A post that everyone at the White House, the DNC, and the Hill should read

[kpete]

Reader feedback: A post that everyone at the White House, the DNC, and the Hill should read
by John Aravosis (DC) on 9/07/2009 09:31:00 AM

Having worked on the Hill, and in other public jobs, I've dealt a lot with the public. Reading their letters and their emails, taking their phone calls. When you work jobs like that you learn to discern the real feedback from the astroturf. You can instinctively tell when someone is telling the truth versus when someone is simply parroting what a telemarketer told him to say. And, you learn to discern when a problem is growing far beyond a politician's ability to deal with it. That is happening now with health care reform, but also with President Obama's popularity and credibility.

Let me share with you some of the recent, and most popular, comments our readers have left regarding the President's actions of late. I really feel in my gut that these are illustrative of what Democrats are saying across the country about the President. This is very dangerous for the President, the party, and for our agenda that things have gone this sour, and this public.

Ralph Kramden:

I still can't believe that I actually worked to get this "wuss" elected. Of course, I've only ever played the REAL game of chess...the one, ya know, that takes place on a board and the game in which the key to victory is to plan seven moves ahead, while anticipating your opponents EVERY move and then responding forcefully to any aggressive move by the opposition. Obama's version of chess is the one in which you simply allow your opponents to place you in "check" every move and considering that, the fact that they haven't managed to "mate" you; considering that some kind of victory. I know a "wuss" when I see one and I'm seeing one right now: Obama.

WDemDem:

It's not what I voted for or donated money to either. I don't appreciated getting punked by the man so many millions worked so hard for to get elected. The only protection we have from the radical right is the huge majorities we have in the legislature (which have proven to not mean a damn thing for the most part). Once those get reduced in 2010, we'll be back to or even worse than the bush regime. Hillary is laughing her ass off right about now.

Karen:

I would like to know why Obama was more actively engaged with his cockamamie "Beer Summit" for Henry Louis Gates and the cop than he is for health care reform. That episode took up weeks of press coverage, all sound and fury signifying nothing.

Synical:

You take the polls where the majority of the public wants the public option and tell the Blue Dogs to get on board by educating their constituents. "Affordable Medicare for all who want it" - would be a simple message to sell. You coordinate their message with the President's message. Which is what you idiots should have done before the damn break. Sending out Democrats to sell vapor to their constituents was the height of stupidity.

What you don't do is insult your base, and you don't let a party determined to see you fail and few scared politicians in unsafe districts, who are probably going to lose anyway because life isn't fair, dictate against the tide of public opinion. That is, unless you are scared shitless because the industry deals you made at the start when you were pretending to negotiate in good faith (and transparency) on the part of the public are falling apart before your eyes.

more letters:
http://www.americablog.com/2009/09/reader-feedback-post-that-everyone-at.html

[Tansy_Gold]

1. The WH would be wise to read DU and the big blogs every day

and fire a few of the so-called advisors and poll-takers, who shall for the moment remain nameless.


There's a helluva lot more intelligence, wisdom, street-smarts, and plain old common sense here than at 1600 PA AVE, that's for sure.



Tansy Gold, who may be crazy but she sure as hell ain't stupid

[tavalon]

4. I feel like throwing a name

Dump Rahm.

[cascadiance]

5. +100!

[bvar22]

8. Dumping Rahm would be a mere token gesture,

though one I would welcome.
The Corporate Corruption runs DEEP in he White House.
The white House needs a clean sweeping.


and don't forget Geithner.

[roguevalley]

21. rahm, geithner, summers and anyone who can't keep the message

straight. jeez. roller coaster time.

[WeDidIt]

2. Obama's numbers are dropping like a rock

and he's losing Democrats.

Those Democrats put him in office and now feel betrayed.

No public option, KILL THE BILL!

[cascadiance]

3. Obama, Obama!... Rahm, Rahm!... Democrats, Democrats!...

It's the BASE STUPID!!!!!

The Honeymoon is OVER!

F with us who put you in office at your peril!

Pass single payer or public option OR ELSE!!!

[bvar22]

9. It is WORSE than what the polls show.

I STILL give Obama the highest marks possible in every public poll,
but privately, I'm beyond disgusted. I'm sure there are many like me.
The Poll #s are unrealistically high.

I will give Obama this:
He is ONE SMOOTH TALKER.

[asjr]

6. I can't lose faith in Obama. He cares. Blue dogs

aren't really Democrats. I see them as wanting to be seen as "patriotic" and for the people who would blame Obama for anything bad. He causes volcanoes to erupt. The next hurricane will be named after him. Careful, watch that Obama tornado coming through your neck of the woods. I suppose some of them did very well under the Bush administration. They voted for an illegal war. And those good old health insurance companies repaid them with oodles of money. They are too wrapped up in themselves to see that they are acting like idiots. They may want to make a name for themselves but the name would be unprintable. I will go with Obama. He is no dummy.

[ldf]

11. if, at the end of the day

the only thing that gets passed is what is approved by the republicans (get this, the MINORITY PARTY), then we DON'T have change.

this it the line in the sand, for many.

after eight years of absolute corruption in the whitehouse and republican party, we FINALLY win, and what do we do?

we're letting bush and cabal go scott free. it is apparently quite all right to use the constitution as toilet paper. TORTURE? no biggey.

we absolutely refuse to investigate anyone higher than a soldier, and if by some chance we are forced to, it will be the typical sweep it all under the rug, nothing to see here, everyone move one, we must look forward, not backward, CRAP. all for the good of the country, so they can do it again in a few years because there IS ABSOLUTELY NO ACCOUNTABILITY. and even worse, many in our own party were complicit, and are afraid to face the music.

we threw buckets of money at wall street, who got us into this financial mess by inventing smoke and mirror profits, with no questions asked for accountablility for the bailout of HUNDREDS OF BILLIONS, but demanded auto workers (read unions) give, give, give.

we hoped there would actually be a move for equality for all (clinton was a breath of fresh air - relatively speaking, but, bless his heart, the road to hell is paved with good intentions), but gays are (yet again) thrown under the bus, with nothing but platitudes. we are STILL kicking out servicemembers, who believe in and want to serve, this country. because of who they love. is there anything more asinine?

and who is leading the hate fest? those so-called bipartisan, so-called christian republican (and blue dog democrats) patriots, who can't scream loud enough spreading misinformation, disinformation, rumors, innuendo, and outright lies.

many voted for the first time this election because there was a belief that there was FINALLY a possibility of real change.

the (so-called) democratic leadership should be vary wary of the fire they are playing with. if they think we will continue, yet again, to vote for them because we have no where else to go, they are sadly mistaken. if change can't happen with these kind of majorities, plus the whitehouse, it will never happen.

we don't HAVE to go anywhere. we can sit at home.

i have voted in every election since eligible (1972), and have voted for a republican ONCE in all those years. if i stay home, every democrat on the ticket is affected. not just obama.

i will NOT vote for yet more republican agenda, that has been given a dlc democratic stamp of approval. ever. period.

i have unfortunately come to the conclusion that for there to be real change, this country has to hit rock bottom. and apparently we haven't yet done so. so be it.

as an aside, i just happend to watch "The Mist" last night. (no spoilers.)

i must say i agree wholeheartedly with stephen king's take on religion, specifically the current brand of rightwing, fanatical, theocratic bullshit brand of hate being touted as "christianity". i was exceedingly pleased when that particular problem was dealt with.

so i'm a bad person.

:shrug:

[asjr]

12. If you are a bad person, so am I. You said

it much better than I. I feel as you do.

[Ghost Dog]

18. "We have been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjXyqcx-mYY

[go west young man]

33. We need a Faux news boycott by the administration.

And we need a new party. A Progressive party. In England they have the liberal democratic party. We need a progressive democratic 3rd party.

[JDPriestly]

50. We need a Faux news boycott by all Democrats.

That's what we need. I wrote a much nastier post, but decided not to post it because it was just too emotional.

Obama raised our hopes. You should not raise people's hopes unless you are pretty sure you are going to meet them. The emotional reaction to Obama's failures is due, I think, to the fact that we feel such a let-down.

I usually try to temper my enthusiasm with a little realistic pessimism. I warn clients, for example, about all the things that might go wrong, even some pretty far-fetched ones. We all need to be prepared for success but also for failure. Obama did not balance his enthusiasm with pessimism. That is why the polls are falling so rapidly.

[snake in the grass]

37. I literally cheered when...

...Mrs. Carmody got hers. It was so excellent!

By the way, I agree with you. We simply haven't suffered enough to fight for real change. It's sickening and disappointing, but it's something I am coming around to accept.

[lib_wit_it]

38. +1000 If we can't move progressive causes through now, then when?

[mcollier]

47. Maybe when we stop

voting for politicans who don't show evidence of working on behalf of their constiuents, and stop voting for politicans who resort to dirty campaigns to win elections...

These are leading indicators of frauds.... Extremely pervasive in the republican party, democrats have challenges here as well (not nearly as bad).

[debbierlus]

16. If Obama sells out to the Blue Dogs without even fighting, he is one of them

[JDPriestly]

49. You are dreaming. Obama has let us down over and over and over.

[Kablooie]

7. I agree that something isn't working.

I'm hoping there is some wise, secret plan i'm not aware of but I am losing hope.

I keep hearing how the Republicans don't have a leader!
The Republicans don't have a plan!
People are leaving the Republicans in droves!
No one is left other than the extreme fringe!

THEN WHY IS THE INEFFECTUAL, POWERLESS REPUBLICAN MESSAGE THE ONE I HEAR EVERY DAY! EVERY DAY! EVERY DAY!!!!

I have not heard ONE strong blast pushing back at the lies and scandals. All I hear is that there is possible progress in the plan.
And MAYBE we'll have to do it without the Republicans.

I don't hear "To hell with the Republicans! People need this plan and we are pushing it through with or without them"

it's always...

"Maybe, sometime, in the future, we might, possibly try to do something you Republicans don't like. So you Republicans had better join us or we'll do something, maybe, sometime in the future."

I'm close to losing confidence myself.
The fringe has a right to speak their idiocy but our side has the right to expose and knock them down.
Why isn't our side using their right?

[SoCalDem]

13. The reason you "haven't heard it", is the REAL problem here

MEDIA chooses what we hear and what we don't hear. They focus the agenda, based on what their corporate bosses tell them.

This is why we always see right wingers "offering" their opinions on what the president should do, must do, and why the most commonly offered "dems" are the milquetoasty ones:(

[Hannah Bell]

31. That is only partly true. The President has options to get his message out

(if he had one substantially different from the media's), & he also has the option of going directly to the people through the regional & local party orgs.

If his staff isn't carrying out his wishes, or conveying his message properly, he has the option of firing them.

He's not using his options. Because his policies reflect the wishes of his major backers.

[Echo In Light]

15. Why? Rigged game. That's why.

[Jakes Progress]

10. Obama can't read it

if Rahm hides it from him.

[pleah]

14. K& R

[Missy Vixen]

17. Thank you for yet another great post

In the meantime, those of us who were talking about this before the election were called "Freepers" and worse. And, NO, for the hundredth time, I was not a HRC supporter. If we lose a public option, I will spend the next three years working for whichever progressive has the balls to toss his or her hat into the ring in 2012.

We can't take another eight years of Bushanomics, and why is Barack Obama allowing the opposition to control the debate? Bipartisanship DOES NOT WORK. He has a bully pulpit. He's squandered it. All of it.

:mad:

[Number23]

19. The letters this man gets are as bad as the stuff he puts out himself

How has the public "soured" on something that hasn't been voted on, implemented or even fully damn ARTICULATED yet????????

[Skittles]

26. HELLO

they cannot ARTICULATE, look like a bunch of fucking clowns so the public loses faith - NOT HARD TO UNDERSTAND

[Number23]

27. Do you even understand what the hell you wrote?

they cannot ARTICULATE, look like a bunch of fucking clowns so the public loses faith - NOT HARD TO UNDERSTAND

Damn, honey. You need so much more than spell check. You may actually need to hire someone to type for you.

After deciphering what the hell it is was you TRIED to type, my question is how the hell can you "sour against," reject, or protest something that you know nothing about or cannot fully understand because all of the information has not even been freaking presented???? NOT HARD TO UNDERSTAND -- for the intelligent anyway.

[Skittles]

29. READ WHAT YOU WROTE

how the hell can you "sour against," reject, or protest something that you know nothing about or cannot fully understand because all of the information has not even been freaking presented????

Answer: FUCKING EASY - BECAUSE WE SHOULD UNDERSTAND IT, KNOW ABOUT IT BY NOW - it's not just the media's fault - the powers that be have done a DISMAL JOB PRESENTING THEIR SIDE

AND FUCK YOUR "HONEY" BULLSHIT

[Number23]

32. Did you just learn how to spell the word "fuck?"

You use it like it's brand new.

I'm sooo glad that many Americans are obviously much, much smarter than you (not that that seems particularly difficult, HONEY) and are actually waiting to hear what the MAN HAS TO SAY before declaring his plan a failure. And thankfully that doesn't include the idiots who wrote to this Aravosis cretin. Which letter writer were you, honey? I'll look for the one with the most typos, nonsensical BS, and profanity. That one's GOTTA be yours.

[Skittles]

34. done - for good

not worth the time or effort

[Number23]

36. C-ya, dollface!

Not that it wasn't blisteringly obvious that debating you wouldn't be like whupping a day old puppy but DAMN. You make it extra, extra easy.

:rofl: :hi: :rofl:

[deaniac21]

46. It was urgent that a bill be passed before the recess and yet

we still haven't had any details mentioned by the President. Is this marketing failure really that hard for you to understand?

[KoKo]

20. Hope...that's what's left...

[bluesmail]

22. I am biting my tongue to keep me from judging these people

It's very difficult. Oh no, here comes a judgment from my brain, to my mouth, OUCH

[NBachers]

23. They will never, never be in this strong a position again. What are they waiting for?

"Proud Lifetime Democrat leaves Party"

No, more like "Party leaves Proud Lifetime Democrat"

I never thought I'd say it, and it breaks my heart to do so, but I won't represent a Party that betrays me and refuses to represent me. Crash and burn, you gutless, double-crossing sell-outs. You'll never again have what you've got today. You'll never get all three branches of government again.

You blew it. Again.

It's over.

You let the jackals take it all away from you.

[depakid]

24. Democrats never seem to learn....

So, who's all gung ho to go out and work for Harry Reid's campaign next fall?

[Skittles]

25. ever considered they don't give a flying fuck what we think?

they're in office now

[countmyvote4real]

28. Thanks for that dose of reality. SWTF do we do now?

Seriously, I think you're right. We're being played by both sides for the same side (and that side is not ours.)

[Skittles]

35. people need to start paying attention

REALLy pay attention - it was all clear to those who paid attention

[Grinchie]

30. All thing considered, they don't care now that they are in Power.

The DLC can go take a long walk off a short pier.

We'll see if the Corporations can buy them a second term, but I doubt it very much. Not even with a new war will Obama or Hilary be able to get elected.

[Buzz Clik]

39. It's pretty much a given that comments here at DU are not representative.

We nearly have some posters calling for Obama's impeachment because he will not go all in on some favorite issue of theirs.

The health care debate is just starting, folks -- not just ending. You'd better settle down, or people will start wondering about your sanity.

[redqueen]

44. Start?

*roffle*

[MissDeeds]

40. K&R

Obama is losing his base. Even the usual apologists are getting fed up with him. He better make a sharp left turn asap, or we need to start searching out possible candidates to run in the 2012 primary. Lead or get out of the way.

[Le Taz Hot]

41. B-b-b-b-but we don't have the v-v-v-votes!

**crickets**

Okay, on edit and for those that weren't here: Reference to the mantra we heard, ad nauseum, from the apologists before Obama became President Change and the Democrats had a majority in the Senate.

[Autumn]

42. k/r n/t

[bertman]

43. Chickens meet roost.

Rec and kick

[mcollier]

45. Response to "Posters" MUST READ!

Ralph Kramden - That strategy helped Obama win the Presidency

WDemDem - Why would you assume all the democrats would be on board with all the changes Obama has been proposing in his document "Blueprint For Change"? Obama himself warned supporters that there will be fights with democrats in congress as well as republicans.



Karen - Are you serious? Take a look at Obama's schedule over the past few months and perhaps you'd consider recanting that statement.



Synical - You may want to direct your frustration at those who are trying to sabotage the Obama Administration as opposed to the ones who have been fighting on your behalf.



How dare you blame your in-ability or unwillinginess to stand strong at times of adversity on some signs of weakness of President Obama. He has been focused and determined to fight for solutions to great challenges while withstanding some of the most disgusting and baseless attacks from republicans. Grow a pair yourselves or at the very leas recognize the same old strategy by the republicans to drum up fear, doubt and distraction amongst the American people. We're not falling for it this time... Don't you!

[nightgaunt]

48. When you have a fox in rooster clothing guarding the hen house

Where as before it was an obvious fox you might be a little confused by it all. Change you say? What kind of change is what you mean. Change away from the republic to a more theocratic fascist nation is still on schedule (since 1980) and still moving along at a slightly faster clip than before. Single payer? Poppycock! Our system is fine, just needs some tinkering. End the wars overseas? Never! End extraordinary rendition and torture? Not yet but we will rename them for clarity sake. Losing the base who 'elected' you? Not a problem, they were the dupes while the big money constituents were the real backers. Transparency in gov't? Who are you kidding? Not in this lifetime. The death of a thousand cuts doesn't feel so bad until you are too far gone such is the fate of the republic while and empire is being built from its demise.

The two parties are just figureheads for the single fringe group of theocratic and corporate fanatics who want this country for themselves. Obama is just the best way to make the bitter medicine of fascism go down with sugar. McCain just didn't have that sweet flavor to hide the bitterness. But the bitterness will return and soon. We will be in an even weaker position than now to counter it. That too they have planned for. Just as this present farce of democracy which is the game that we pay for and get little in return. Mostly anxiety. The few who are still in the Democratic party that aren't part of the Cabal are islands that have little influence. But at least they continue to try to make a better difference.