Obama's Dalliance With Social Security Cuts Dampens Base Participation.

[TheMastersNemesis]

As much as I support Obama and as much as I get angered by abuse by the GOP, his dalliance with Social Security or Medicare cuts causes doubts. Even though it is supposedly a good bet the Obama will not cut these programs, his proposal of the "chained CPI", causes anxiety with the Democratic base. His propensity to bargain with the GOP or appearing to bargain with them makes it more difficult to show enthusiastic support.

In our recent elections in Colorado we pretty much lost the school board races in our county to religious zealots because only 22% of the Dems voted. We also lost our recalls because Dems did not come out in enough numbers to win those recalls. There has been some concern and puzzlement about why Dems locally have seeming been so apathetic with these off year and off cycle elections. Now we are facing another recall that looks very difficult to win because of possible lack of Dem turn out.

My view is that a lot of fellow Dems that Obama has ended up compromising away initiatives that have benefited the GOP. Appointing GOPPERS to key offices and putting out endless olive branches has dulled Dems enthusiasm. And I believe it is no accident why we lost in 2010 when Rahm Emmanuel pretty much told Dem Progressives to pretty much go "F" themselves because they had no where to go. It is insane strategy to trash your base and abuse it. The GOPPERS never seem to do that. They go out of their way to please their base. Yet Obama and his advisers seem to want to smash their supporters in the face all the time.

Another example is how this administration treats labor unions, teacher and public employees. I see very little aggressive support for these groups. Sure we get a few bones and some fairly weak rhetoric but little strong support. EFCA disappeared faster than snow in July. Villification of teachers and old Bush initiatives continues. We are still losing ground.

When it comes to the economy. Obama should have killed the pipeline by now. And the looming TPP agreement should be scuttled and negotiations ended. Yet it goes on and will destroy the sovereignty of this country if ever passed.

Women's rights continue to be eroded at the state level. Sure Obama supports women's rights but I see little aggressive rebuttal against states passing laws against reproductive rights.

I still support Obama, but I also feel he is weak on labor issues, and domestic program issues. Instead of doubling down and going n the opposite direction, we seem to be faced with negotiations and compromises where we keep losing ground. And I wonder if we will see more backsliding in the present budget negotiations. The most troubling is the fact that Dems have accepted ANY cuts in food stamps and have gotten on the defensive on the ACA.

GOP lite is not working and as a Dem I wonder what I am voting for when progressive ideals are not just suffering from lack of support but are even attacked. We should be strongly pushing and FDR kind of agenda and not this moderate garbage.

Now the shut down has been diminished to the background and you wonder if voters will forget. That they will vote GOP again in 2014.

[vlakitti]

1. None of that makes sense in the real world, of course.

But then, it's Rahmism.

Of course when you pee all over your base, your base is probably going to be offended.

Decades ago, Clinton opted for this, under pressure. Obama opts for this, seemingly out of choice.

We need to take down the 1%. We do not need to try to balance the budget on the backs of the poor.

[JDPriestly]

2. Obama is a foreign policy president. Unfortunately, the excessive zeal of the NSA has put a

damper on Obama's image in the world and on the trust that world leaders place in him. It's a shame because foreign policy is Obama's strong point. Obama does not know what he is doing when it comes to the economy.

[Fearless]

3. "makes it more difficult to show enthusiastic support"

No fucking kidding! Imagine that. Shit on your supporters and they find someone better to support. We don't care about the person. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure he's a delightful person. But it's not WHO he is that matters it's WHAT HE BELIEVES and more importantly how he ACTS. If the Democratic Party can't find it's goals in his methods, they will find another. History will not shine brightly on him for his democratic tendencies. Certainly not because of chained CPI.

[bemildred]

4. The party hacks do not want us participating, they just want our votes.

They see us as a threat.

[Scuba]

5. Bingo.

[bemildred]

6. It's kind of obvious once you stop believing in their saintly motives.

All grass-roots movements are seen as a threat to the established pols, left or right does not matter (with some few exceptions).