You vote it, you buy it. It's hard to admit that the man you loved isn't what you thought he was.

[kpete]

Obama deputy campaign manager worries Dems will get 'slaughtered' in November
by John Aravosis (DC) on 3/11/2010 11:22:00 AM

Join the club. The thing is, if you watch the video, Steve, like many Democratic supporters of Obama, strikes me as conflicted. Worried, critical, then defensive of the President. It's what we saw with Republican support for Bush, even in the final years of his presidency. They didn't like what he was doing, how he was governing, but they also had a hard time saying it publicly. To paraphrase the old saying: You vote it, you buy it. It's hard to admit that the man you loved isn't what you thought he was.

..................

The problem is that the White House very often seems to think that their job is to sign things. And to give speeches about how they'd like to sign things. They don't seem to understand that a large part of their job is actually working to get things passed in Congress, not just waiting for Congress to perhaps act, perhaps not. And actually, the problem is even more than that. I'm sure many in the White House believe that they actually DID do a lot to push health care reform. That they have done a lot to follow through on their gay rights promises, and lots of other campaign promises. That's because they confuse speeches with action.

It's as if there's a fundamental misunderstanding of the role, and power, of the presidency. And as much as people like to blame Rahm, it's not like he's holding Barack Obama hostage. In the end, the President decides what kind of presidency he wants. And the current occupant has decided to set his sights rather low.

VIDEO AND MORE:
http://www.americablog.com/2010/03/obama-deputy-campaign-manager-worries.html

[Blue_Roses]

1. It also helps to have supporters who

know how to support through good and bad times:eyes:

[lame54]

2. support what...

many feel that the party is not supporting them

[Blue_Roses]

19. would that be the "left side of the party...

or the left-to-center part of the party? Maybe it's the center part of the party--yeah, gotta be the "center" or maybe the "right-to-center" part of the party. Gee. Large tent brings many sides of the party to the problem with everyone screaming, "I want mine! Give it to me now!"

Give me a fucking break...:eyes:

[lame54]

45. And when far fewer people show up at the polls?

[kpete]

5. see,

this is an issue for me

I still support Obama, I still hope he will come succeed (I know he has it in him)

BUT

I am disappointed, anxious, worried and impatient for the change we hoped for.

a person CAN be both supportive and disappointed

We CAN demand more & I will not stop trying to point out successes and failures

peace, kp

[Blue_Roses]

23. "impatient" --BINGO!

you hit the nail on the head with the keyword. I think that's what alot of people are feeling. Many are ready to get back to work (here, here) but it's taking too long. Or of course, healthcare...enough said with just the word. But to take 8 years of a spiraling vortex of bullshit from Bush and to try and turn it in the opposite direction so it spirals in a positive way takes a LOT of momentum and that's when your "supporters" are helping...

Obama never said it would be easy, nor did he say he could do it alone.

[Bluebear]

39. Why did Obama say he won't prosecute torturers?

That didn't 'take long', it was one of his first pronouncements.

[WilliamPitt]

6. +1

[Romulox]

7. When YOU cause the bad times, that support is called "enabling"

And Dr. Phil says that's a bad thing.

[Blue_Roses]

21. I hate Dr. Phil...

and that dog don't hunt.

[Tailormyst]

14. Does truth matter to you or is it all about supporting the brand?

[Blue_Roses]

15. since I don't worry about

"buying the brand" -- can't afford it, I go much deeper to search for alternatives. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. But I NEVER give up when MY choice works for me.

[Tailormyst]

18. Alright then

Glad Obama is working for you.

He isn't working for me, so you will of course understand that he will have to make a great big change to win back alot of us who supported him.

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[jgraz]

16. I think you're confused as to who is working for whom

When I hire someone and they're not doing they're job, I don't agonize about whether I should "support" them...

[Name removed]

22. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[saracat]

36. +1 million.

[anonymous171]

42. That's not how politics works. nt

[glitch]

47. aren't "fucking retarded"? Support goes both ways. nt

[Xipe Totec]

3. Obama was like a bright shining Prius in the showroom

McCain was the Ford Pinto.

I'll still take my chances with the Prius.

[freddie mertz]

25. Some of the Priuses have had to be recalled.

Maybe not the best metaphor.

[Xipe Totec]

31. A recall for repair, not to scrap

Obama has a lot of repairs to do between now and November.

Maybe the metaphor isn't so bad.

[freddie mertz]

34. Repairs are fine as long as you don't die in a sudden accident.

I'll pass on your wretched idea of reform, thank you.

[Xipe Totec]

38. Reform in general, or only this particular kielbasa? nt

[NightWatcher]

4. Hartmann said Obama was a National Rorschach test

Everyone saw what they wanted to see in him. Some saw a Progressive, some saw a Socialist, some saw their hopes, some saw their fears.

[ananda]

8. And some like me saw him for exactly what he was..

.. and held their noses while voting for him.

There wasn't much of a choice.

[Echo In Light]

17. Never is, and that happens by design

[HughBeaumont]

30. Voting for him meant a CHANCE, albeit a meager one.

McClown and that Alaskan Thing would have nailed America's coffin shut fast, and for good.

Really big menu we got here.

[saracat]

35. I prayed while voting for him, but I guess.......

my prayers aren't always granted.He wasn't my choice either but he wasn't Mccain. I did hope for better from him.

[HillbillyBob]

9. I am disappointed in Pres O

But not nearly as disaffected as I would have been with McQuitter..

I knew we would not get what we needed from Obama after his FISA vote to let the goddam corpse spies get retroactive immunity..but I did not really think he would be as dismal has he has been.
I thought his doj might actually take action on the torture war crimes, I did not think his doj would take the line 'that the constitution does not guarantee you protection from being framed by prosecutors (as former (and should be current) gov of Al Don Siegelman. I have a bit of inside on that having acquaintance with all the crooks in that administration through ex inlaw supporters of the rpigs in nazibama. Don Siegelman was the most upstanding pol I knew there, all those repigs were reprehensible 25 yrs ago when I lived there, across the street from the Gov mansion.

[democracy1st]

10. K & R

[asjr]

11. After the years of Bush/Cheney I would have

voted for Donald Duck!

[Jamastiene]

41. Come to think of it, I would have too. n/t

[xchrom]

12. Recommend

[Echo In Light]

13. Now apply that to any/every admin this empire will install via "election."

Never underestimate the power of denial

k/r

[glitch]

46. +18181 nt

[branders seine]

24. if so,

it's self-inflicted

[HughBeaumont]

26. The people never get an INCH. And from the looks of it, they never will.

One goddamned inch.

ONE.

What are these occupations DOING? Who are they HELPING besides rich contractors?

Why would universal health care be equal to aggravated assault in some people's eyes?

Why does everything HAVE to please one overfed, overpaid and unfeeling group of people FIRST and sometimes, only?

Why does everything HAVE to be about "Making a Buck"?

When did "helping people" become "COMM'NISM!"?

What's it going to TAKE to make them CARE?

What's it going to take to stop the bloodletting?

Why isn't anyone HELPING us?

[bluethruandthru]

29. +1000

[Marr]

40. The government's reaction to Katrina is the same one played out everyday,

by our system every day, in a much larger and slower way. We've reached a point where the people in charge simply don't care what happens to the general populace. Wealth and influence has condensed into a few small pockets, and the prevailing philosophy amongst that class is a sort of neo-feudalism. If you're not rich, if you're not an insider, it's because you're inferior and you exist only to be exploited by your "betters".

[DirkGently]

28. Political support is qualified

by nature, or it ought to be. This is not a religion. Or it oughtn't be. Where Obama has made good decisions, taken good positions, and stood behind the ideals HE ran on, I support him. But unconditional support for a political figure is a form of fanaticism, and it plays directly into the zero-sum, "We win haha you lose -- better luck next year" sportsfan mentality of that segment of Republicans and conservatives who have done so much damage.

It is our JOB as citizens to do better, not in just selecting leaders, but in giving clear, intellectually honest feedback at all times, on all things. Lobbyists and monied and special interests don't give unconditional support, and that is why, when the smoke clears and the "true believer" partisans are distracted, they get what they want.

Giving a political leader unconditional support instructs them to ignore you. If a leader can absolutely count on support from the left, the only people he or she needs to please are those on the right. As (ahem) we have seen from time to time.

And if we want a healthier, more effective environment for national discussion as we claim, it's critical we don't become what we have beheld and start making excuses for, or embracing things disingenuously. I think that -- the point where individuals become willing to get behind rhetoric and to try sling "PR" for a "side" in place of frank, *critical* examination -- is exactly the point at which everything goes to hell.

We need to support the right ideas and the right approach and the right interests. Leaders will pass in and out and around these things, and we have to let them know when they will have our support and when they will not, honestly, in real time, if we ever expect our leaders to give our views and needs the same level of deference given to, say, an insurance company.

[renate]

32. it would have been interesting to see what Obama would have accomplished by now...

... if the Republican minority hadn't said NO to EVERY. DAMN. THING. They'd have said no to a bill guaranteeing world peace if Obama had been the one to suggest it. I honestly believe that to be true.

I'm disappointed that so much less has changed so far than I'd hoped, but I wasn't anticipating a Congress full of blue dogs and grown-ups behaving exactly like recalcitrant two-year-olds.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

33. But, hey, at least he's not John McCain

I think we knew at election time that he was a centrist product of the Chicago machine. But there was this thing called "hope".

I'm just happy that he has a very good health insurance plan.

:hi:

[MisterP]

37. another defense mechanism is "Obama's really a liberal, and he's trying to get these policies pushed

through, but the ConservaDems and stay-behinds in the WH and Congress are blocking him at every turn." this doesn't gel with his state positions and issued policies, however

[Lorien]

43. He hasn't set his sights low; he's doing what he intended to do

as DUer Marr wrote: "Obama's "bipartisanship" is just cover for pushing corporate policy. That's what he does. He acts like he wants liberal legislation, then slowly maneuvers corporate legislation into place, saying it's the result of "compromise"." He's an agent for the wealthiest 0.5%, just like every President since Reagan.

[BigBearJohn]

44. I agree. I can't help but wonder if Hillary would have been any better.

[glitch]

48. Anyone better is not allowed the office. nt