"Surprise, surprise" or is it? Those first two words from Jim Nabors as Gomer Pyle in one of his signature characterizations from 1960's T.V.
According to Nicholas Confessore, Kitty Bennett and Griff Palmer, reporters all for the New York Times, who interviewed "dozens of low-dollar contributors in the past two weeks," [i] it seems some of President Obama's "most loyal supporters"voters of modest means""who is his previous presidential campaign contributed""$10 or $25 or $50 every few weeks or months" have begun, as one man said, "I will not give the president- or anyone else- any more money". Surprise!?
The responders statements i.e. "he's just an opportunistic politician"I have been disappointed in the president"he has not stood up to the Republicans"I am disappointed and I'm bewildered" et al may (or may not) reflect a truly accurate picture of the prevailing attitudes and donor giving habits of all the presidents previous donors. To be fair the small number of donors interviewed (though from different areas of the country) was not a representative sampling of random givers which would give their responses some scientific credibility.
Be that as it may, the sense from here is the enthusiasm for Obama and the enormous millions in small donor giving to his campaign in 2008 will in all likelihood not be happening in this election cycle.
Let's face it, Barack Obama is not the transformational figure many of us hoped for and expected and has hardly met the challenge before him. When he raised hopes, as he clearly did in 2008 with his eloquent words and presence, and failed utterly, he has become little more than an eloquent clone of his predecessor. And that's not transformation; it's a suffering pathos.
The reasons are numerous:
Guantanamo Bay- Open
Not holding the Bush/Cheney mob accountable for authorizing torture (they've been given a pass)
Missile attacks and drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, (where we are supposedly not at war) increased ten fold when compared to his predecessor
Extraordinary rendition, indefinite detention, secret detention sites, warrantless wiretapping, continue unabated
Targeting of American citizens for assassination (an American born Islamic cleric supposedly in hiding in Yemen)
Few trials of terrorism suspects in civilian courts (where they'd be able to testify on the torture inflicted upon them)
Re-instituting military tribunals of terrorism suspects (where admissions, confessions made under duress (torture) may be permitted to be heard
The bailout of Wall Street and the continued coddling of the banksters while not holding the perpetrators accountable for their role in bringing about the financial meltdown and subsequent great recession
Installing Lawrence Summers and Tim Geitner as his top economic advisor and Treasury Secretary respectively; two people that were at the forefront of deregulation and laissez faire financial dealings that helped to unmoor the financial speculators who wrecked havoc, created the sub-prime mortgage bubble that subsequently burst and literally got away unscathed but also made whole again to do it all over again (with the same expectation that the government will again bail them out)
Little relief for those millions whose mortgages were underwater many from the scandalous, illegal practices of lenders and forced into foreclosure and bankruptcy
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