Neurotic Dem: “Where Are Obama’s Supporters?”

Martine Kaplan — August 7, 2009 – 4:01 pm | Obama Comments (0) Add a comment

Josh Rolnick at Neurotic Democrat has an interesting piece up today about Obama’s successes and the importance of continuing to help him be successful in the face of town hall protests and distractions like the Birthers.

An excerpt:

We supporters can’t shake the feeling that while we are winning the war, we are badly losing the battles….

It doesn’t really matter what he’s done, and what he’s trying to do. People are reacting to who he is. There’s a phrase for this in Judaism. It’s called baseless hatred.

Here, though, is the problem. As Krugman notes:

Right now Mr. Obama’s backers seem to lack all conviction, perhaps because the prosaic reality of his administration isn’t living up to their dreams of transformation. Meanwhile, the angry right is filled with a passionate intensity.

And if Mr. Obama can’t recapture some of the passion of 2008, can’t inspire his supporters to stand up and be heard, health care reform may well fail.

He’s right. But don’t be so quick to put the whole burden on Obama. All of us who hit the streets for him last fall need to look in the mirror and ask: Do we really intend to sit the rest of this one out? Having elected a pragmatic, progressive president, are we content to let the birthers and their ilk set the terms of the debate?

Remember. History isn’t always written by the victor. Sometimes, it’s written by those who shout the loudest.

Go here to read the full post.

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