I was expecting a much bigger response to this HuffPost article "Obama Rebuffs Democratic Plea To Be More Forceful" from the liberal blogs:
The president has heard the complaint before. Democrats have accused Obama repeatedly of ceding too much ground to the GOP, especially on health care and the extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy. But attendees said the critique appeared to rub him the wrong way on Thursday.
"He was a little testy with the Waxman question. Essentially, Mr. Waxman was urging him to fight more," one legislator said. "The president reminded folks that he's the president sitting in that chair and he knows how to negotiate."
Obama also told the assembled Democrats not to count on more fiery rhetoric from the Oval Office.
"He said, 'There's a difference between me and a member of Congress,'" another lawmaker said, paraphrasing the president as saying: "When I say something the markets react, all of society reacts, other countries react. I've got to be careful with what I say. I can't just say it for brinkmanship. I've got to say it in a way so that I get what I want said, but I don't upset markets and so on."
The few responses I've seen focus on the But Obama responded that he has to be more careful and more considered than that, and that he is executing an existing plan line, asking if 9.1 percent unemployment was part of that plan, but that's not what got me.
I laughed when I read the part where Obama says he knows how to negotiate. He doesn't. Negotiation and compromise are supposed to be means, not ends. They're supposed to be used to end fights but Obama uses them to avoid fights. The question is why, and why is he so testy about such things?
Now I know. By rebuffing Dems requrests to be more forceful Obama is saying he has no intention of fighting for Democratic beliefs. He is too embarassed by them to defend them rigorously and publicly. With this rebuff he is telling his base he has no interest in being both a President and a Democrat at the same time (though the republicans seem to have no problem with it).
Obama wants all the perks of being a Democrat but none of the responsibilities. That doesn't work for me, but he's not listening to me anyway. My vote's expendable this election in favor of independent voters. I almost with the GOP would offer some credible nominee to really challenge Obama and make him work for his votes.
That is why he's always compromising. That's why he uses negotiation to avoid fights instead of settling them. He has no interest in fighting. He's admitting as much in this article. And that's a problem because as President he is also head of the Democratic party and this is not where the Democratic party expected itself to be in 2008.
I've given Obama about as much time and energy as I can spare, and I too am exhausted from doing so. Quite frankly, I need an Obama Break. Other pockets of the Democratic party need tending to as well; the parts trying to fill the leadership void Obama left on the Left. This is not a GBCW diary. It's simply to note that progressives are working their asses off in local and state elections and they need more help. I for one am going to give it to them.