I think it should be understood that DU is not, has never been, will never be Obama's base. . .

Sure a lot of folks who consider ourselves Obama's base are here and we are proud, but the DU is a diverse group of members, many of which have never been part of Obama's base and will resist being part of his base at every turn. AND THAT IS OK!

Whatever your opinions are of Obama you can trust there are many DUers who share them.

If you support him, you are not alone here.

If you hate him, you are not alone here.

If you are pulling for him, but disappointed and want him to do better, you are not alone here.

If you are rooting against him and looking forward to him failing, you are not alone here.

Many of us KNOW THAT Obama, with the support of Pelosi and Reid have accomplished a lot, and we are not alone here.

Many of you feel that Obama has not done anything, and you are not alone here.

By joining the Democratic Underground we all have declared ourselves to be Democrats, but if I have learned anything since 2001, just because we all belong to this site doesn't me we all belong to Obama's base.

The Democratic party has many bases and they don't always agree. You do realize that both the Black church and the GLBT are strong members of the Democratic base, but couldn't be more different on the issue of tolerance. Environmentalists and unions are both part of the Democrats base, but they are often at odds with one another. We have a lot of groups who are not necessarily on the same page.

I am a proud member of Obama's base, but I accept that many of you aren't.

I do not go with whatever wind is blowing. I am willing to listen to anyone else, and hear their point of view.. but respect is a two way street, and I expect that same courtesy from others. just saying


edit for spelling

k&u - thanks for yet another lecture from the self-appointed 'base'.

:kick:

. . .I have seen Obama's administration called homophobic, it's safe to say anyone who says that hates him.

I have seen Obama's being called weak and spineless, it's safe to say anyone who says that has no respect for him.

I have seen Obama getting knocked everything an internet rumor with very little substance is reported, it's safe those predisposed to knock him for internet rumors don't like him.

I have seen Obama's administration called homophobic, it's safe to say anyone who says that hates him. a.k.a. False Dilemma.

a homophobe / clueless / in denial / a cheerleader

I've seen all those things said/implied by people who regularly criticize/detract/minimize the President.

Why do you resent people who don't seem to hate or be as disdainful of him as you seem to be? Why do you have to label them as "guardians" for saying they're supportive?

:kick:

:applause:

Spot on!

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

Because there's nothing in the OP that sounds like a lecture or is negative with regard to DU or DUers of any stripe.

God bless President Obama, The Obama Family, The Good Ol' USA, & Our Troops!

out some facts.

:kick:

But you inexplicably read this as an attack. How strange.

I respect that you are fully supportive of the man. I get on his case but I don't believe he is a bad person, just a little slow sometimes.

Some on this board have argued the point that "the base" is actually the center and younger voters. The people who cemented Obama's win in 2008.

Unfortunately those same voters stayed home or defected in 2010. The centrist position is a dangerous one as the 2010 results would hint Obama has no reliable base at all going into 2012.

As for DU'ers in general I'd say a consensus is building against him here. I'd call it the Democratic party base instead.

the dialogue is about ACCEPTANCE.

Other than that, I agree with much of what you say.

Most of the people I know IRL do not hold the opinions of those on DU. I am willing to bet that most of the Dem party does not. Sometimes you got to take a step back into the real world to gain some perspective. My local dem party is fired up for 2012 and supports this president 100%. Washington state is ready to kick some GOP ass in 2012.

:kick:

I agree. :thumbsup:
People take this site way too seriously.

I love your attitude towards this place. I only wish I could have that type of mindset more often.

ha ha. :P I learned a long time ago not to take this place seriously. It will drive you insane. Despite a lot of the bickering (well, isn't that what message boards are for?!), DU is still a great place to come for information, and some good times! :hi:

Everyone here was Obama's base. Truth is, becaue he disapointed people have decided to throw him under the bus. A lot of the same group just threw Jon Stewart under the bus.

Once they decide whose base they are, they will come out and vote in time to turn the White House over to Repulbicans.

They need to realize its possible to support the president yet criticize him and that you can be a fan of Obama, Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow, Ed Schultz and Jon Stewart all at the same time.

Actually, many were and some left on their own. No bashing of the nominee was allowed during the GE.

;)

Were only Obama's supporters allowed to emit an opinion?

:eyes:

He's part of the Democratic party, and its current leader, but he's not THE Democratic party. Fellow Democrats have a right to disagree with him, we don't live in a dictatorship.

;-)

Thank you.

luck. :hi:

You do. I think it should be understood that your opinion is just your opinion. A rude, nasty image of all Black Churches as being intolerant, in order to defend Obama, a man who has attended only one chruch regularly and that one teaches equality and inclusion. What is it called when you use sacred things to build a political defense, and in the doing of it, slander millions of open hearted people as intolerant?

. . .you should know I ain't making shit up.

And doesn't everyone at DU share an opinion.

lol

Is not lacking in regards to homophobic preachers. I did not know that this was some kind of big secret.

What happened to the Democratic Party?

:kick:

You say we are all democrats here, then go on about Obama's base.

oh that's right, he is a "new kind of Democrat"

I am a proud member of Obama's base. I accept healthy criticism, as I am not always happy with the decisions the admin has made, however, there is a strong faction that wishes for his failure.
I get sick to death of seeing these posts on a democratic site.

. . .we need to learn how to be critical and stand up for ourselves without screwing the pooch, which is what we are doing now.

OP sealed the deal for me. I am more than convinced now that some people have lost their ever loving mind. That now, for some, that it has gone from criticism to something totally different. I think it is contained within the blogosphere for the most part. I do not see this level of disdain for the president outside this site and a couple of others. I know people tend to surround themselves with people who share the same sentiments. However, while canvassing for Patty Murray in my area and surrounding areas most people I talked to backed this president. Those that did not back him defined themselves as republicans. I am looking forward to 2012.

and the dogs came out in a pack.It took way to long to lock the thread, and just minutes for my posts questioning the intention of the post to be deleted.

That your post was deleted yet that piece of crap OP was allowed to stay up for as long as it did. I think it was finally deleted because of all the uproar maybe folks alerted it. I did not alert it because I wanted to see how many would come in there and actually agree with the OP. I noticed no rec's but quite of few high fives, +1. Totally disgusting but an eye opener.

...regarding staffing choices, policies fought for (or not), deals cut, etc. - the criticism has become exasperation and total frustration with a president who had a true mandate and both houses and yet waved the white flag over and over again when our problems are so acute.

They know all about his staffing choices, policies fought for, deals cut, and yet do not feel he has waved the white flag.

Actually, I think people who agree with you are probably in the minority (tho those that agree with you are quite vocal).

Nice post! I am a proud member of Obama's base as well.

Thanks for taking the time to post, although it sounds like it is being misinterpreted.

...wonder how that happened.

DU is what it is, there are lots of diverse viewpoints, there are many here who do not identify as Democrats.

I worked and contributed to get Obama elected.

Does that count as having been the early base?

I expected more.

And nobody on D.U. would want Obama to 'fail'. Not unless they are Rushbots.

him and advocating replacing him in 2012. I would call that a preemptive wish for failure.

I am quite disappointed in Congress and the WH.
The economy was the number one priority. We are in a serious recession and very little was done.

We needed a strong stimulus bill and did not get it.

We needed it a strong financial reform bill and did not get it. Did not do what needed to be done.

The election reflected that failure.

I had other priorities, but those two are first.


The lack of political and moral courage are remarkable.

...the number of corporate sell-outs in government.

That too.

He who pays the piper calls the tune.

The parties involved know enough not to violate the bribery statute. The deal is implicit.

President Obama are the real Democratic Party and people generally supporting him are not. Sometimes (most of the time lately) DU truly seems like it is the crazy train on a loop.

What many in the Democratic base are doing is trying to point out how far this administration has strayed from Democratic principles.

Being a Democrat isn't about supporting one person, no matter what.

overstatement.

when you have no case at all.

I don't know a single Dem outside DU who thinks we need a primary candidate against Obama.

Or who think he is a corporatist ... or that he hates the GLBT community, or that the health care bill is so flawed that it should not have passed, or that the financial regulations that passed are meaningless.

The ONLY place I hear those claims are here on DU ...

At one time, I came to DU to help me build arguments ... arguments against the crazy right wing folks I deal with, and arguments that I could use to help pull my moderate Dem friends towards our side.

For the latter, I would recommend that they come to DU. But I no longer do that. The tone on DU has changed in an ugly way. And so while I still find value in coming here, I can't recommend that other Democrats that I know spend much time here. I'd rather they focus on the battle against the GOP, and not the nonsensical bickering, that far too often goes on here.

When the poster bigwillQ stated above that people take this site too seriously he/she was spot on. Those who get riled up by the critics and those who believe that DU is the single voice of the Dem party. Sorry but that is not so. All the DU'ers who want the president to be challenged in 2012 should petition a legit survey company to poll the base. I would love to see the numbers for that one. You would think that if DU, Huffington post, Dailkos and the likes of them were the resounding voice for the party that a poll would of been conducted by now. You know the media would eat something like that up in a heartbeat. Look how they were all giddy over us losing the House.

Its like we have our own Tea Party. They can take any outcome and find the outrage in it.

Sadly, it's caused me to spend less time here.

I prefer to spend my political arguments trying to move the moderates towards the left ... but if I sent the moderates here, they'd see what some on the left call Obama, and the last thing those folks would do is move to the left.

:kick:

I stayed away for a while but came back during the primaries. I think it is time to take a break. If you have some time please check out http://www.thepeoplesview.net/ The owner of this blog is a really nice guy. He needs some exposure so if you have facebook or twitter you can link them up. It is a good lefty blog. Maybe you can send people there to read some articles and prepare for 2012.

I don't hero worship - I am not in any way part of "obama's base". I am a Democrat, and am, always have been, and always hope to be of the Democratic base, seeing as how I have voted Democratic since my first election nearly 40 years ago.

OTOH, someone who declares to be "Obama's base" is not necessarily a member of the Democratic base - hero worshippers follow heroes, and can be wooed away from the party by a charismatic candidate - thus explaining Reagan Democrats.

I have no interest in "Obama's base" - only in preserving the Democratic base.

...supposed to be about.

too many DUers are confusing hero worship with DEMOCRATS

a charismatic candidate, and is no more intellectually proficient than Reagan???

There is nothing wrong with Obama that could not be addressed by his adhering to what he campaigned on. It's the people who make excuses for his NOT living up to his candidacy that tick me off.

the folks that were with him for fashion are always the first to abandon.

so go peddle your opinions to the people you think should be the proper targets.

. . .where I have been since 2001.

We are each only one vote. And, many of us are in states where that vote will come nowhere near effecting that state's electoral vote.

We are each limited in the amount we can donate to a candidate.

So, the only pertinent question is how much support you give outside of the election cycle. And, what does it mean to be part of that base?

Does 'the base' stand by the President no matter what? Does 'the base' defend policies that are antithetical to the American people, to justice, to the Constitution?

Does one who criticizes based on perceived errant policies get excluded from 'the base'?

The base, as you defined it, is still largely undefined, and meaningless.

... and was always annoyed by the folks who sat in the stands and told the Super Bowl MVP how to play.

:kick:

I saw Joe Montana play in person one time ... sat behind a bunch of guys who looked like they couldn't even make JV gripe and complain about all he was doing wrong and how they thought he could play better.

Fortunately, they were out of his ear-shot so they couldn't distract him .... he and Nancy .... I mean Jerry just kept right on moving the ball down the field. ;)

. . .because Montana didn't follow the play calling that the fans wanted.

that when he was running against Hillary, at least half of the people on DU supported Barack Obama. It is true that many never supported him. However, I think a big portion of that original group still support DU.

But, it is not an homogenous group of Democrats. However, it is mostly a fair sampling of Democrats, in my opinion. Perhaps not as loyal to the President as you, but still supportive and hopeful that he will be a successful President.

Many understand that he came into office under the very worst of economic circumstances. On top of it all, he was our first black President. That is a major factor, whether we admit it or not. It is not an easy road. He might be a wimp president but, by God, he is our wimp president.

I'll add that I had been a rock solid part of Obama's base ever since his anti Iraq War speech in our great city in 2002, through his senate primary and general, presidential primary and general until sometime in 2010 when my hope for change collided with reality. I think I've got a lot of company and it's an important demographic. So there is a rate of defection from Obama's base that apparently doesn't concern him, but should. He may not be hemorrhaging but there is flow.

of President Obama's policies, and calling them "haters" is divisive and wrong.

and how they stayed home during this election.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x525147

Sid

n/t

has to stop. "Obama's" base is every American Idol/DWTS fan who has a crush on the guy. The DEMOCRATIC PARTY'S base is unions, social security supporters, LGBT rights supporters, and people of color.

You are truly un-fucking-believable.

Thank you. :thumbsup:

Obama hasn't been around long enough to have a base, here or anywhere.

For over 40 years, I considered myself to be a Mainstream Center Democrat...a member of the BASE.

I support things like:

*Good Jobs for Americans...some things are worth protecting

*Good benefits for the Working Class...
Job Security, Vacation, High Wages, Health Care, Retirement,...

*Organized LABOR

*Fair Competition that prevented BIG corporations from undercutting small, locally owned businesses

*Progressive Income Taxes, highest bracket 75% - 85%

*Fair Competition that let Mom & Pop compete with Big Boxes and Agri-Business

*Universal Education for everyone. NO Public Money for Private Schools.

*Strongly Regulated or Publicly Owned Banking/Investment, Transportation, Communications, Trade, Energy, Utilities, Insurance.

*Equal Rights and Equal Protections for EVERYBODY. No exceptions.

*Strong Social Safety Net and Consumer Protections.

*Trust Busting...If it is "Too Big to Fail", it gets busted up.

*No spying on Americans without Judicial Approval

*Innocent until Proven Guilty.

*The Government MUST provide Habeas Protections and a "Speedy Trial" to EVERYBODY in government custody.

*No such thing as a "Private Prison" or Armed Private Contractors in a War Zone.

*Exit Polls and Verifiable Elections.

*Windfall Profits protections against Corporate Gouging and Price Setting

*REAL "Debates" sponsored by League of Women Voters

*"Liberal" Democrat was a good thing

*No Such Thing as a "Unitary Executive".

*"War Profiteering" was a Crime.

*The Constitution put ABSOLUTE RESTRICTIONS on Government.
The RIGHTS enumerated in the Constitution came BEFORE government,
and government was forbidden to EVER infringe on these rights.

*"Leftists"/ "Left Wing" described Hard Core Communists, not Liberal Democrats

*The Democratic Party PROTECTED the Working Class.
The Republicans protected the RICH.

I'm Old Fashioned.
I STILL believe in ALL the values and issues that I embraced as a young, mainstream Democrat....
only today, I am now considered "fringe", "Leftist", "Fucking Retard", even hater.
I haven't changed.
So whats Up with THAT?

I don't care to be in "The Base" of a political party that does NOT embrace the Traditional Democratic Party issues and values I listed above.


"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans. I want us to compete for that great mass of voters that want a party that will stand up for working Americans, family farmers, and people who haven't felt the benefits of the economic upturn."---Paul Wellstone