There have been a lot of posts lately about the who the "base" is.

[mmonk]

The base is always those that can be convinced you represent their best interests. So since most social change in this country has been due to ideas that advance the ideas behind social justice, equal rights, and equal access to opportunity, should the evaluation include the worth of progressive and liberal membership? If people do not think they are being represented, they do not show up and see little difference. So when you calculate the worth of the "left", keep in mind who shows up to vote because they are connected. The false separation can indeed affect the end game of who wins.

[Lyric]

1. My definition of the "base":

"A concept that includes any group or subset of voters, who, if they refused to show up at the polls, would likely lead to a defeat for the party."

[mmonk]

4. Which goes back to my post. The coalition cannot hold without

the chastised "left" because those convinced to vote is always larger. There are not enough conservatives for two parties to survive on.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. Political "reality". Candidates are obliged to convince us to vote for them.

Otherwise they don't get our votes.

If the Democratic candidates continue to pursue the mythical "middle" by moving to the right, the left will remain or become unconvinced.

[onenote]

3. my definition of the base

Those members of the public who put their money and/or their time into working for Democratic candidates.

And guess what...that includes Democrats of all stripes, from blue dogs to progressives.

[mmonk]

5. Then let the Democrats stand for them both.

By kow towing to the Blue Dogs and not liberals or progressives, see how much of the "base" remains. There is already a political party that does that.

[seeinfweggos]

6. it certainly isn't the 3 percent of liberals who dissaprove of Obama

who think they are the base, and usually vote for third party losers anyway.

[scentopine]

7. Rahm Emanuel believes a republican base elected Obama and

republicans will elect him again. Its a dangerous gamble but they are doubling down on republican ass kissing. What Emanuel fails to understand is that as soon as a charismatic republican emerges who isn't a walking lobotomy, all the republican base who voted for Obama will leave him standing at the altar.

Many of us worked at grass root level to build support for Obama. We are now being pissed on for demanding justice for torture, wall street fraud, and for opposition to more war while handing trillions to wall street and claiming to be a realist centrist.

As dead bodies continue to stack up in a violent war in which innocent lives make up a staggering majority of brutal deaths, only our centered realist democrat continues to argue how the continued killing of impoverished civilians is simply a necessary political convenience and compromise for the greater good at the center of their policies.

However here at home, the realist/centrists are impotent against wall street fraud and corruption.

Centrists have let the moral hazard genie out of the bottle. Centrists and realists mock us for demanding a pony while dumping horseshit on our heads.

It will be interesting how this plays out, but history is on my side. While democrats may win or lose, the wealthy will continue to profit at our expense through legislation passed by "centrists" in both parties.

And that's all that really matters to the centrists.

[FrenchieCat]

8. Until folks understand that Obama's base is a coalition that elected him,

and that this coalition is wide, and cannot be pinpointed to a particular group,
and if it were, I'd say that racial minorities and the youth put Obama in office.
He pisses them off seriously, and he's good to go. What is interesting is how much more
reasonable and patient racial minorities and the youth are when it comes to passing judgment
on what President Obama has done in his the first nearly 11 months of his presidency.
Guess since they were the ones listening to Barack Obama during the actual campaign, and heard his words over and over again. Thank goodness they are not looking for radical miracles, just a change in direction, a long term solid plan, and a determined but tactical leader.

[mmonk]

9. People vote for those they believe will improve their lives.

The "liberal" or "left" represent more than their numbers in the Democratic Party. That is where it gets tricky when ignoring the "left" or chastising the "left" publicly. The leadership and what they say needs to be careful because a splintered party or one that favors a group such as Blue Dogs or politicians that support whatever the corporations want with no defining principles will hamper our party's ability to win. The Republicans can afford to attack the "left" since it isn't part of their constituency but not the Democrats.

[Bluenorthwest]

15. I listened to him defend the hate speech of his surrogate

Donnie McClurkin. I listened as he defended the worst sort of invective, the targeting of minorities, and claimed that bigots are 'good, decent and moral people' while also contending that my family should not have equal rights, in agreement with the people he calls moral. Rick Warren. Donnie 'we are at war, they are trying to kill our children' McClurkin.
I listened to all of that. I recall the level of language that was used against my community, my family and my self.
I think the problem is that we were listening. And what was said was vile and divisive. And that means the trust level is near zero.
Another problem is that others wish to forget those things and pretend he never called anti gay hate speakers 'good, decent and moral'.
Selective listening is not really listening. Obama is opposed to my equal rights as a human being. I heard that clearly. Like a bigoted bell a ringing.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

10. All I know is, all of it are belong to us. -nt

[tavalon]

12. Whatever the base is, he is bleeding support and not because he isn't doing everything right now

It's because he's supporting too much of what the last administration did and he isn't supporting prosecuting the previous administration and he walked to the negotiating table for healthcare looking like he had never been to a negotiating table before.

[NNN0LHI]

11. Yea but who really wins if people stay home and put the Republicans back in charge?

Me?

You?

Who?

Don

[tavalon]

13. None of the above

Exactly as it is now. Until we clean up the electoral process in this nation and get the corporate money out of it, we are screwed, no matter what letter stands after the politician. They might as well be wearing NASCAR suits naming their biggest contributors and I promise you, neither my name nor yours will be anywhere on that suit.

[NJmaverick]

14. From what I have seen, the working definition of the "base" is

people who agree with my views