DU May Not Be "The Base", But I Do Have A Question For You All

[WillyT]

Didn't want to make this a poll, just a simple yes or no thing.

I supported Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton and voted for him in the 2008 California Primary. I contributed money and other support to his campaign for President, and voted for him for President in November 2008.

My first vote ever, was for Democrat Jerry Brown for CA Governor in 1974. (Ironically just did that again in 2010.) And I've voted Democrat, and followed politics, my entire life.

Came home for lunch in the 3rd Grade to find my mom sobbing uncontrollably on the couch... the TV news had just announced JFK's shooting death in Dallas. We watched TV continuously for the next four days. Was watching when RFK gave his thanks to California voters for his Primary victory in June of 1968... moments later he was shot in the head... almost two months exactly after Martin Luther King Jr. was gunned down.

Watched LBJ tell us he wouldn't run for re-election, watched the Democratic Convention in 1968 turn into a police riot, watched the entire Watergate Hearings, watched the body-bags coming home from Vietnam, watched Richard M. Nixon resign in disgrace...

I don't know how much more "Base" I could be, unless that requires you to hold elective office, or wear funny hats to conventions...

So, the question: Did you vote for Barack Obama for President in 2008, AND... are you disillusioned with him now?

For me... the answer is Yes & Yes !!!

Just curious to how the support is or isn't out in the Greater DU.

:shrug:

[WCGreen]

1. Yes and sort of....

[mike_c]

2. no, yes....

I did not vote for Obama (voted green), and yes, I'm terribly disappointed in him-- but not at all surprised.

[TheCowsCameHome]

3. Yes, and unfortunately yes.

[laughingliberal]

4. Yes and yes.

Sounds as if we're the same age. I was in the 3rd grade when Kennedy was murdered, too.

[countingbluecars]

5. Yes I voted for him in 2008,

and I haven't given up hope.

[snpsmom]

Yes and a qualified yes.

I think my disillusionment has more to do with me than with him. I read his books, knew he was a centrist and pragmatist and still bought the rhetoric he used to mobilize progressives. So, yes I'm disillusioned, more because I wanted to believe than because he's turned out to be exactly what I knew deep down he really was.

[WillyT]

35. Welcome To DU, snpsmom !!!

:toast::bounce::toast:

Glad ta have ya aboard !!!

:hi:

[gateley]

6. Yes and Yes and No...

He's accomplished a LOT, but I've gotten so angry at him for giving in too much in order to accomplish some of those things.

But it's never cut and dried. Unemployment Insurance reinstatement is dependent on this, so I don't know what I'd do if I were he. If it was just us losing our tax break I'd say go for it, but I'm worried about those people who need the UI benefits. Leave it to the Republicans to use them as a political 'weapon'. :grr:

[somone]

7. Jerry Brown is the man

Too bad he's not in the White House!

And yes, I gave my money and my vote to Obama. Big mistake.

[ProSense]

8. There is a lot of confusion

People are on one hand slamming the President for compromising, and most of it is within his own party, and those same people are defending and mourning the loss of blue dogs.

If the party is going to claim that holding Heath Shuler's seat is a benefit, they cannot expect a progressive agenda to pass. He is the antithesis of Nancy Pelosi.

On edit: Yes, voted for him. No, not disillusioned.

[alcibiades_mystery]

9. Yes and No

Obama's doing a fine job in an extremely difficult environment. I'm really glad we elected him.

There are ups and downs, to be sure. The downs are amplified beyond any reasonable level, and the ups are ignored.

[leftstreet]

10. Not disillusioned, but a little surprised

The Democrats are the only ones who can pull off extreme shit and they've been doing it boldly since the DLClintons.

But he had such a massive mandate...the overwhelming power of the people behind him.

I thought he'd trade something for, something. Weird

[auntAgonist]

11. No. and Yes.

No = I'm not an American Citizen. I am a Permanent Resident. I have no voting rights.

Yes = I live here in the USA and I'm affected by the same issues that citizens are.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

98. No and yes

for the same reasons as you.

[vi5]

12. Yes and Yes.....

Enthusiastic primary supporter. Enthusiastic general election supporter and voter.

Didn't expect miracles. I knew he had an uphill battle. I just expected him to try a hell of a lot harder than he has and expected him to at least surround himself with the most competent people. He hasn't tried very hard at anything except compromise, capitulation and pleasing the cable news crowed and he's only surrounded himself with maybe a handful of competent people and the rest are worthless (particularly his economic team save whatever role it is Warren is considered to have now, far too late in the game.

[cutlassmama]

64. ditto

[NEOhiodemocrat]

71. yes and yes

vi5 has stated my sentiments better than I could.
"Didn't expect miracles. I knew he had an uphill battle. I just expected him to try a hell of a lot harder than he has and expected him to at least surround himself with the most competent people. He hasn't tried very hard at anything except compromise, capitulation and pleasing the cable news crowed and he's only surrounded himself with maybe a handful of competent people and the rest are worthless (particularly his economic team save whatever role it is Warren is considered to have now, far too late in the game."

[Blue_In_AK]

13. Yes and yes,

although I have to admit that I caucused for Hillary just because I felt like supporting the underdog here, and I trusted her more than him, since she was a known quantity and he obviously wasn't.

I did, however, hope that he would be all that his supporters wanted him to be, but I believe he's fallen short.

[obxhead]

Yes & Yes. Voted Obama in Primary and General. nt

[Faygo Kid]

14. Yes and yes.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

15. Sounds like we went to different schools together.

And your answer of yes & yes, is mine as well. I have been changing my tactics lately, directly phoning reps and The White House, making them use staff to hear my comments, the only thing we have left is numbers. Phone the White House 202-456-1111

[TheKentuckian]

16. Vote: Yes and Yes (general and primary) Donate: Yes (sometimes compulsively)

Volunteer: Yes

Talk to virtually everyone I encountered to encourage their vote? Yes.

Bought his books? Yes.

Watch scores of campaign stops? Yes.



Disillusioned? Yes, yes, and yes. In the system, the corporate run party, and in Barack Obama.

[liberal N proud]

17. I voted for him, volunteered and I DO support him

Not everyone expected miracles after the bu$h regime. That is what is wrong here.

[tomp]

147. that is a blatant misrepresentation of expectations. nt

[liberal N proud]

159. pffft

[tomp]

176. ok, liberal and stupid. nt

[KaoriMitsubishi]

18. Yes and yes.

I won't be voting for him again unless it's a vote against the neoconfederate who runs in 2012. He's really going to man-up and be the Liberal I voted for to change my mind.

[RZM]

19. Yes and Not Really

I'm not surprised at all by anything Obama has done. I found the Obama 'phenomenon' during the primaries to be more about his identity than anything else and I didn't really detect very many issue/policy differences between the top two Dem contenders, so I didn't think it mattered a whole lot who won (though I did think he had a little better chance of winning the general). From the beginning I judged Obama to be your standard-issue Democrat and I certainly didn't find him to be special or invest a whole lot of 'hope' in him. He's behaved much as I expected so I don't feel betrayed or disillusioned at all and I will have no problem supporting him in 2012.

*On edit*

I will say that I feel slightly bad for him since he does seem to be getting hit hard from both ends right now. But hey, it's lonely at the top :)

[Hydra]

83. He said he wanted it

He even said he wanted to be Lincoln!

You don't get to be well-liked unless you stand for something noble. You get a lot of hate with that too. FDR knew all about that. He saved capitalism and the uber-wealthy over their screams of outrage. President Obama will be known as the person who saved capitalism, only to be reviled by the Left AND the Right.

"You can please some of the people..."

[Laelth]

20. Yes and Yes. Not like anyone in power really cares, but there it is. n/t

-Laelth

[jefferson_dem]

21. Y/N.

[Angry Dragon]

22. Yes and Yes

[hfojvt]

23. yes and waiting

we will see how the tax cut thingy shakes out. Right now the prognosis does not look good. But it isn't over until it is over. Maybe the Republicans will pull a Pisarcik. Maybe Obama can pull a Stabler-Casper.

[drmeow]

24. Yes and no

I voted for Obama in the general election but not in the primary and I never really considered him anything other than a moderate. I'm not "disillusioned" with him - I'm somewhat disappointed in him because I thought he was on the left side of moderate and I no longer believe that. I also think he has not been much of a leader. On the other hand, I'm absolutely disgusted with and furious at the spineless bunch of douche bags in Congress who squandered what the voters gave them.

[ElboRuum]

25. Yes and somewhat.

Somewhat insofar as that I knew he was not going to champion liberal ideals. I did however believe that if pressured by the left that he would pay some attention to it and act accordingly, even if the political realities of the office at this time precluded delivering on some of those things the left really wants. However, with that in mind, he has not responded in a way that would indicate to me that he sees liberals any less an inconvenience to governance than any of his Democratic predecessors or those Dems in Congress.

[kentuck]

32. My answer also.

But I keep holding out hope.

[peace frog]

26. Yes and yes

for what it's worth.

[H2O Man]

27. Good question.

I definitely supported him in both the democratic primaries and general election in 2008.

I have mixed feelings about his presidency. I believed that he was surrounding himself with far too conservative administration early on. That included a lot of former President Clinton's people, perhaps more than Senator/ Secretary of State Clinton would have, had she won. I expected him to make changes by the mid-term elections.

In terms of Afghanistan, Clinton continues to advocate a harder line than President Obama. Her foreign policy views are less to my liking, although I suppose a good case could be made that she might have been more effective in promoting her causes than is President Obama.

On domestic issues, I've been prone to placing most of the blame on a corrupt and broken Congress, than on the President. However, in recent months, I've found myself shifting more responsibility to the executive office. And President Obama sits behind the desk that the buck stops at.

James Carroll's book "House of War," about the Pentagon, describes how many, many good men have taken the job there, confident that they could bring about positive change. None of them have. In fact, the machine changed them. I think it's the same for the Oval Office, which is really another five-sided office.

[keepfreespeechalive]

28. Yes and Yes

We were had, hook, line, and sinker.

[Greyhound]

29. We really should not allow this meme of DU being completely unrepresentative

to go unchallenged. Yes, the membership is self-selected, but then so is the party itself.

I wish we could get some accurate information, but I believe that there are about 1,000 active* members at any given time and any sample that large is always pretty reflective of the larger population. In defense of this I point to how accurately we are in predicting the eventual outcome of various elections, scandals, and events.

I also think that, just like DU, the Democratic Party really has no significant base any longer. They are just the "other guys" when the republiks become intolerable.

*active defined as logging in regularly to read posts and articles.

[H2O Man]

37. Great point!

If there was a gathering of 1,000 tea partiers, that would be representative of the Tea Party. And the corporate media would bring attention to their message.

The Democratic Underground is representative of a large section of the Democratic Party -- big enough that when people here expressed concerns going into the 2010 mid-term elections, others complained that the democratic left would be responsibile for loses in Congress.

[WillyT]

42. Oh I Agree...

I just get tried of being told I'm "not the base" after supporting the Democrats since before I was old enough to vote.

:shrug:

When Saint Ronnie was running for his second term as California Governor, our family was invited to Reagan's house for a big shindig for the press and their families... my dad was a Legislative Analyst for a couple of news services.

I got into the car wearing my Jesse Unruh Button (Reagan's Democratic Opponent for Governor), and my dad turned around with a big smile and said, "Now Billy... that would just be rude." He was beaming with pride, but he made me take it off and put it in the glove compartment.

:evilgrin:

:hi:

[liberal N proud]

59. The anti-O crowd has consumed DU

[WillyT]

72. :Facepalm:

[Greyhound]

78. With six years and over 31,000 posts pleading ignorance of what has gone on here is laughable.

Once it was clear he would get the nod, those of us that did not trust him were a small minority. If he has fallen out of favor here it is due to his own performance.

[hedgetrimmer]

129. Righty Right!n/t

[bluestate10]

100. The overwhelming majority of the country is moderate.

If past elections has not taught that nothing will. The economy is an important factor, that is what's hurting Obama now. The economy will improve well before 2012, Obama should be in a strong position coming into that election, if he stands up to republicans more. Moderates are concerned about the economy, they are not concerned about social issues, as long as there is not a swing too much in one direction or the other. Repeal of DADT is not an issue with moderates, the majority likely support it for practical reasons. Moderates determine elections, loose them, you loose elections.

Obama and democrats did an awful job with publicity coming into the midterms. But facts are facts, if what democrats pushed through look like excellent policy in 2012, the voting pendulum will swing back to democrats as republicans are pounded out of office.

[Lorien]

123. When questioned on the issues Americans are overwhelmingly Liberal

but they say "moderate" because the RW corporate press has demonized the word Liberal for 30 years. If Dems had a unified message that wouldn't be the case; Americans would be proud to call themselves Liberals again. Unfortunately, without strong leadership there is little hope of that.

[Enthusiast]

143. Thank you, Lorien.

These terms have lost their meaning. And it also depends entirely on what issue we are speaking of.

[Greyhound]

148. What Enthusiast said.

:thumbsup:

I don't know why it still irks me when I see this lie repeated here, but it does.

[kath]

166. +1000, and another "thank you" - great post.

[creon]

125. well said

There is a lot of truth in that post

[defendandprotect]

126. No -- they're overwhelmingly liberal ..... remember, we vote on hackable computers....!!

and the votes are COUNTED by hackable computers!!

The economy is hurting Obama -- because he has chosen the FOXES who created

the financial problems -- and who profited -- to resolve the economic problems!!

And, unless I am to think Obama is totally unaware of what he is doing ...

Obama picked the people he wanted because of their backgrounds and prior work!!

Obama is in trouble because of the pro-corporate decisions he's made over the two years.

Any of us here would know how to fix these problems ...

Restore the NEW DEAL rules and regulations on corporations --

includng Glass-Steagall --

Overturn the trade agreemens -- rather Obama is off making new trade agreement proposals.

End tax cuts for the rich -- including tax cuts for corps which move overseas --

Extend MEDICARE FOR ALL to at least 57 year old which Clinton proposed --

if not MEDICARE FOR ALL -- will save the nation money and create 2.3 million jobs.


on and on --

FREEZE Congressional salaries and benefits -- end h/c benefits for those who retire

from Congress.



Re this liberal nation -- if this weren't an overwhelmingly liberal nation there would

be no need for the right wing to try to control all information -- from corporate-press

to publishing houses, publications, whatever.

Nor would there have been any need for 50 or more years of right wing political violence

we've suffered -- in plein air -- stolen electiosn -- and lies.

Any bit of truth is a threat to them ... like a pebble hitting a mirror -- their myths

are shattered.

[blondeatlast]

111. +1. nt

[newtothegame]

155. I'd love to see some information on these #'s.

I reached out to Skinner maybe a year ago as I was interested in writing a paper on this very subject. I asked if he had any information on how many registered users had posted, how many had not, how many users have started their own threads, how many users log-in at least once a day, etc.

I actually did get a response promising feedback soon, since then all PM's have been ignored.

[Mimosa]

174. ^ ITA with Greyhound! ^

Dems I know in real life, who don't post online at political boards, are saying much the same things we post about. There is a great deal of disappointment, not yet despair.

[TwilightGardener]

30. I voted for him, and overall I think he's doing a good job.

His strengths are that he's calm and thoughtful, doesn't fly off the handle in response to polls/criticism du jour/alarmist BS, and is dogged about most of his agenda (which is why a lot of it ends up in compromised form--to him, better that than nothing at all). I'm more of a centrist myself, so I approve of much of what he's achieved. Mixed bag on appointees--many good choices, some not so much. Weakness is in messaging (needs better soundbites, perhaps better spokespersons), and his unwillingness to hold a knock-down-drag-out brawl in public (sometimes we need the show--it's a morale booster, if nothing else). I think he believes, or his advisors are telling him, that this turns off the public, and especially independent voters. He seems reluctant to make waves, and prefers to keep negotiations quiet and under the radar. But it wouldn't hurt him to get genuinely and publicly pissed off now and then--we all know by now he's collected and rational, and not an "angry black man".

[Blue_In_AK]

67. I'd rather see the angry black man personally. n/t

[WorseBeforeBetter]

117. You and me both.

After 8 years of Dubya we needed revolution; instead, we get Captain Bipartisanship. And, OK, if not angry, I'd take some of the Chicago-style politics I've heard so much about.

[bluestate10]

101. I agree.

Obama's messaging has been horrible. Obama loves Gibbs, but a real partisan knuckle dragger who is good at sound-bites and thinks quickly on his or her feet is a better choice over the next two years. There is one spoke person, I think at the Pentagon or at State that is a real blunt player, I have heard the guy restate some republican BS statement, then proceed to rip it to shreds with facts.

[Vinca]

31. Yes and I sort of feel "bamboozled."

Guess that's the price for actually believing everything a person says. I'm old and, apparently, still naive. Things could change . . . and I sincerely hope they do . . . but I can't remember a time when I've felt so negative about the prospects for what's left of this country. If the Republican agenda is allowed to continue with little disruption from Democrats, future generations will wish they were born elsewhere.

[DainBramaged]

33. We ARE the base. So is every other site on the links list on the front page

We simply wanted change. What we got was confusion. I hope the Administration finds it's way before 2012.

[SlimJimmy]

34. Yes and Yes. But won't do it again. My political life mirrors yours almost exactly,

but I just don't consider myself the "base" anymore.

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

36. I've been disillusioned on each of my votes

Only until recently, I've been a "auto-pilot" Democrat. Don't care who's in office, whatever they do is good because they are Dems. Seriously, I didn't have a problem with Clinton until about 2006, six years after he left office.

It took a long time for me to admit to myself that Clinton and I were wrong about trade (NAFTA, GATT, WTO). Ross Perot, that funny looking elf, was right! Then, in 2007, I learn that Clinton, Gramm, Summers, and Greenspan are the architects of the black market that led to the financial meltdown. And when a whistle-blower named Brooksley Born warned Clinton and Congress exactly what was coming, he shut her down.

Nader is another unsexy, funny looking fellow who happens to be correct about everything. Nader warned that the claim that there's a "two party" system is a myth, that the Democrats and the Republicans are the same. Ironically, just this week Obama and McConnell emerged from their lunch extolling the merits of the two party system. Wrong. Nader was right.

Then there's that short, funny looking man from Ohio named Dennis Kucinich. Kucinich wasn't just right about single payer health care, and the war in Iraq, but he was right about the war in Afghanistan, too. Ironically, Kucinich's arm is and remains the only arm Obama has twisted in two years.

So, given my track record, the fact that I find myself feeling buyer's remorse shouldn't surprise me. But it does.

I think some people call that insanity.

[Enthusiast]

144. I hope the American people,

the voters, might be finally willing to overlook superficialities, like short funny looking men because these men might actually have the best interests of the country in their hearts.

[Xicano]

38. No and Yes

For the first time in my life I actually left the part of the ballot for President blank. The reason I chose to abstain on that part of the ballot was because of his actions regarding FISA, evidence of him lying about NAFTA, his stated position regarding the wars and a few other things. I remember a close friend of mine was shocked after I told him I didn't place any vote for President. I told him it was going to end up too much like "meet the new boss, same as the old boss." He thought I was crazy, now he agrees.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

39. The Ass Kissing Brigade on DU would just tell you that you never really loved him. So NO

you're not a part of the base.

[NRaleighLiberal]

40. Yes, and yes*

* - while acknowledging that much has been accomplished, there's been too much compromise from the start. What changes it from a no to a yes* for the second part is the whole mess that's been made out of the Bush tax cut expiry business.

[Hepburn]

41. Ditto...

...and the same for my friends.

Had a conversation this last week with my best gal pal ~~ mega Obama supporter in 2008. We both wondered if we had made mistakes and should have backed Hillary instead for 2008.

[timtom]

43. Yes and Yes

He hit the ground running...Rahm Emanuel as chief of staff...no mention of ceasing the illegal invasions and occupations immediately...

I shan't go on.

[mikehiggins]

44. yes and yes n/t

[treestar]

45. Yes and No

I am just old enough not to pin all my hopes on the POTUS, and realistic, and realize what the system is like. I consider it the mark of naivete or lack of knowledge of the system to be disappointed and disillusioned. And also stupid not to fear the Republicans getting the WH again.

[Name removed]

47. Deleted message

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

[XemaSab]

46. I think we're totally the base

and the difference between us and the people who give Obama a high approval rating has more to do with information and involvement than anything else.

I voted for him in the primaries, and yes, I'm disappointed. :(

[Mz Pip]

48. Yes and sort of

Yes, I voted for him, but I am more annoyed and disappointed with the Democratic Congress than I am with Obama. Our legislative branch doesn't seem to be very effective IMHO.

[jannyk]

49. Yes and Yes. n/t

[Bluenorthwest]

50. Yes and Yes

Although disillusioned is a strong word, I am astonished and the depth and speed of his slide to frozen mediocrity.
The 'DU is not the base' stuff is just another bully tactic.

[NNN0LHI]

51. No I am not disillusioned with President Obama whatsoever. I knew what he was up against

He was up against a country inhabited by mostly imbeciles.

Don

[WillyT]

53. LOL !!!

Hadn't thought of THAT !!!

:evilgrin::rofl::evilgrin:

Perfect!!!

:hi:

[blondeatlast]

112. Good point. nt

[silverlib]

52. Yes and yes, but given the options I would cast my vote for Obama. n/t

[myrna minx]

54. Yes and yes. n/t

:-(

[krabigirl]

55. Yes, i held my nose, and yes.

[Fearless]

56. Yes and completely.

It's sickening that he could be so useless to Democratic causes. Absolutely sickening.

[ismnotwasm]

57. Yes and No

He is exactly what I expected. DU is not where I go to find support for Obama any longer. DU is a place I enjoy, and certainly won't 'leave', but I find more accurate political information elsewhere. I respect those who have differing opinions as long as they aren't conspiracy theories. I don't expect people to agree on politics, BUT, it disturbs me greatly to come here and find the same shit said about Obama that's said by rw teabaggers, even if, or especially if, it's framed differently. I pay great attention to things like that.

I will say that my politics are feminist politics, and I world I see around me doesn't give much of a shit about feminist politics--It wouldn't have mattered who was in office. Not Dean, Not Clinton, Not Edwards, Not Kucinich, Not Obama. They all talk a good game, and Obama has done SOME good, probably about what the rest of them would have done.

[bluestate10]

104. Well said. nt.

[ZombieHorde]

58. To be honest, I am usually just voting against the Republicans. nt

[donco6]

60. Yes and Yes.

I've never been more disillusioned. I really, really was inspired by him during the campaign - maybe I only heard what I wanted to, because so many of the Obamanauts say that he told us exactly what he was going to do. I guess I just don't remember him saying he'd do this:

Escalate the war in Afghanistan.

Expand oil drilling in the Arctic rather than make the case that we need an emergency effort to end our addiction to all fossil fuels.

Ignore the Bush administration's criminality.

Continue secret renditions or a policy of denying suspected terrorists the human right of due process.

Order his DOJ to appeal court rulings that would have ended Don't Ask Don't Tell.

Open a discussion about the deficit which even puts Social Security and Medicare on the table when the economy desperately needed and needs more Keynesian stimulus.

Keep on Bush's Defense Secretary.

Hire a neoliberal economic team and ignore the traditional liberal economists who had been almost alone in predicting the economic collapse.

(thanks to laurence-lewis dailykos and segami who posted it)

[TBF]

61. yes/yes/done with voting nt

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

62. No and more disgusted than disappointed.

[struggle4progress]

63. I have been disillusioned for decades, unhappy about the direction of the

country for decades, pessimistic about many issues for decades

Disillusionment, unhappiness, and pessimism seem natural to me, but it also seems to me that they don't add up to a bucket of warm spit

Being disillusioned, unhappy, and pessimistic doesn't win political fights: being disillusioned, unhappy, and pessimistic doesn't even help us understand why we lose particular political fights -- it's merely self-indulgent

[TriMera]

65. Yes and Yes. n/t

[LibDemAlways]

66. Yes and No....but only because I

listened carefully to the campaign rhetoric and knew he was far to the right of me. I figured the worst that could happen was he'd be sort of Republican lite, and that's what IMO he's turned out to be.

[veganlush]

68. Yes and..

believe it or not, I'm withholding final judgment for a while longer. For all the bitchin' and complainin' I do here, I'm mostly venting my frustration but I'm not quite ready to throw in the towel. I try to back away from DU occasionally in case I'm getting too much input from one side of the argument. I'm gonna be disappointed more after this tax debacle though, I fear.

[COLGATE4]

69. Yes and yes.

[Crunchy Frog]

70. Yes, yes.

[Name removed]

73. Deleted message

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

[SaveOurDemocracy]

74. No, and even worse than I expected. n/t

[Bozita]

75. Yes & Yes

[Union Scribe]

76. Yes and Yes.

If I'd never supported him, it wouldn't have stung this much. I see some people say they saw through him early, I didn't. I bought it, and I was flat out played.

[OHdem10]

77. Yes

[Blue_Tires]

79. 1. yes; and 2, not so much with Obama

as I am disappointed with Congress, how the media covers politics, the voters' collective short-term and self-serving memory, Wall Street, the MIC and corporate America, etc.

[emilyg]

80. No. Yes.

[Exilednight]

81. Yes & Yes.

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

82. No. I'm disillusioned with the "base".

I have a lot of the some of the same steet creds you do and the far left is driving me insane much more then the president is. Obama is not a liberal white knight. In his writings and interviews it was clear he would not be. For this consistency I cannot be disillusioned with him.

What's happened is that too many people misinterpreted a campaign slogan with the actual person. I did not. The far left in my opionion is actually really upset at themselves for fooling themselves. That's your problem. I'm disillusioned with the far-left because of their conduct. They've consistent assailed pragnmatic Obama for every slight and it's obnoxious.

[Codeine]

85. Well-said. nt

[WillyT]

86. Well In THAT... You And Obama Have A Lot In Common...

Unfortunately for the two of you... you are gonna have to figure out a way to woo us back.

And don't worry... we won't be holding our breath.

:shrug:

[Radical Activist]

90. Agreed.

My top hope for Obama is that he would be a responsive President who could create an environment where dramatic change is possible. I didn't expect him to make that change for us by Executive Order.

In fact, Obama was very clear during the primary and general election that he believed in change from the ground up. He stated his belief in the power of the civil rights movement over the power of LBJ to make top-down change. Too much of the left took a pass on building a movement and decided that knee-jerk dissent against every decision he makes is what passes for "organizing" these days. It's deeply disappointing.

[Kaleva]

107. "The far left in my opionion is actually really upset at themselves for fooling themselves. "

That's what happens when folks put a politician on a pedestal and he or she doesn't turn out to be the messiah they had convinced themselves the politician was.

[bluestate10]

110. I have been disappointed

with some of what I read. I occasionally go onto AP blogs, it is surreal how the Rwingers savage Obama on those blogs. Yet, I come to DU and see the same ad homien attacks, except for the disgusting things said about Obama's wife and children in the outside blogs. The fixation with TSA procedures and the name calling (gropers, child molesters, et al)that I saw on DU was not different from the savaging that the Rwing was conducting, even after the Rwing was responsible for getting TSA setup. The right is out to destroy and defeat Obama, it pains me to see supposedly progressive democrats aggressively aiding that cause. It is possible that my plain vanilla, moderate political leanings do not allow me to feel outrage, since Obama's policies are near where I am, but I do know that if Obama was a liberal President taking the beating that he is taking from the right, I would criticize him if he does not show enough spine, as I have Obama, but I would not support people like Assange and Nader that seem hellbent on damaging that President due to some misplaced viewpoint, or simple hatred for the US.

[pa28]

132. I'm certainly not mad at the base but I agree with your second point.

He was really good at being all things to all people during the primaries. He looked great, his rhetoric soared and he seemed to have the ultimate skill for any politician. Individual voters would watch his presentation and somehow assume Obama was for everything they were for and would do everything they wanted done.

If you looked beyond all the teary-eyed feel good moments of the campaign and looked at what he actually said there was never any indication he would be close to a "liberal white knight". When he talked substance he played it down the middle all the way but liberals seemed to be under the impression he was winking at them or talking in code all the way through. I hope they'll be a little more critical next time because when I hear words and phrases like "betrayal", "rage" and "crushing disappointment" I have to think they were not really paying attention during the primaries.

[sharesunited]

84. Disappointed because it is so hard to get a liberal elected, and then he doesn't fight.

He was going to be assailed by the right no matter what he did. That was a given.

Instead of stomping on them and rolling over them every damn day, he squandered time and political capital by trying to be Mister Nice Guy.

Obama is the one with the four year term. Yet he let Pelosi and Reid do the heavy lifting and take the risks.

That's the biggest regret. How risk averse the President is and how misguided he was in thinking that that quality would somehow be his saving grace.

[Octafish]

178. Excellent points, all.

Going into January, 2009, he had the nation at his back and We the People wanted change, which included rejecting the agenda of welfare for the warmongering rich.

[johnaries]

87. No, I'm pissed at Republican (and Liebermann) obstructionists.

Obama is not the enemy. He has actually done a very good job in the face of the level of obstructionism he has had to fight.

Don't blame Obama - put the blame where it belongs: on lock-step Republicans.

[Yurovsky]

108. Even when we had 60 votes in the Senate?

Granted, it didn't last for long (until Sen. Kennedy passed), but for awhile our biggest problem was keeping our own Senators onboard. I don't expect the GOP to vote for progressive reforms, as they stand for the status quo. But when we didn't need a single GOP vote, we still managed to screw it up. A complete lack of discipline. You won't see the Brownshirts fighting amongst themselves if they ever get majorities like we had (in which case we will be seriously screwed, as will the rest of the world & the planet).

[bluestate10]

113. It was never a clean 60. We had Liberman and Nelson.

Democrats can defeat Liberman on the next election, but the democrat that takes him out likely will be a moderate-liberal with good statewide name recognition. I apologize if I PO someone, but no flaming liberal is going to defeat Liberman in Connecticut AND win the general. There is no difference between Nelson and a republican. That seat is meaningless to democrats, anything other that an extreme republican would be no change. Democrats in Nebraska should primary Nelson with a young, military veteran democrat, then let that democrat work to defeat the republican in the general.

[pscot]

88. Yes and yes

The system is rotten. He could a been a transformational president. He chose to prop up a failing system instead. I believe we'll all suffer for it.

[Pale Blue Dot]

89. Yes & Yes. nt

[me b zola]

91. Yes & yes

:(

[livetohike]

92. Yes and No

I didn't think Barack Obama was a Progressive or Liberal and so I wasn't looking for him to fulfill a Liberal Agenda. I believed he was a centrist; therefore, I am not disappointed in how things are going. He is pretty much doing what he said he would do and he has two more years to do it in.

I was a Kucinich supporter, btw.

[bluestate10]

93. No, Yes, Somewhat.

I voted for and supported Hilary Clinton in the democratic primary. Congrats, your side outgunned mine. I voted for Obama in the general. What other choice did I have? Given McCain's recent actions, I think my vote was wise. My issues with Obama is that there seems to be nothing that he will fight for, except his family. Policy? He compromises way too much. Obama seems to have surrounded himself with weak people that can't create ways to defeat republicans.

But. Obama prevented another Great Depression, I am sure of that. Having written that, maybe we are hard on him, 9.8% unemployment, while not good, beats 30% during the GD.

[Texasgal]

94. Yes and No...not so much

I haven't been happy with everything he has done. I don't know if there is any candidate out there that could meet my expectations 100%.

[Major Hogwash]

95. Yes, no, and so when do you expect him to go rogue on us?

Or has that been "factored in" to the equation yet?

[Krakowiak]

96. Yes & Yes

[JerseygirlCT]

97. Yes, and frustrated for sure.

Though the frustration definitely extends to the likes of Harry Reid (is there a bigger coward right now in the Democratic party?).

As I keep saying to people, I'd like to see more audacity and less hoping for things to change.

[Kaleva]

99. Yes & no. Rec'd .

[MindandSoul]

102. Yes, and yes but. . .I still think he is a good man and I believe he is very smart

So. . .I'm waiting to understand what he is doing.

I haven't lost hope yet . . .at least not completely!

[BlueJazz]

103. Yes and (sadly..Yes)

[Celtic Raven]

105. Yes, & yes nt

[AndyTiedye]

106. Yes and No

Obama ran on hope, and all the Repiglickins needed to do to destroy the hope was to filibuster everything.
Thanks to Lieberman and the rest of the "blue dogs", they could to that, and they did. It worked.

Now all that is left is fear and loathing. Or perhaps that's all there ever was.
Fear and loathing are the Repiglickin stock in trade.
Yet fear of Insane McCain and loathing of Bush and Cheney certainly helped to propel Obama into office.



Obama came into office with more hope riding on him than anyone could possibly realize in a lifetime, let alone four years.

[blondeatlast]

109. Yes and yes w/disclaimer--he's still hella better than it could have been, but damn, it could be so

much better.

[madamesilverspurs]

114. Yes and No.

Campaigned, donated what little I could, gave a lot of time and effort and still consider all of that to be one of the best things of my life. He's accomplished more positive in less than two years than W did in eight years, yet he's routinely targeted by both left and right. Hell, he was targeted before he won the nomination, and it's gotten worse since he was elected. It doesn't help that the republicans are acting on their stated agenda of fucking over the entire country in order to deny Obama a second term. What other president has EVER had to deal with that kind of opposition?

Do I agree with his every move? No. Nor do I pretend to understand all of them. But we elected someone with a history of building coalitions in his capacity as community organizer; why are we surprised, and rather bizarrely disappointed, when he brings those very skills to this office? Look how well WE all worked in the campaign. He kept saying "Yes WE can!" and we kept repeating it, right up until he was inaugurated. Then it seemed to morph into "Yes HE can and why hasn't he?"

There's also the bit about expectations. We had descended so low during W's tenure that the contrast provided by Obama was nearly blindingly brilliant. Of course we hoped, we had to; we needed it to energize the healing that is still necessary. But we seem to have somehow forgotten that recovery is a process, not an event. And we've also chosen, all too often, to remove ourselves from the equation in order to join the republicans in putting all the blame on Obama.

I still support this President. That means involvement on my part. That involvement isn't as frenetic as it was during the campaign, but it's every bit as active. I believe in the power of "WE", and I think the President needs to know that others do, too. Barack Obama is the most capable occupant the White House has seen since FDR. With our continuing support he can overcome the unprecedented opposition that he's fighting every waking moment.

[bluestate10]

115. Other than Obama needs better spokespeople and need to draw lines better, I agree nt.

[wildbilln864]

116. yes & yes! nt

[Catherina]

118. Yes. Extremely. Gave him the max donation allowed too even though it hurt.

I worked very hard to get him elected until the FISA vote when his true colors were impossible to ignore and that empty voting record started looking suspicious.

I attended a private fundraiser for him in San Francisco. The guests were mostly GLBT. The things Obama told us for money were a far cry from his true colors now.

I regret my vote, my support and my donations. He didn't deserve them.

[hayu_lol]

119. NO and based upon a little research into his political past...

and his speeches, he is doing about how I expected him to do.

Overall, an unsat rating and his appointments are mostly a disaster.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

120. YES and YES. n/t

[Lorien]

121. Yes and Yes. nt

[creon]

122. No

I am not. I was not surprised.

I am 'disapponted' in the political class - the elected officials of both parties and the commentariat - the performance of Washington has been poor. The Democrats in Congress did not pass what needed to be passed and Obama did not force them to do it.

The GOP was the GOP. Blatantly self serving and completely useless.

The commentariat as a whole was fatuous and progandistic, except for a few writers.

Obama is to be blamed for not setting priorities - the economy, the economic stimulus < a big stimulus>
and strong financial reform.
For, HCR, the best thing would have been to expand medicare. He should have taken the lead

The party did a very poor job with the electoral campaign.


The apparent silver lining is that most of the 'blue dogs' are gone. For 2012, the task is to replace them with progressives and elect them. So, find those candidates, fund them, get them nominated, get them elected.
-- there will be no progressive legislation without a progressive majority in Congress.

[mitchtv]

127. yes and a bit

I am a long time Dem, labor activist and supported Clinton in the cal primary, have always voted Dem. I supported Obama in the general with money, I figured early on the Voting for hope was a "pig in a poke"He is only a politician and I expected little, I got less.No more 'sacntity of marriage' candidates for me.

[creon]

154. not surprised

Like I said, I am not disappointed. Look at the state of the political class as a whole, and in part.
Very weak.

Obama does not have much talent to work with.

[defendandprotect]

124. Yes ... and Yes ...

but much more than being "disillusioned" --

I'm heartbroken for the nation --

it was our way of fighting back vs corporatism/fascism --

only to find we've elected a corporate who trampled our

best opportunity yet of universal health care which the

nation so desperately needed -- and he didn't lose it --

he threw it away in back room deals with Big Pharma and

private HC industry!!

That's primary among many, many, mamy other reversals in

direction .... always to the right!


And my question about Obama now is: "How does Obama sleep at night?"

[donheld]

128. Yes and Yes

[hedgetrimmer]

130. Two Yeas and a box of kleenex!

[Subdivisions]

131. Yes & Yes. Indeed, as a Texas resident, I voted for Obama twice. n/t

[stillrockin]

133. yes and yes : (

[shireen]

134. yes, yes

:(

[dimbear]

135. Yes, of course, and no because

he's got an incredibly difficult job and some powerful enemies, and politics isn't beanbag.

[orleans]

136. yes and yes. n/t

[avaistheone1]

137. Yes and Yes

[Tsiyu]

138. Yes and Sometimes

Two years - with a hostile Congress (coupled with coward Dems) - is not enough time to be completely disillusioned.

I am glad he is in office, shudder to think where we'd be with anyone else, because he did save us from total meltdown.

I am unhappy with some choices he's made, pissed that politics takes so long, angry at an obstructive legislative branch and an oligarchal judicial one, but overall, I feel Obama has done a lot of good things. Room for improvement? Definitely.

Far superior to his predecessor? Hell yes! Wall Street has been wiretapped and people prosecuted, something that never would have occurred in the last administration.

If people want to continue living in corporate hell, he's doing fine. And that IS what most people want - talk about anything else and people just don't want a "new" system.


We only see what we choose to look at.

My hopelessness springs from being fed up with greedy Republicans and fed up with an apathetic populace that doesn't want to vote or get involved, but wants to piss and moan when the country goes to hell.

[whatchamacallit]

139. Yes and tragically yes :( (nt)

[Raine]

140. Yes & Yes

I supported Obama over Hillary too and Jerry Brown was also the first governor I ever voted for back in 74.

[leveymg]

141. Yes, and finally, after hoping to find 10-D chess, and pulling my guts out, yes.

This isn't an easy vote.

[Enthusiast]

142. Yes and yes.

I am deeply disillusioned with President Obama. When he took office the nation was in crisis on several fronts. He failed to provide leadership then and continues to take the wrong path.

[louis c]

145. Yes and getting close to yes

I really, really want to give Barack the benefit of the doubt. However, he's really, really making me wonder.

[sendero]

146. Yes and yes..

... Obama has accomplished little more than transferring the blame for the protracted economic debacle we find ourselves in from the Republicans to the Democrats. It wouldn't be so bad if we were getting something/anything for it but we are not.

The penultimate insult is coming soon, extended tax cuts for the rich courtesy of a deserved shellacing.

[Ghost of Tom Joad]

149. yes and yes

I worked on his campaign and donated money. I'm done.

[Pharaoh]

150. yes

[KoKo]

151. yes and yes....and I have same memories as you...and am the Base...n/t

[JustAnotherGen]

152. Yes and No

I remember having an argument with my dad at Christmas 2007 about there indeed being two different Americas. He, an early early Obama supporter and precint captain insisted: No there isn't - there is one.


So I got on board in February of 2008 with the assumption that Obama would lead from the perspective of one America. Instead of leading from my progressive/left value system . . .

[disillusioned73]

153. Yes & yes..

disillusioned is becoming an understatement, but I'll stick with it since it is my log on name..
:dem:

[olegramps]

156. Yes and a qualified Yes

Personally I thought that he was a fool to run and inherit the disaster that the Bush administration had brought on our nation. But I worked for his election because he promised Change. I am disappointed in his failure to lead an effective fight for real HCF and Financial Reform. If he caves on the tax cuts I will not work for his reelection like I did previously. I will vote for him if he is the Democratic candidate and wait for a real reformer. But my time is running out and I really fear for the well being of my grand children and soon to be great grand child if the Middle Class is completely wiped out by the Republicans and DINOs. Nearly all of my grand children and numerous nieces and nephews have graduated or are in college and I don't know how the are going to pay back the thousands they have accumulated in debt if the economy doesn't improve.

[Marr]

157. I did, and while I didn't expect much from him, he has managed to disappoint me, yes.

I'm pretty cynical, so I didn't expect him to really fight all that hard for the working class. I did, however, assume he'd try to maintain the illusion. As soon as he won the primaries, he began sending the business community every signal he could that he was their guy (all of his cabinet appointments), and since he's been in office, the only thing he's fought for is Wall Street.

It's disheartening to watch him play the same piece of political theater over and over, trying to make it seem as though he has no choice but to push corporate legislation. The charade has grown incredibly thin and unconvincing to anyone paying attention.

[Le Taz Hot]

158. Yes and partially No

Partially because I listened closely to his speeches and he was CLEARLY a centrist but I had NO IDEA he would completely abandon all Democratic principles. Sounds like the OP and I are about the same age.

[mod mom]

160. Yes, and YES!

[Time for change]

161. I am beyond disillusioned with him

I campaigned for him in 2008. I will never do that again, nor will I vote for him. He is a Republican as far as I am concerned.

Worse than that, his campaign promises mean nothing to him.

[yurbud]

162. yes & yes

[Lydia Leftcoast]

163. Yes and Yes

Although it was more like I wasn't expecting much from him, but he has not met even my low expectations.

Come on, let the damned tax cuts quietly expire already!

[Freddie Stubbs]

164. Voted for him, and not surprised or disillusioned

It has always been apparent that Obama is a pragmatist, not an ideologue. But people like to project their own values and beliefs onto their heroes, despite evidence to the contrary.

[meow mix]

165. Yes, and Yes (understatement)

[bobthedrummer]

167. I'm an independent answering yes + yes Willy T, k&r n/t

[AndrewP]

168. Yes and Yes

Voted for Clinton in the Primary, but voted for and volunteered for President Obama in the general election.

[bobburgster]

169. Yes, and frustrated on some issues.

Obama needs to quickly figure out "how" to use the power of the White House, rather than wasting time trying to "work" with the republicans.

[bluesmail]

170. Yes Yes. Although there were times I swear I did not trust him then bam!

I'd be believing wholeheartedly once again.

[metapunditedgy]

171. Yes... and yes, in that order. n/t

[Volaris]

172. yes and .......

I voted for him, and I consider myself a Progressive Republican....
Heres what I think....I know what he wants. He wants 2 functioning Political Parties that both understand that Government has a purpose, and different ideas about how to achieve common goals in pursuit of that Purpose. But the reality is that he doesn't have that to work with. He has a Democratic Party that is afraid of its own liberal shadow, and a Conservative Party that has been kicked into a corner and is acting not like a thinking, rational Human Being, but more like a caged animal bent on its survival (it sees Obama as the person doing the kicking, and so will fight to destroy him rather than change itself)Upon realization of this surrounding environment, I am MASSIVELY disappointed in his inability to understand that he is now dealing with a rabid animal, and the only course of action is to kill it and be DECISIVE in doing so.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

173. I decided I was a Democrat --

watching the '68 race when I was 8 years old. I had a 100% Democratic voter record until recently.

I was not a fan of Clinton or Obama, but I went with Obama thinking we had a 50/50 chance with him being who/what he was advertising. I gave money to his campaign, worked for him locally, and voted for him.

By the end of his appointment process I knew we had lost that bet.

I can't say I was disillusioned with him because I didn't think much of him to start with. I will admit that I am thoroughlky disgusted with him these days.

[WillyT]

175. Kick !!!

:kick:

[mmonk]

177. Yes and yes.

But I became disillusioned before now. And not just with him.

[SoCalDemGrrl]

179. Yes and Yes sadly so

I guess we are all very disillusioned. We thought this guy would fight against

the crap we all put up with for the last 8 years with Bush and Cheney and alas

HE IS CAVING!!!! God I never thought I'd see this in my lifetime....very little

difference between the 2 parties and a Democratic President who ran one of the most populist

campaigns in decades only to cave to the Corporatists.... what a damn shame...

Today I feel like a good friend died.......