Here is what breaks my heart: The GOP and talking heads came out of the gate

[Ninga]

minutes after Obama's inauguration, re-framing messages out of the new administration.

Here is what breaks my heart: In between relevant and powerful speeches by Obama....*crickets* from the WH
Here is what breaks my heart: Obama clearly said that jobs could be created, but not without HCR.
Here is what breaks my heart: *crickets* from the WH while the GOP and talking heads motor mouth and trash talk
their way through claims that Obama has done nothing about jobs.
Here is what breaks my heart: Who is Gov. Kaine? What has he done? Does he have a Blackberry? Does he know what's going on?

Here is what breaks my heart: Too much DLC in the WH.
Here is what breaks my heart: The small but powerful tea-bagger movement has gained traction by not giving up and by not going away.
Here is what breaks my heart: Progressives talk but don't walk.

I am so sorry to say this, but this WH has not taken up the fight, has not hammered home their agenda and lined up powerful surrogates to pop up on every program available, this WH does not have a war room.

Here is what breaks my heart: This WH does not think it needs a war room.


Obama extended a "welcome" to the GOP and was treated like a doormat in return.

[niyad]

1. wish i could say you are wrong. can only rec and kick

[Ninga]

3. Well, death by a thousand cuts, the GOP I am very sorry to say, is smarter than we

want to give them credit for....but what really hurts.....is when we make it easy for them by laying down in the middle of the road and letting them roll over us.

One of the jobs of the WH is to hammer stronger and longer and better than the opposition.


I did not expect to get *crickets*.........


How could they not know that it is critically important to be the best and the first out of the gate with the message?

Is it because the WH has deferred to Reid?

[cleveramerican]

10. "let them work it out on the hill"

assumed that they would.

its was a(perhaps)fatal flaw in our strategy from the start.

[Ninga]

13. Given that nearly the entire staff at the WH are Rhodes Scholars, someone should have

figured out many months ago that "letting them work it out on the hill" wasn't working.

My concern is not with the Wh trying processes or strategies, my concern is that they are tone deaf to the effectiveness of their course and not willing to entertain a course correction.

[cleveramerican]

14. I knew in July

and I am no scholar

[Ninga]

16. **sigh** of course.....why didn't they? Only answer is...DLC rules the day.

[atreides1]

2. Agree

Someone has never told the President, that you don't pet a rabid dog, you shoot it!

[OHdem10]

4. Or was this President a New Democrat all along ???

[Ninga]

6. *Gulp* - I give the situation until the end of May to decide. But I am fearful you are right.

I am sorry to say, this smells like Clinton and Nafta and DLC all over again.

[MuseRider]

28. It seems pretty obvious

that the Democratic party is over run by New Dems. They are not really stupid, maybe insulated, but not stupid. They know the history of the party and where it comes from and they hear from their constituents. They are not stupid, they are complicit because they benefit from all of this.

My opinion of course.

They are not "good Dems" being rolled because they are too nice, too stupid or too genteel. They are mostly smart, well educated, aware and doing what they want to do.

Unless you are center right or center in the least you have been the one that has been rolled. Hope and change, strong progressive support are catch phrases that have meant mostly.....elect me.

I had hoped to be proven wrong.

[cleveramerican]

5. Politics Rule #1

you explain your position better, more clearly, than the other side.

when you allow your opponents to frame the argument and define your position, you lose every time.

[Ninga]

7. Spot on! Right On! If cleveramerican knows this why not the WH?

[Froward69]

8. Offer an Olive branch

Retrieve a bloody stump. The WH (Obama) needs to finally realize what we all know. The republicans are not going to cooperate with anything President Obama tries to do. even if it is an Idea (not likely) offered up BY the republicans.

it is High time the WH begins to act as the republicans fear most... govern with Democratic Ideals in a republican style.

republicans absolutely can't stand it, when they are treated like they treat Democrats.

[Ninga]

9. Here is a question for you. When and how will the WH take up what all of us know? How

much time do you give the WH to fight back? Won't we all know in a few months? Then what?

[cleveramerican]

11. another few months of this will kill us

we need to pass something or drop it in the next 2 weeks... tops.

[Ninga]

15. To let it drop is a no-win situation and give the GOP it's talking points for the next

3 years. Especially in the face of how this WH handles communication (or not).

[cleveramerican]

17. the all democrat sqables of the last few months MUST stop.

we are shooting ourselves in the foot daily.

[Ninga]

26. Please be more specific.

[cleveramerican]

27. if we can't convice our own members to support themselves...

the battle on the wider national stage is lost.

what we are seeing now is the equivalent of the fish flapping around in the bottom of the boat.

[Froward69]

19. Currently I am recearching

the back and fourth between Gibbs and Ed Shultz. something in there answers the question. I am trying to find it.

In short I think President Obama needs to simply Ignore the republicans. let them scream. let them complain. That tac worked for Bush it surely would work for Obama.

[Ninga]

24. He was elected to figure out how to answer the GOP, not get into bed with them.

[Froward69]

29. YES i Agree.

However I do give Obama the benefit of the doubt. insofar as He like I wish BOTH sides could come together for the betterment of the United States. in other words place Country before party. republicans refuse to play that ball. SO yes Obama is guilty of offering and attempting to placate the republicans. republicans refuse to acknowledge that.

thus why I advocate president Obama taking off the kid gloves... (so to speak)

[Ninga]

12. I would like the DU'er who unrec this post to have the courage to tell me where

I am wrong and why and what they disagree with....

[Marr]

18. They *are* pushing their agenda.

It just isn't *your* agenda.

Obama and his DLC pals have a certain style. They publicly distance themselves from policy making, maneuver behind the scenes to push corporate policy, then call it "bipartisanship" or "pragmatism". That's what they did on Healthcare, and that's how they're setting up Social Security and Medicare cuts.

Obama really is something of a chess player, but he's mostly playing against the left wing of his own party.

[cleveramerican]

20. very cynical point of view

you'll notice I didn't say wrong.

I reject that the DLC is behind the shitstorm.

[Ninga]

22. I get your view, and can not find fault with what you say. :(

[cap]

21. what really breaks my heart: is that shortly after the MA election, we've chosen to cry

or drop out and stop fighting for HCR. Real HCR.

Moveon.org
Momsrising
Democracy for Amercia

haven't stopped fighting. Maybe we need a less centralized approach that depends less on our elected officials to automatically do the right thing but an approach that depends on outside pressure groups to make those elected officials do the right thing.

HCR is not going to go away this time. People are sitting in real physical and financial pain.

[Ninga]

23. I am a strong Moveon supporter and have and will attend their suggested rallies.

But I think it is not enough.

I think there needs to be a new and direct answer to the teabagger movement.

[cap]

25. Our problem is that we have been organized in a too centralized fashion

OFA is a top down organization. Not bottom up. I don't know where to get organized...but I would in a heartbeat if I saw any group getting traction.

So for now it is Moveon.org and DFA.