Progressives frustrated: "Democrats appear tone deaf to the economic troubles of the working class"

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Progressives frustrated: "Democrats appear tone deaf to the economic troubles of the working class"

Can Democrats Wrestle The Populist Mantle From The Tea Partiers?
by Stephanie Condon
June 7, 2010

WASHINGTON -- On the eve of a primary day in which populist anger could shake up some key midterm elections, progressives are insisting Democrats can capture the energy that has largely been associated with the Tea Party - and they are expressing resentment towards the Democratic Party for failing to so far do so.

"Voters are extremely upset about the direction of the country and the state of the economy," Celinda Lake, president of Democratic polling group Lake Research Partners, said today. She was speaking at the America's Future Now conference, a progressive conference organized by the group Campaign for America's Future.

The Tea Party has served as the primary vehicle for those frustrations over the past year, Lake and others at the conference said, in large part because Democrats appear tone deaf to the economic troubles of the working class.

Democrats have only themselves to blame for allowing the right to seize populist anger, said Drew Westen, a political strategist and professor at Emory University.

With majorities in both chambers of Congress, Democrats passed a $15 billion jobs bill - "large enough to cover roughly half the city of Detroit," Westen said derisively.

Yet as Republicans refuse to cooperate with Democrats, he said, "The White House refuses to tell the American people why the American economy has gone into this ditch."

Westen blasted the administration for failing to hold executives responsible for the economic recession and for cutting "secret deals" with health insurance and pharmaceutical executives during the health care debate.

Yet while the Tea Party has seized the populist mantle that could have benefited the left, progressives at the conference remained hopeful they could win back some of those voters.

Read the full article at:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20007015-503544.html

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Progressives criticize White House, Democrats
By PHILIP ELLIOTT
Associated Press Writer
June 7, 2010

WASHINGTON - Progressive activists who helped elect Barack Obama president complained on Monday that the administration and congressional Democrats have been too timid and too willing to compromise.

Even though Obama's major first-term achievement — an overhaul of the nation's health care system — passed without a single Republican vote, progressive leaders who gathered in Washington criticized the president for failing to create a government-run insurance option to compete with private industry.

They faulted Obama for the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the slow pace in repealing the ban on gays serving in the military and last year's economic stimulus package, which they described as inadequate at $787 billion. They also criticized his handling of the Gulf oil spill.

The White House has been an uncertain trumpet," said Robert Borosage, a co-director of the Campaign for America's Future, a progressive organization. "The administration's reforms were too often too timid from the start and too readily compromised along the way."

Although leaders still spoke with admiration for Obama, it was clear he's not as popular with unions, bloggers and other progressives.

Read the full article at:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37559024/ns/politics/