This spinelessness may be what upsets the Democratic base the most.
Although Obama faults progressives for an unrealistic desire for purity, they see a need for courage and principle even in the face of pain. They believe the Republicans have become stalwart defenders of corporatism and thus tenacious enemies of any government effort to constrain corporate power and to address the nation's needs.
Many progressives had hoped that Obama would emerge as an articulate advocate for a more energized government that would fight for the interests of average citizens against the power of money.
Instead, what they see in Obama is an obsessive conciliator, always looking for ways to compromise even with the most intransigent (or corrupt) foe. To them, Obama may have drawn many lines in the sand (as he said) but he's too quick to rub them out and draw new ones.
Obama's Challenges
To be fair to Obama, he was confronted with extraordinary crises when he took office. The economy was teetering near collapse; two U.S. automakers were heading toward permanent bankruptcy; the federal deficit was near $1.3 trillion; and American troops were at war in faraway countries.
The choices before Obama were not easy ones. If he had chosen to shake up the political-economic system rather than settle it down he might have tipped the country and the world into a full-scale depression. And he would have taken a pounding from the U.S. news media and the political elite.
The high-decibel accusations about Obama as an anti-business, closet-Muslim socialist would have been even louder than they were. Egged on by the powerful right-wing voices on talk radio and cable news, the surge of gun-toting Tea Party anger might have been even more intense.
The Left's longstanding neglect of media would have left Obama standing much more exposed than some on the Left like to admit.
Obama is also correct when he says many progressives are unrealistic about what can be achieved when the Right has a huge megaphone to the American people's ear and the Left has done little to match it.
Still, realism does not have to mean surrender; compromise does not have to mean repudiating principles and endangering long-term prospects.
From failing to hold Bush and his aides accountable for crimes of state to letting the Washington/Wall Street powers-that-be frame the parameters for what's possible, Obama repeated many of the mistakes that President Bill Clinton made, with a parallel result a resurgent Republican Party and an empowered right-wing extremist faction.
Obama now faces the risk of more demands and more "hostage-taking." Though he may wish to avoid confrontation, it will surely find him.
For those on the Left whether Obama loyalists or critics there are daunting challenges ahead.
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