and provide services that make more sense on a federal level, some at DU rail against the "capitalist system" and imagine some kind of post capitalist world without conflict or greed but much like Star Trek never explains how the new system is going to work or how we are going to get there.

The Trivialization of DU

Increasingly the hostile anti Obama rhetoric is becoming more and more trivial as it is becoming increasingly split from the reality of the Democratic Party. Two recent examples come to mind. Recently the President was rigorously condemned for appointing a conservative to a legal aid advisory board. The poster neglected to note that the board was bipartisan by law and required Republican nominees. The convoluted answer was the President should have cherry picked and appointed a 'good Republican' avoiding completely the reality that if we did that to Republicans then they would be free to cherry pick a 'good Democrat' when they were in the WhiteHouse.

The other example was several posters posting attacks against the President for taking military action against Al Queda in Yemen last week. The Al Jazeera report quoted both "a tribesman" who said that only innocent civilians were killed and Yemen government sources that advised that top leadership in AQ in Yemen were killed. Today we see on CNN eulogies of AQ militants for the loss of their leader at an AQ funeral followed with a story that AQ in Yemen took credit for the attempted blowing up of the Northwest Airlines flight from the Netherlands as a retalilation for the US attack on their leaders.

As more and more DUers become reflexively anti Obama and increasingly at odds with not only the Democratic Party but also with people who identify themselves as "liberal", "Democrat", and "Liberal Democrat" we should expect to see more and more attempts to discredit the President on increasingly trivial points. Closing down GITMO, eliminating torture, prosecuting GITMO detainess in civilian courts is all to be dismissed because of a particular phrase used by a professional prosecutor in case that may only have passing relevence as the President and Attorney General have more time to address the entire system of the Justice Department, and so on.

Rather than using DU as a fair barometer of how the "liberal base" of the Democratic Party seek other more objective sources and you will find that the President's standing among the base is very high and going up, not down.

[babylonsister]

1. I hope you post this 'out there'. The sorry thing is, people will

reflexively unrec it before actually reading it. If you did/do post it on GD/P, pls. let us know.

[grantcart]

3. I posted the poll results, letting the numbers speak for themselves.

[Diamonique]

2. Wonderful post! nt

[Cha]

4. Thanks grant..

The anti-Obama crowd's MO is trivializing Pres Obama's accomplishments and WHINING about what he hasn't done.

Same with the rw and there's the President..in the middle, laser focused on the job he's set out to do in getting our country going in the best direction again after bush cheney drove it off a cliff.

[NJmaverick]

5. You make some very excellent points Grant

Very well thought out and presented

[Adelante]

6. Thank you, grantcart

Terrific :thumbsup:

[JohnnyLib2]

7. Thanks for the OP and the use of "trivialization."

I hadn't come up with that description and it certainly fits. Sad, eh?

[FrenchieCat]

8. Great read and analysis.......

Although you know some are "spying" and reading this,
and could die for not being able to just unrec this,
and do some real objective name calling.

Got to love the possibilities as to what is not happening in this thread! :rofl:

Thank you for it!

[NanceGreggs]

9. FANTASTIC post!

But I've come to expect nothing less from you.

:applause:

[grantcart]

20. Thanks for your kind words (and the beautiful picture)

[cliffordu]

10. I keep unrecing these things and it don't work....

Great work, GC...Keep it up., please!!!


kicked and wrecked.

[grantcart]

13. if you were a true progressive the unrec button would work for you

try and think pure thoughts and keep trying.

[DevonRex]

16. I hear we have to walk through fire without getting burned before

we're considered "worthy" of being "true" progressives now. Pretty sure I read that on GD. Oh, and we have to destroy the party to prove our purity, too. :shrug:

[cliffordu]

34. "In order to save DU, We had to destroy it"

Just like the fuckin' NAM, Baby!!!

[cliffordu]

31. If I were a true progressive I wouldn't work for YOU,

ya hoser.

[SeattleGirl]

11. Very well said, grantcart!

Thank you!

[gratefultobelib]

12. Complete, total and absolute joy to read! Thanks for the cogent analysis!

[JeffR]

14. That nails it well, save for one thing about point #2 above.

As much as many do see themselves as lefter-than-thou uber-progressives, a surprising number of them have a grasp of civics that would embarrass a third-grader. They're among the most shrill, too. (I say this from memory as I've consigned dozens of people to Ignore recently in a last-ditch attempt to make reading DU at all bearable.) Worse still, there's another subset of the windbag contingent whose motives strike me as obvious; they're not left of center whatsoever, and they don't even try very hard to conceal that, and yet thoughtful posters whose progressive bona fides I don't doubt jump into their threads with hearty cries of "Kick for the truth!" and so on. Who's zoomin' who here anymore? It baffles me.

I'm probably not the only one here who identifies as a small-s socialist, but I registered and vote (D) because the only alternative is to disengage completely from politics. I also feel that the President is an exceptionally gifted man with an impressive year nearing completion. I can find plenty I'm not happy with, but if Jefferson rose from the dead and took over tomorrow, I'm sure there are plenty of things I still wouldn't be happy with.

Trivialization is a good way to frame what's happening to this site. After almost 7 years posting and a couple of years of lurking before that, I've never seen something quite like this here. I don't want to believe that DU has become pointless, but that seems to be the way it's heading. Thanks for what you do to keep me coming back.

[Cha]

17. "Who's zoomin' who?" Pertinent

question, Jeff.

[grantcart]

19. well if I have a small part in keeping you coming back then I feel I have

accomplished a great deal.

I want the government to be aggressive and effective in doing what it should be doing, providing basic services that are more effectively provided at either the local or federal level.

I also have come to the conclusion that the private sector can also be a major contributor to improving the quality of life but and this is a big but there is "no hidden hand" the private sector is incapable of self regulation, they are all candidates for 12 step programs.

The private sector works best when there are clear, intelligent and beneficial rules for everyone to live by. My short life as a CEO of a furniture company taught me one thing - good business owners are happy with a clear set of conditions to play by, what they really want is an even playing field where all of their competitors have to follow the same set of rules.

If we are to find a solution to CO2 emissions it probably will require the market place making a major contribution in converting from a fossil fuel economy. A good example where the government can set the rules and incentives and the creative forces in the market can bring out new products at a much faster rate than the government could on its own.

[Hekate]

37. I so agree with you, and it's so great to have a "safe place" to do so.

If you know what I mean.

Hekate

[SeattleGirl]

24. JeffR, I too have never seen anything like what is happening

on DU right now. It absolutely blows my mind.

[Born_A_Truman]

15. Such a breath of fresh air...

Thank you. Excellent OP and analysis as usual.

[firedupdem]

18. Excellent Post. n/t

[HughMoran]

21. Excellent Post K&R!

I read this post earlier and forgot to comment.

Kick and my personal recommendation ;)

[Blue_Roses]

22. awesome post and very inspiring

:D

[tekisui]

23. His numbers are impressive.

I had been watching the 18-29 year old. That is where he was slipping the most in a previous poll. He has rebounded with them. It isn't expected that he would gain back what seemed to be leaving so quickly. I think it shows that the 18-29 year olds are paying attention. They are invested. For many this was their first election, and for most, the first time their candidate had won. They worked thousands of hours, suspended school and career plans. They are paying attention.

[grantcart]

26. yes and if any Republican is reading this part of the poll it has to give them

tremendous headaches because in 4 and 8 years those numbers will have displaced the more equally divided older voters.

It is staggering

[goclark]

39. Yes ~ I was thrilled to see the young voters

are still engaged.

They see such a different world - that will belong to them when some of us get "too old" to vote. : )

[Autonomy]

25. Spectacular post. Worth reading several times. n/t

[Kaleva]

27. Many here are neither liberal or Democrat altough they may claim to be both.

[Number23]

28. After I saw Obama get blamed for the NYC Health Board's decision to give the H1N1 virus

to investment banks, I knew this place was full of frothing lunatics. And I have not been disappointed.

In a thread yesterday on Obama contributing billions of dollars for the homeless, one person (who is known far and wide on this site for being a RABID anti-Obama frother) actually unrec'd because "it wasn't enough." There is no discussion with people like this. There is no rationalizing with people like this. People like this should be put out to pasture and left there. They bring nothing to the table but hatred, rage and blinding idiocy and they're sole purpose is to drag everyone else down into the abyss of misery and stupidity in which they dwell themselves.

[AVID]

29. " the President's standing among the base is very high and going up, not down."

I'm finding that in my local groups, too.
Obama is building support here.

[Tarheel_Dem]

30. Grant, I've come to depend on your special brand of cogent analysis.

If you get a chance, please listen to Hal Sparks for the next couple of days, while he's filling in for Stephanie Miller. He has challenged Ms. Hamsher to a debate on her "kill the bill" stance. Like you, Hal is very well informed, and surprisingly very good at interpreting policy for the masses. We'll lose some seats...it's inevitable, but we'll still control Congress, and this president will glide to reelection, despite the flailing of the rabid left and their new best friends, the teabaggers.

Thanks again for an excellent post.

[grantcart]

32. thanks for your kind words

[RoyGBiv]

33. This is an excellent post ...

Grant, you and I have had our disagreements on various issues in the past, and I just have to tell you I always cringed a bit when I saw you posting on the opposite of a position I held in a thread in which I was participating.

This post explains the reason why.

Unlike a lot ( A LOT ) of people who hang out in GD and GDP, your posts are very thoughtful and *logically* argued. It was always very difficult for me to take a position in opposition to yours because I knew I'd have to work at it.

I'm glad we're on the same side with this.

[grantcart]

38. Thanks for your thoughtful and kind reply

BTW I disagree with myself 4 times a day and lose 3 out of 4 times!

[Undercurrent]

35. Wonderful post, grantcart.

Well written and clear.

Thanks!

[Hekate]

36. Really excellent post, grantcart. Useful information here, too....

I used it to post a reply at the poll-thread, not that they are listening :eyes:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gallup Poll 12-21 to 27: Democrats-86% approval, Independents-48%, Repub-18%

http://www.gallup.com/poll/121199/Obama-Weekly-Job-Approval-Demographic-Groups.aspx

Gallup Poll for December 21-27

Approval for Obama under the category of Party ID and Ideology together: Liberal Dems are at 87% approval, Moderate Dems-83%, Conservative Dems-73%, Pure Independents-47%, Liberal/Moderate Repubs-35%, Conservative Repubs-13%.

Got that? For all categories of Democrats, his approval rating is sky-high. Everywhere but here. What are you missing?

Liberal Dems -- 87% approval
Moderate Dems -- 83%
Conservative Dems -- 73%

Republicans and *some* DUers are bitterly unhappy with Obama. What is wrong with this picture?

You are certainly entitled to your low opinion of him, but to say that he has lost half the party flies in the face of the facts.

Hekate
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[goclark]

40. I hereby give to you the 1st BOW

Your post is a BOW = that means...
Barack Obama Winner ~ it was a gift to us in the Barack Obama Forum in DU - signed sealed and delivered with a Big BOW!

If they won't let us have a R for this forum, then we can have a BOW.

Thank you for giving us HOPE again.

Your Buddy,
goclark

[grantcart]

45. Thanks and you have a great New Year goclark

[MerryBlooms]

41. Very good news and as usual, a spectacular grantcart post.

I am so thankful to have this group to come to for my sanity fixes.

[treestar]

42. good post

I remember a post declaring Obama had lost the youth vote - ha ha.

The heros of the antis paragraph is so spot on.

[berni_mccoy]

43. Thank you grantcart!

[grantcart]

44. Thanks Berni

[Dappleganger]

46. Damn you and your reasoned posts!

[hfojvt]

47. this thread seems like an alternate reality

Did I not log onto DU? Where is the Obama bashing? Where are all the hopeful predictions of Democratic losses in 2010 and 2012?

Actually though, I share some of the frustration of my more leftist compadres. It would have been nice to have a public option, and this business of taxing good insurance plans seems questionable and not as good as the House version. I never was a big fan of the mandate either. It's hard to point out any really positive accomplishments from the Democratic Congress and Presidency.

I wonder if the people who approve just have low expectations or if they are better at seeing the positives.

[grantcart]

49. After reading the bill I found that many of its better elements have not been

very well explained

No one is talking about the fact that OPM (the gatekeeper for federal employees) will not only dictate price and coverage but profit.

I still support Public Options and there is nothing in the bill that prohibits states from starting it.

These points addressed in more depth here, and thanks for your reply.



http://journals.democraticunderground.com/grantcart/256

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/grantcart/257

[Cha]

51. I see a lot of Positive Action from this Democratic

Congress and Democractic President and will post it tomorrow but for now I'm going to retire for the night knowing that we have a President who has a firm grasp on reality and is out there doing his best for us.

[grantcart]

54. I agree

[Bobbie Jo]

48. Most excellent post, grantcart!

:yourock:

[grantcart]

50. Thanks Bobbie Jo

[angee_is_mad]

52. Cosigning

:yourock: :yourock:

[grantcart]

53. thanks angee

btw your cute when your mad!!

[grantcart]

55. The response to the President's choice of Kagan brought this post to mind.

Now we have people arguing that because Kagan argued that the US should follow Foreign Services Immunity Act in responses to law suits against members of the Saudi government after 9/11.

No one is arguing that she was incorrect about her arguments about the law but make an argument that since they don't like the way that the law turned out in this case was reason enough.

[NJmaverick]

56. I don't think DU ever represented the President's base as there has always

been a strong and loud anti-Obama base that will oppose and attack him no matter what he does.

[goclark]

57. And the BOWinner Award goes to grantcart

thanks for bringing this reality check to keep us grounded. :bounce:

[DeepModem Mom]

58. Thanks for this post, grantcart!

:patriot:

[Peacetrain]

59. Just as true now as it was five months ago...

It does start to wear thin doesn't it...

[stevenleser]

60. If anything the attacks on Obama and those who intend to support him are more rabid

You have to be ready to do battle every time you post on GD and GDP and that is after I have 69 people on ignore. I can only imagine what some of the rest of you are seeing who choose not to put people on ignore.

[Cha]

61. I knew there was an OP in the archives that needed to

be brought front and center in the BOG..thanks, Steven.