“Somehow we need to get back the president we thought we elected in 2008

[RiverStone]

Daniel J. Weiss, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, said, “Today’s announcement from the White House that they will retreat from implementing the much-needed — and long-overdue — ozone pollution standard is deeply disappointing and grants an item on Big Oil’s wish list at the expense of the health of children, seniors and the infirm.” The center is a liberal research group with close ties to the White House.

Bill McKibben, an activist leading a two-week White House protest against the pipeline project which has resulted in more than 1,000 arrests, said that the latest move was “flabbergasting.”

“Somehow we need to get back the president we thought we elected in 2008,” he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/03/science/earth/03air.html?pagewanted=all

*******

I agree!

So DUers, any clue what we can do to find the Obama we elected in 2008? Or has the progressive base been so marginalized (in his admin's eyes) that they don't care?

[Name removed]

1. Deleted sub-thread

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[Poll_Blind]

2. He's made his choices. Again and again. There is no bridge to or from his ideology from here.n/t

PB

[Vincardog]

3. The progressive base been so marginalized (in his admin's eyes) that they don't care.

Their campaign strategy seems to be WE are not as bad as the other republican candidates

[SteveM]

4. Actually, some of us got what we thought we would get...

Some folks studied his record, and his college activities and were under no illusion about his disposition. The Hillary-Obama competition was DLC intramural politics.

"Or has the progressive base been so marginalized (in his admin's eyes) that they don't care?"

Yes. I would only add that Obama, the Democratic Party and MSM want nothing to do with any ideology to the left of Clinton. The "left" is no longer a significant force in the U.S., and hasn't been for some years.

[RiverStone]

7. If your correct...

The "left" is no longer a significant force in the U.S., and hasn't been for some years.

Then the only alternative is to create a viable 3rd party. Or at least instant runoff to challenge our 2-party system. Of course, I respect it's in the DU rules to not advocate for 3rd parties. Yet someday, this might be the only place for true Democratic candidates to go.

[SteveM]

19. The Third Party option is frought with problems, but a take-over of...

the Democratic Party is a viable option. In a sloppy, temporary manner, liberal activists, anti-war protesters, McGovernites, etc., took control of the Party in the early 70s. This led to a "never again" approach by the DLC, which necessitated (in their eyes) making peace with corporate power and the Washington "establishment" which demands military actions be used regularly in foreign policy matters.

The "left" (really just the folks mentioned above) was displaced and has had no commanding position in the Party since. The Far Right (since the '64 Goldwater campaign) has succeeded in displacing virtually all of the moderate conservatives which roughly "matched" the liberal Democrats up into the 70s.

So there is precedent for a "take-over" in either party. But it must be wide-spread, sustained, and with limited goals and policies. And it will be fought by not only the GOP, but MSM, the DLC and just about every institution in this society which has resigned itself, rather desperately, to a "center-right" outlook at best.

[RiverStone]

20. Then who will lead the charge?

I'll be right there with them!!! :hi:

[SteveM]

23. That's a tough one. The activist liberals 40 yrs. ago came from causes...

(anti-war, civil rights, etc.), and moved somewhat en bloc to the Democratic Party. Now, we must find out who "we" are when no over-riding cause is in the offing, and do so in an era when community consensus (via the old MSM model) has collapsed. As flawed as the mass-media era was, it kept a nation informed as to the agenda of national problems, and thereby legitimized causes.

We don't have that now.

That is why I suggest that the agenda/philosophy of a Democratic Party resurgence should be limited and clear (the GOPers are good at this: One page, clarity, brevity, over and over). We need to recruit people around issues of financial stability, equity, fair taxes, balanced-budgets, individual rights, guaranteed safety nets, movement from military intervention to sound international police work. Above all, we need to convince folks that they HAVE A SAY in government.

I've been an activist since the mid-60s, and will continue to be one. But I'm at holding up the end of the ladder (st)age!:D

[Name removed]

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[tama]

6. Perhaps

in such soul-searching quest it would be more advisable to find first your own self-confidence instead of putting all hope(bama) in Washington and in genaral all partisan politics and Mythical Leader to Liberate Us (from what? mythical leaders and hope of some mythical leader doing it all for us)? ;)

[FirstLight]

8. fuck...more bad news....

I am done hoping for change. I expect the damn pipeline will be given a go ahead too...

To answer your question, it's not about not caring. It's about being so marginalized in every way, there's just nowhere left to turn.

What CAN we do? I don't know anymore. I think ALL of the people in All three branches of govt are bought & paid for, including our illustrious leader. It's like invasion of the fucking body snatchers. You can watch in horror as they take over and consume everything good in their path...but what else can you do against something so big and evil and ...well you get my drift.

[ThatPoetGuy]

9. This IS the president I thought I elected. I held my nose and voted for the centrist.

He spent a year on the campaign trail telling us that he was going to compromise with the Republicans, that he didn't really care about peace, the environment, glbt, labor, health care, and more.

We had seven primary candidates. And yet, somehow, when the dust settled, only three remained, and two of those had been claiming, "No, I'M the most conservative!" The third had knocked up his mistress and paid her off.

I'm still amazed that by and large the liberals, the progressives, had lined up behind Barack Obama, who, on every single policy issue, ran the most right-wing primary campaign out of the seven. And Hillary ran almost as far to the right, but those who supported her knew she was a centrist. Obama told us over and over he was a centrist, an accommodator, who had more harsh words for unions than he did for conservatives, and yet progressives lined up behind him in droves.

When I return to this fact, I get really depressed. Obama told us what he was, he told us clearly, over and over, and progressives didn't listen. How can we ever hope for liberal successes? I don't know. I lose hope.

[monmouth]

11. When I first saw Senator Obama speak at the democratic convention

back in whatever year that was, I was hooked. His intelligence and ability to knock 'em dead speech-wise was only a part of it. His youth, his enthusiasm, and as a white person, I was intrigued with his mixed race. I immediately thought "it's time this happened." We need a black man to finally be be at the very least, a presidential contender. I'm still happy he was elected but am so surprised by his need for bipartisanship in almost all things.. That need of his will be a huge downfall for him IMO..

[loyalsister]

25. That speech was all about bipartisanship

"There's not a red America and a blue America there is the United States of America."

Along side our famous individualism there's another ingredient in the American saga. A belief that we're all connected.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWynt87PaJ0

It's a rebellion against divisiveness- not a assertion of stark partisanship.

The entire premise was we agree more than we disagree and we share a common purpose. That's the guy I voted for too. He wasn't just talking. He is a true believer in the idea that people we disagree with matter. Funny how people hate him for walking the talk.

[RiverStone]

12. Even "centrist" Obama deserves to honor his campaign pledges!

I agree ThatPoetGuy that we were not electing a liberal, but the sad thing is he has moved past center and is now so right he looks republican-lite.

I wish our collective angst would translate to a true progressive in the DEM party to run a primary. That might at least get Obama to shift a tad back to the left. Please don't lose hope! Better to fight and lose then sit on the sidelines. We need your voice. :hi:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

10. He's still he same professional centrist pol he always was. The rest was empty slogans.

[FirstLight]

13. Also...consider this...

How many on the real progressive left are in a financial boat to effect real change in the country...?

How many are just scraping for survival and trying to stay out of harm's way as the PTB continue to raid the collective coffers and shit on the land and use WAR as their only stimulus...

As for Obama, yea, I will admit that I fell for the package, hook line & sinker. I was originally an Edwards supporter, and really wanted someone to take on the POVERTY issue...but his lack of integrity ruined that.

Obama did a job on us i think. And the mandate that could have truly changed the course of our collective destiny was wasted, no doubt.
But the worst part is that it's beyond the question of "did you know he was this way when you voted for him?"

The die has been cast, and here we are, a faction of the American populace with no collective bargaining powers, up against the corporate machine.

(edit typos ;))

[RiverStone]

18. Good post! I have to believe somehow, we will be represented again...

People like Dennis Kucinich, Russ Feingold, or even indie Bernie Sanders come close - but they are on the outside.

[FirstLight]

21. I am worried we won't have time

it's like trying to turn around the Titanic with one oar in the water...

between global market meltdowns, climate change and endless wars... not to mention cuts and cuts and loss of jobs and living wages...

we are on our last legs here, we have the vision, and the knowledge how to make a better world, but it's too late and we have no voice...

It will come down to scary times and the pockets of progressives that can carve out their own little communes of sustainability.

i hope we can survive the wild ride the planet is about to give us, climate change is going to be a huge leveler of the playing field. meanwhile we are left with scraps...

[RiverStone]

22. I hope we have time...

For my children and theirs --- for this generation and the next 7.

I'm a determined optimist, albeit happy to call bullshit on the posers that are trying to move the left to center-right. I'm off for a hike on this beautiful day in Washington state - good talking with ya FirstLight! :hi:

[SteveM]

24. Indeed. Good question upstream: Who will lead the charge? nt

[MrTriumph]

14. Environmentally and politically this is a huge blunder by the WH. Many of us in red states

Many of us in red states have financially supported the national ticket and appeals from the Democratic House & Senate coampaigns because, among other things, the Democratic Party supported a better environment that our local Republican elected officials would not support.

Here in Dallas-Fort Worth, where the ozone is very, very unhealthy, local R's are praising Obama's abandonment of a cleaner ozone.

[QC]

15. You might as well try to get back to Captain D, Betty Crocker, or Charlie the Tuna.

The candidate we thought we voted for was the creation of a genuinely brilliant marketing campaign.

It's not a nice thing to say, but there it is.

[RiverStone]

17. Sadly, you may be right. Walk beats talk!

I heard the talk, but have not seen the walk.

I'm telling ya, Al Gore could beat Obama in a primary. I know, just dreaming - but it's a good one. :hi:

[treestar]

16. These people just don't know what they are doing

It is why they don't get elected President.

He would have no idea how to do the job, and would get no progressive legislation through himself under the same circumstances.