Left Cuts Obama Slack For Now

Politico: There Been Some Grumblings In Some Corners Of The Left, But Most Liberals Still Believe In Obama

(The Politico)  This story was written by Glenn Thrush and Ryan Grim.

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As a presidential candidate, Barack Obama boasted of opposing the Iraq War from the start.

But as president-elect, he has come to the rescue of surge supporter Joe Lieberman and flirted with the idea of keeping on Bush administration Defense Secretary Robert Gates - and now he seems poised to nominate war-authorizing Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to serve as his secretary of state. 

The sound from the left: not silence, but no howls of betrayal, either.

"Anybody who has reacted after two weeks is not a serious person," said Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.).

Members of Obama's loyal liberal base - from the Netroots to campus liberals to Hill Democrats - are watching closely as the candidate's vague incantations of hope coalesce into cold, concrete presidential decision making. It's not a seamless transition, but so far the left seems to be cutting Obama some favorite-son slack. Then again, he's been president-elect for only two weeks - even milk bought on the day he was elected hasn't had time to go sour.

"People continue to be excited,” said Rep. Earl Blumenauer, a Democrat who represents an Oregon district he described as one of the five most progressive in the nation. "They're still going to websites. There are campaigns they can be involved with. They're still networking and raising ideas and moving forward."

Anti-war voters are used to being disappointed. Some were flabbergasted when George W. Bush won a second term in the midst of the war in 2004; others were disillusioned when the Democrats didn’t do more to stop the war after capturing majorities of the House and the Senate in 2006.

And for some, that “here we go again” feeling came rushing back recently when Obama urged his soon-to-be-former Democratic Senate colleagues not to hold “grudges” against Lieberman, who infuriated liberals with his support for Iraq then picked at the scab by supporting John McCain - and opposing Obama - during the presidential race.

But in a sign that the left is willing to cut the president-elect some slack, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) - rather than Obama - has taken the lion’s share of the grief for this week’s decision to let Lieberman hang onto his chairmanship at the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

In a blog post, Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas said the Lieberman deal was proof that Senate Democrats are “tone deaf” to the views of “the American electorate that voted in overwhelming numbers for change from the discredited Bush/McCain/Lieberman policies.” Said Moulitsas: “I'm done with Reid as Senate leader."

Moulitsas’ criticism of Obama’s role in the Lieberman proceedings was more muted. But there are signs that the benefit of the doubt won't last forever. The list of potential flashpoints between Obama and the left wing of his party is growing, an inevitable development given the sky-high expectations and his need to recruit experienced lieutenants to deal with immense domestic and military problems.

Little that Obama has done has prompted as much anxiety as his flirtation with Gates, a proponent of continued ground operations in Iraq and longtime opponent of a date-certain withdrawal.

"Kind of makes you think that Democrats believe Republicans are better at managing both national security," scoffed Chris Bowers at OpenLeft.com, a progressive blog.

Obama has also drawn considerable flak for enlisting so many battle-scarred Clinton White House veterans - led by chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, who helped engineer the passage of the now-unpopular North American Free Trade Agreement for President Bill Clinton in the 1990s.

Obama has also taken some heat for considering former Harvard President Larry Summers for Treasury secretary, while drawing milder rebukes for passing over outgoing DNC hairman Howard Dean for secretary of Health and Human Services. The job, according to reports, is going to Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle.

And while opinion about Hillary Clinton's fitness to serve as secretary of state is divided, many lefty bloggers haven't forgotten Clinton's authorizing President Bush to use military force in Iraq in October 2002- or what they believe was her mishandling of health care reform 15 years ago.

"Sen. Clinton has been at the helm in two big undertakings - had two big executive leadership tasks," wrote Josh Marshall, the influential founder of Talking Points Memo. "One was health care in 1994, and the other was her presidential bid in 2007-08. Each was something of a train wreck from an executive-level management perspective."

Watching Obama stack his transition team and senior staff with Clinton-era operatives - and maybe an actual Clinton - has agitated many liberal lions who otherwise admire Obama.

"It tells me I'm going to have to be Frederick Douglas to his Abraham Lincoln," said House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), referring to Obama's fascination with all things Lincoln.

In some corners of the left, there's been downright dejection, but people there mostly were skeptical of him all along. Ali Abuminah, a Palestinian-rights activist in Chicago, says he's seen Obama move to the right on Israel, is troubled by the possible selection of Hillary Clinton as secretary of state and finds himself especially bothered by Emanuel's pro-Israel views.

"The emerging direction of Obama's Middle East policy is not going to do anything to unblock the peace process," he said, calling Emanuel "to the right of George Bush in many respects."

For the moment, though, such critics appear to be in the minority.

"At this point, a lot of people have a lot of confidence in him," said Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who is a self-identified socialist.

"His behavior is concurrent with how he ran his campaign," said Rep. Mike Honda, one of the more progressive members of California Democratic delegation. "Fingers crossed; this might work."

When Obama has faced opposition from his left flank, he's responded quickly.

In August, the Nation, the country's oldest progressive magazine, published an editorial warning of "troubling signs" that Obama was reverting to a "more cautious, centrist stance," citing his vote in favor of allowing telecom companies immunity in warrantless wiretap lawsuits.

Obama responded with an open letter to readers. I won't always agree with you, he told the lefty magazine, but I will always listen.

John Aravosis, founder of the left-of-center AMERICAblog, says most liberals implicitly trust Obama more than any Democrat in recent memory - and they understand that not every compromise he makes is a sellout.

"He hasn't really screwed up yet on these appointments," Aravosis added. "And look at the Lieberman situation. It's not like people aren't pissed off at Lieberman or Reid. But they just don't hold it against Obama because they know he needs to work with the Senate."

[armydog2]

Gates is very good at his job and here is the bipartisanship.

[lordmi]

to sblake63 - Move on.
It''s time to do hard job for The Country.
Stop crying, start Moving.
We have a President to Lead, we have a Job to do and we still have a Hope, that we , People, would be there.

[flexsf]

Obama uses his brain, and everybody knows it. What is Bush doing, right now, to help improve this disaster of an economy?

[gramto8]

"Maybe think about give back some land to the Native peoples."

Posted by thuderstone at 05:41 PM : Nov 21, 2008


Maybe the indians should give back their "reservations" if all they are going to do is build casinos, and then whine about not getting more...

Posted by CBSisPravda at 07:31 PM : Nov 21, 2008

I would be willing to bet (pun intended) that native Americans would love to trade their reservations, complete with casinos, back to us for all the land they lost.

[libra217]

Could the hairdo-and-wardrobe comment have been a reference and comparison to Sarah Palin?

Posted by panglos at 07:51 PM : Nov 21, 2008

And why would a comparison to Sarah Palin be relevant, mmm? That was my point. Stop picking on women just because they are women.

[think-people]

POSTED BY "sblake63":
"Oh and check out www.obamacrimes.com Is Obama eligible to be president if he wasn''t born here? There is a case pending in the high court demanding he produce a valid birth certificate. Perhaps a little surprise for the socialist?"
- - - - - -

TO SBLAKE63:
Are you not the least bit embarrassed to be touting these ''Urban Legends'' that have been debunked in so many ways that we have lost count? Do you have any shame to repeat a lie that is so old it has become cruddy, stale, debunked, and discredited a 100 times over?

[think-people]

TO SBLAKE63:
"Obama won because the election just happen to fall during a financial meltdown amid ''bush hatred mania'' LOL. The timing was perfect. The right wasn''t energized by McCain, he did not bring us out in large numbers as Bush did in 00 and 04. After a flurry of broken promises and life pretty much the same in the black community (no improvement), in 2012 the magic will be gone and "We" shall be back :) - Face it!"
- - - - -

TO SBLAKE63:
You sound bitter. Have some self respect. Stop crying. Let it go. Pray for your country and the new leadership.

GOD Bless the United States of America!
GOD Bless the Obama-Biden Leadership Team!

[think-people]

POSTED BY "sblake63":
"When Washington gets done with Obama, the people who voted for him will see he isn''t the "savior" he painted himself to be".
- - - - - -

TO SBLAKE63:
Is this your dream SBLAKE63? For the country to lose hope? This country is in the worst disaster since the stock market crashed 80 years ago, and you are crying like a bitter baby because the people chose to go in a new direction.

GOD Bless the United States of America!
GOD Bless the Obama-Biden Leadership Team!

[think-people]

POSTED BY "sblake63":
"He won because every black person who could vote for the most part all voted for him".
- - - - -

Uhmm . . . . duhhhh!! Earth to SBLAKE63, Earth to SBLAKE63. Black people have been voting 80%-to-95% Democrat since 1932 when President Franklin Roosevelt won the job from the Republican failure Herbert Hoover at the outset of the Great Depression.

So why would black people suddenly switch to Republican John McSame in 2008, when the Republican Party with a Republican President for the past 8-years have created such a national disaster? And were you expecting black people to suddenly switch to Republicans because the Democratic nominee happens to be ''biracial''.

SBLAKE63, , , , Have you ever heard of, , , , ''stupid is, as stupid thinks''.

[think-people]

POSTED BY "sblake63":
"Lmao@ at the left for thinking at Obama''s election was a mandate for their way of thinking as being "majority thinking".
- - - - -

CORRECTION TO SBLAKE63:
Obama''s election was a mandate to reverse the failures and disasters brought on by an incompetent leader and his cast of cronies, who was voted in twice by James Dobson''s "Focus on the Family" narrow-minded, "the-world-is-flat%u201D, hypocritical evangelical ditto-heads.

In essence Obama was elected by every thoughtful, discerning, and deliberate minded person that was NOT A SLAVE to James Dobson''s self-serving hypocritical views; and NOT A SLAVE to Rush Limbaugh''s hatemongering; and NOT A SLAVE to Sean Hannity''s ideology; and NOT A SLAVE to FAUX-News political slant.

Dear ''SBLAKE63'', drop the hate and pray for our country.

GOD Bless the United States of America!
GOD Bless the Obama-Biden Leadership Team!

[think-people]

QUOTE FROM CONGRESSMAN BARNEY FRANK (D-Mass):
"Anybody who has reacted after two weeks is not a serious person."

- - - - -

Well stated Congressman. Well stated.

[likeitis5050]

I am shocked! The left giving Obama lots of room for error? Get it right, people...there is no error where Obama is concerned...not now, not ever. What is Palin doing?

[Regensburger]

I can only wonder if the new Hillary will sport a new hairdo and wardrobe as well.

Posted by westafer2 at 06:11 PM : Nov 21, 2008

Give it a rest, moron. Are you saying the same of the new male Cabinet members ?

Posted by libra217 at 06:39 PM : Nov 21, 2008
_____________________________________________

My, aren''t biases revealed by the conclusions people jump to. Could the hairdo-and-wardrobe comment have been a reference and comparison to Sarah Palin?

[Regensburger]

I wouldn''t take such a negative tone about Gates. He''s been a dissenter and objector to Bush, in an administration where doing so has resulted in more than one head rolling. His leanings may not be perfectly aligned with Obama''s, but like Obama he''s not overly ideological, and he''s been known to tell things as they are regardless of his audience.

[downsteamjim]

Thunderstone: Obama could appoint John Edwards as Secretary of Cosmetology.

[dlindburg]

When will they ever learn? In 1972 I was Yolo County Chairman of the McGovern campaign. I am very much a liberal Democrat. Yet, it was with dismay that so many leftists sought to impose positions on the candidate that would insure his defeat. We can hold to our values, but there comes a time when we must be pragmatic. The end game is to get the candidate elected. That has happened. Now, I hear the left is giving Obama some slack. Give me a break! If Obama were to cater to the extreme left, he would be toast even before the swearing in ceremony. I am incredibly excited by this man becoming our president, and although he does not meet every sentiment I hold dear, I thank god that we will not be saddled with another "right-of-center" president. We need to do more than give Obama slack. We need to enthusiastically support his presidency, recognizing that not every decision he makes will jibe with our own.

[jmginpdx]

Did I miss something?
Why do we care what the far-left thinks of Obama?

Obama didn''t run as a hardcore liberal.
He''s not acting like a hardcore liberal now.

He campaigned as, and is acting like, a left-leaning centrist. If far-lefties are expecting Obama to suddenly say "sorry America, I lied, I''m really a serious lefty bleeding heart, welcome to the United Socialist States of America" - then they are in for a rude awakening.

I don''t want a President that responds to the fringe elements of either party, because that''s not where the majority of Americans fall, and that''s not why he was elected.

Extremists (on either the left or right) are a seriously deluded bunch if they think America as a society and government will EVER reflect even a majority of their values.
I''m most happy when both far-lefty liberals and far-right neocons have something to ***** about when they talk about the government. It means the sensible center is in sight.

[libra217]

Rarely anything ever sticks to him, no matter how poorly he reacts in a CRISIS.

Posted by BrianMD21220 at 06:22 PM : Nov 21, 2008

Except that he hasn''t reacted poorly in any crisis. LOL

[libra217]

"Most liberals still believe in Obama" (from the subtitle) - ?????

Geesh! He''s not even President yet. Once again, CBS is just trying to drum up controversy so they''ve got more to "report" on. Pitiful.

[brianmd21220]

"Left Cuts Obama Slack For Now" - Hasn''t that been the media''s slogan during the ENTIRE Primary and General campaigns beginning nearly two years ago???

The man''s like teflon and OJ - Rarely anything ever sticks to him, no matter how poorly he reacts in a CRISIS.

Like OJ found out - it is TIME for things to start Sticking and holding Obama ACCOUNTABLE for his choices and actions / reactions.

And for that I am happy with the way his cabinet is unfolding.

Accountability includes Credit for the Right choices he makes, as well as Criticism for any choice he makes which brings dishonor to the White House and America.