Reply #42: And there's another problem from the opposite side.

[Radical Activist]

Is it possible to move Obama left without making distortions or putting a negative spin on his actions? Can we encourage Obama to go left without Chicken Little hysteria that says he's going to abandon his campaign promises because of a few appointments? Can we ask him to be more liberal without inaccurately portraying him as more centrist than he really is?

The left seems to have a real problem doing that. Everyone wants to frame things the same way they did with Bush or Bill Clinton. The template goes something like, "Bush (or Clinton) is undermining xxx progressive value by xxx horrible action so call now and stop him!" Can we learn a different approach that doesn't start out with a negative, alarmist claim about Obama doing something wrong?

There's a difference between skepticism and cynicism. Right now cynicism is the biggest enemy of progress for liberal causes.