Obama's Broken Base

[Sinatra]

Interesting article outlining how marginal Obama's actual 2008 coalition of voter support likely was, and how that support is now dwindling away - namely among what the author's describe as Jacksonian Democrats - those who initially supported Hillary Clinton but then broke for Obama in the final stretch, and who are now quite unhappy with the Obama White House...

___

...But if we accept that the comparisons are at least marginally valid, then Obama is not encountering some new, unanticipated resistance from the electorate. Instead, it may be that his general election triumph was the aberration—that his coalition was never as strong as the financial panic of September 2008 made it seem. It would mean that he is now returning to his natural base of support and that the Jacksonians and others who resisted him in the primaries have turned away once again from his charms.

But it also suggests something more, that the Democratic party is now the party of Obama, for good and for ill. While the president is no Jacksonian, his party has many in its ranks. Democratic officeholders should be concerned about their voters fleeing not just from Obama but from their party as well. The president may be in the process of trimming the Democratic base back into something that looks an awful lot like his own primary base.

A few weeks ago Representative Marion Berry, a Jacksonian from Arkansas’s First District, recounted an exchange he had with the president. Asked how he was going to prevent a midterm disaster on the scale of 1994, Obama replied, “Well, the big difference here and in ’94 was you’ve got me.” Which may be precisely the problem.



The Clinton Voters Jump Ship | The Weekly Standard

 

[Sinatra]

And in related news, the Dems are now looking for a scapegoat - and it appears Rahm has been chosen - though there is also some criticism being directly leveled at Obama as well...

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Congressional Democrats point finger of blame at Rahm Emanuel

Democrats in Congress are holding White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel accountable for his part in the collapse of healthcare reform.

The emerging consensus among critics in both chambers is that Emanuel’s lack of Senate experience slowed President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority.

...One senior Democratic senator said Emanuel was initially reluctant to push healthcare reform so early in Obama’s first term, counseling instead for the president to focus on jobs and the economy

But the president decided healthcare had to pass when he had a strong political mandate and the party controlled large majorities in both chambers.


Congressional Democrats point finger of blame at Rahm Emanuel - TheHill.com

 

[beowolfe]

The democratic party has no base and neither did Obama. That's the beauty of the Democratic party.....you have to cobble together all sort of factions. Just like you have to do to lead the nation. They and the GOP work very, very differently.

 

[Sinatra]

The democratic party has no base and neither did Obama. That's the beauty of the Democratic party.....you have to cobble together all sort of factions. Just like you have to do to lead the nation. They and the GOP work very, very differently.

This is an interesting comment.

So what was the unifying factor in the Obama campaign?

Getting to elect the first Black President?

Anti-Bush sentiment?

Misinformed electorate?

Fawning media?

All of the above -and more?

 

[Claudette]

The democratic party has no base and neither did Obama. That's the beauty of the Democratic party.....you have to cobble together all sort of factions. Just like you have to do to lead the nation. They and the GOP work very, very differently.

This is an interesting comment.

So what was the unifying factor in the Obama campaign?

Getting to elect the first Black President?

Anti-Bush sentiment?

Misinformed electorate?

Fawning media?

All of the above -and more?

Think you hit the nail on the head Sinatra but lets not forget the ever present Hope and Change bs and the every lovely CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN.

 

[theDoctorisIn]

The democratic party has no base and neither did Obama. That's the beauty of the Democratic party.....you have to cobble together all sort of factions. Just like you have to do to lead the nation. They and the GOP work very, very differently.

This is an interesting comment.

So what was the unifying factor in the Obama campaign?

Getting to elect the first Black President?

Part of it.

Anti-Bush sentiment?

Part of it.

Misinformed electorate?

There's no need to be elitist.

Fawning media?

No.

All of the above -and more?

More, yes. All of the above, no.

 

[skookerasbil]

Sinatra nails the point astutely..........as usual!!!

Independents have jumped ship at a 2-1 clip over the past 6 months. They know when theyve been bamboozled. Independents particularly dont like getting snowed..........and this guy Obama did it in unabashed fashion: lied right to their faces about changing Washington and governing from the center.

Now they know..........the independents, and frankly, more moderate Dems. The guy is part of the fringe left.......and always has been.

 

[MIPS]

The democratic party has no base and neither did Obama.

ROFLMAO! That's a completely ludicrous statement, political parties in the current duopoly have no chance to win elections without a "base" (that is all the idiots that vote for and donate money to that party and it's candidates no matter what), the two parties just battle over the voters in middle (independents) and the one that gets the larger share as well as motivating it's "base" to get out to vote wins.

Heck just look at all the Democratic Party's mindless drones on this site if you want to see the Democratic Party base in action.

 

[skookerasbil]

ps..........who ever thunk it? That the slogan, "Change we can believe in" would become such a mockery within 18 months of its triumph. Unfcukkingbelievable...............it really is. People are starting to become embarrassed to admitting their support to Obama these days.............its fcukking hysterical. These people dont want to look like dumbasses...........and who can blame them????!!!!!!!!!

 

[mudwhistle]

The democratic party has no base and neither did Obama. That's the beauty of the Democratic party.....you have to cobble together all sort of factions. Just like you have to do to lead the nation. They and the GOP work very, very differently.

The Dem Party has a base.

They make up 20% of the voting public. 17% is the Black vote and the rest are a bunch of angry White elitists. The GOP has a solid 30%. The rest are a bunch of know nothing swing voters that blow this way and that whichever way the political winds are blowing.

 

[skookerasbil]

The democratic party has no base and neither did Obama.

ROFLMAO! That's a completely ludicrous statement, political parties in the current duopoly have no chance to win elections without a "base" (that is all the idiots that vote for and donate money to that party and it's candidates no matter what), the two parties just battle over the voters in middle (independents) and the one that gets the larger share as well as motivating it's "base" to get out to vote wins.

Heck just look at all the Democratic Party's mindless drones on this site if you want to see the Democratic Party base in action.

indeed............this site lures the real fringe of the k00ks. Actually, this site pulls in the fringe of the 21%ers.........the real miserable ones that pine for uber progressive public policy and think that it is actually mainstream thinking.


You watch...........the lefty base will be staying home this November FTW!!! Its going to be a carbon copy of what happened in 2008 when the right stayed home because they saw McCain as a fcukking joke.

 

[Rambunctious]

Fly me to the moon and let me swing... oh sorry um. I think the Dems are in trouble for the next few years. They went too far and misread the American people.

 

[AvgGuyIA]

All your base are belong to us​

 

[mudwhistle]

The democratic party has no base and neither did Obama. That's the beauty of the Democratic party.....you have to cobble together all sort of factions. Just like you have to do to lead the nation. They and the GOP work very, very differently.

This is an interesting comment.

So what was the unifying factor in the Obama campaign?

Getting to elect the first Black President?

Part of it.

Part of it.

There's no need to be elitist.

Fawning media?

No.

All of the above -and more?

More, yes. All of the above, no.

No....All of the above yes.

 

[Bill O'Olberman]

Unfortunanely for Republicans, I dont see moderates/independent voters voting "against" Obama. I believe that in order for the GOP to have any chance they have to nominate a truely compelling candidate thats worth voting "for" as well as run a campaign that actually manages to win people over. Kind of the opposite of Kerry's 2004 Campaign.

 

[mudwhistle]

Unfortunanely for Republicans, I dont see moderates/independent voters voting "against" Obama. I believe that in order for the GOP to have any chance they have to nominate a truely compelling candidate thats worth voting "for" as well as run a campaign that actually manages to win people over. Kind of the opposite of Kerry's 2004 Campaign.

80% of Independents do not approve of Obama's policies.

So unless that changes soon it will take a long time to gain that back.

He won on a populist platform...and the simple fact that nobody really knew how he would perform.

Now that they've found out they're leaving him in droves...regardless of the stunts he pulls.