Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Liberal Base "Worried" About Obama Agenda

As any regular reader of this blog knows, I have been worried - or worse, disgusted - about the agenda of President Obama and Congressional Democrats for a while now. Moreover, I fully support the LGBT community boycott of money donations to the DNC and affiliated entities until such time as campaign promises to the LGBT community are delivered upon by Obama, et al. Now, CBS News has picked up on the LGBT boycott called by a number of LGBT bloggers and activists, no doubt to the peevish displeasure of the White House. If the truth and our community's refusal to be further played as suckers hurts President Obama's sensibilities, then all he need do is act on his promises. I truly believe that Obama and the DNC underestimate just how angry many LGBT Americans are over being thrown under the bus once our usefulness in the 2008 election cycle was over. Here are some highlights of CBS' interview with Jane Hamsher of Fire Dog Lake:
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Jane Hamsher, the founder of liberal blog FireDogLake.com, said in an interview Tuesday that the liberal base is "worried" about the Obama administration and may "stay home" in the 2010 midterm elections. . . . She argued that the Obama administration is paying little attention to its base even as the opposition gins up support among the Republican base with events like the Tea Party protests.
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"If you're suppressing your base, and the other side is revving up theirs, and midterm elections are all about turning out the base, I sort of question what their strategy is here," she said.
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Hamsher has signed on to a
financial boycott of the Democratic National Committee, Organizing for America (the DNC-run operation to mobilize Obama supporters) and the Obama campaign. The boycott was organized by Americablog's John Aravosis and Joe Sudbay over what they see as President Obama and his party's failure to keep its commitments to the gay and lesbian community.
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"LGBT Americans, our families, and our friends kept our promise at the ballot box, we now expect President Obama to keep his in the White House," they wrote. In addition to Hamsher, cosponsors include the liberal blog Daily Kos, writer and editor Dan Savage and radio host Michelangelo Signorile.
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That's not enough for some on the left, however – and LGBT issues are not the only ones generating anger. Separate from the Americablog effort,
another boycott is being organized by Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos. He is calling on his readers not to donate to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee because it is supporting candidates who voted against the health care reform bill. "Instead, give to those elected officials who best reflect your values," he writes.
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In addition to signing onto the Americablog boycott,
Hamsher pushed her readers to unsubscribe to the Organizing for America mailing list, which is believed to include 12 - 13 million names. Liberals have been unhappy with OFA for not doing more on progressive causes like the gay marriage referendum in Maine.

"They don't want to go out on issues that would make supporters of that list happy," said Hamsher. "They're triangulating against that list."

1 comment:

Stephen said...

The time is NOW to bring many more troops home from Iraq, pass ENDA and repeal DADT.