Dear Mr. President: Why does it seem true that when you speak to Progressives you appear strong, .

[BlueJazz]

...forceful and unstoppable "I won't be put in a ***** by progressives" YET...when speaking to Republicans, you appear so Conciliatory..."We can work this out to both our advantage"

Not dissing you..just confused. :)

On Edit. My point is: When Friends ask me to do something or go somewhere that I don't want to go, I say..
"mmm, not really interested in that but have a good time.
If asked by people I don't particularly like, I'll say about the same thing.."No, I'm not interested in..."

I don't "Get" why he changes..mmm...direction.

[lob1]

1. I thnk it's because he doesn't need progressives.

[LonePirate]

2. He will need progressives to win re-election in 2012. Progressives need to stand up to him.

[lob1]

14. I know he needs us, but he doesn't seem to know that.

[oasis]

3. Could it be that the comfy surroundings of the WH has turned his spine into Jello?

Since candidate Obama had nothing to lose when he was on the campaign trail he could afford to talk tough about the opposition.

Now he's gotta protect his real estate holdings on 1600 Pennslyvania Avenue.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

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

[Clio the Leo]

5. What would make YOU more upset? Enemy fire or Friendly fire?

The fact that the loud left have been bashing the man since BEFORE he was sworn in (Rick Warren) is some BS. Always has been.

[frylock]

6. now, ask yourself the same question..

and then MAYBE you'll understand where were coming from.

[Clio the Leo]

8. Oh I UNDERSTAND why the Loud Left is upset, but WHO fired first? nt

[frylock]

10. i think it was obama when he chose that piece of shit homophobe to pray at his inauguration..

what else you got?

[Clio the Leo]

12. And THAT was worthy of total Obama abandonment.....

... who he picked to lead a prayer? Almost two years of blood sweat and tears in the Iowa snow and you left him because of a prayer?

Your prerogative I guess.

[frylock]

16. nobody abandoned him after that ffs..

it was a clear indication of things to come, but if you're telling me people were abandoning him after that lone issue, then the burden of proof is on you; lets see the posts. moreover, this is the PRESIDENT of the UNITED FUCKING STATES OF AMERICA. if he gets all bent over the legit criticism leveled at him, then he just maybe isn't cut out for the job. his predecessor clearly stated that it's "hard work."

[BeyondGeography]

7. He screwed up

Lost his temper and showed some ugliness that he'd best keep to himself.

Unfortunate.

[Empowerer]

15. This interpretation is one of the main reasons that the "he needs to show more passion" narrative is

bull.

When he's cool and controlled, he's unfeeling and cold.

When he does show passion or fire or annoyance, he's accused of "losing his temper" and being "ugly."

Interesting.

[BeyondGeography]

17. Obviously, you miss the point

I'd love for him to show Republicans the same kind of contempt he displayed toward liberals today. He can be as ugly as he wants toward them.

I wait with baited breath.

[Empowerer]

18. I don't think he showed contempt at all

He talked to a segment of his base like they are grownups who can handle a frank conversation.

[BeyondGeography]

19. He was the one acting like a child

Still smarting over the lack of base-love for HCR. Petty is how he came off.

[Empowerer]

20. And you wonder why he doesn't "show more passion" as people love to demand he do

The minute he shows anything other than cool aloofness, he's accused of being petty and acting like a child. And that's from some DEMOCRATS.

Good Lord.

[dreamnightwind]

21. passion when opposing the left?

If that's your idea of good Democratic leadership, that says a lot about you IMO.

[Empowerer]

22. If he thinks the Democratic left is wrong, it shows integrity to call them on it

Just as the Democratic left believe they have the right and the duty to criticize the Democratic President when they think HE's wrong. Or do you think such criticism of the President is bad Democratic behavior?

Apparently some folks think that loyalty and honesty only go one way. When the base disagrees with the President, they have every right to criticize him. But when the President disagrees with the base, he is a poor leader if he doesn't suck it up, say "yessuh boss" and then just shut up.

[CakeGrrl]

9. Because he actually has to try to get Congressional votes from Republicans to DO anything?

Some here cannot or simply do not want to acknowledge what it has to take to deal with largely unified Republican opposition and Blue Dog Dems who can't be counted on to support their own party consistently.

[MrsCorleone]

11. Because the MSM told you to believe that Obama "appears" too harsh.

Funny thing is, he referred to the Republicans as the terrorists that they are, "holding Americans hostage." Go back and listen to the speech and stop spinning the truth, please. Thanks.

[dreamnightwind]

13. He wants the independent vote

He thinks, correctly, that progressives have no other place to go, so they'll either vote for him, or stay home (half as bad as voting for a Repub). Though he got a lot of his campaign money (and even more of the energy) from progressives, he sees the so-called independent center as what will determine the next election, and probably as his real ideological home. These people are more Republican than Democratic, but with Republicans in such ridiculous disarray, those voters can be picked off by a properly positioned centrist.

I think that's Obama's view. It is probably politically accurate, too. It's not what the country needs, and the policies that those centrist voters currently respond to are not good for this country. They watch corporate media almost exclusively, and know little more about the issues than they are programmed to believe by the PTB.

On the left, we need to raise holy hell, explaining why these policies are bad for the country. We also need to establish some base of power that will get us respect from people that matter (incumbents who fear for their job security). Either a credible 3rd party threat, an ideologically strong progressive subset of the Democratic party, or both.

We also need to do a lot of educational work to destroy the illusion of a single axis left-right division in this country. The real game is being played on a 2nd axis, that of multi-national corporate interests verse the interests of ordinary citizens and workers. We should be able to win over a large number of the centrist independents with this strategy. It's pretty easy to make the case that corporate interests are the real problem we're up against, and it's the truth. Independents who will not join the left in the left-right dichotomy will join the left (and any equivalent movement from the right) in the corporate verse main street dichotomy. Everything aligns differently on that axis.