SocraticGadfly: Who's the real progressive? Not Obama

July 31, 2011

Who's the real progressive? Not Obama

In a NYT piece about fallout from Obama's ever-rightward tack on deficit cutting, Robert Borosage is interviewed making this claim:
“The activist liberal base will support Obama because they’re terrified of the right wing,” said Robert L. Borosage, co-director of the liberal group Campaign for America’s Future.

But he said, “I believe that the voting base of the Democratic Party — young people, single women, African-Americans, Latinos — are going to be so discouraged by this economy and so dismayed unless the president starts to champion a jobs program and take on the Republican Congress that the ability of labor to turn out its vote, the ability of activists to mobilize that vote, is going to be dramatically reduced.”
He's probably right on the second graf, but questionable on the first.

Many Dems of intellectual background who sincerely believed in Obama in 2008 will remain more skittish. And, then, those of us who saw through him before the 2008 election will only become more activist in recruiting people to vote Green or whatever.

Anybody of intelligence and political involvement who knows what the article goes on to say, namely, that Obama went beyond even the Senate's Gang of Six in proposed entitlements and other things, and yet does just what Borosage predicts may be "activist," and may be part of Obama's "base," but has forfeited the claims to be truly liberal or progressive. Period. End of story.

Between the fear-mongering that's already started, and Obama's social activism tidbits on gay marriage, he's playing with you.

No comments: