Diaries about Obama's great (or terrible) achievements miss the point for me. There are lots of things that I agree with in both kinds of diary, but to me the real issue is why I (and others) are experiencing this nasty intensity gap.
I want to be excited about the possibilities of working for a Democratic candidate, as I was in 2008. It's not enough to be fearful of the result of Democrats losing -- I was afraid of Gore and Kerry losing to Bush, but I didn't work for them. In fact, 2008 is only the third time I have EVER worked on a campaign, instead of just giving money.
Details of why I'm mostly not excited are below the fold.
I did a little phone banking for Obama in 2008. That's no big thing, EXCEPT for the fact that at age 54, it's only the third campaign I ever worked on. The other two were small-town school committee elections, where my children's immediate welfare was VERY MUCH on the line (long, ugly story).
I've given money to lots of candidates, including Gore and Kerry. I knew it would be a disaster for Bush to be (or continue to be) President, but I didn't work for Gore or Kerry. I gave money to Halter and Sestak and Franken, too, but I didn't work for them, either.
Why did I work for Obama? Because I was really, really excited about the possibility of his winning. Fearing the consequence of someone losing isn't enough for me, and I suspect that's true for most people. I've got to be excited or else I'll find some other good cause to spend my energy on that DOES excite me.
And THAT is the cause of my personal intensity gap: I'm just not that excited about the Democratic Party right now. I suspect that I've got lots of company. Give me things to be excited about, and I'll turn out! Don't, and I personally will still vote (for Democrats), but lots of people will find some urgent issue in their own lives that is more important than lining up at their polling station. And lots of Democratic candidates may lose who don't need to.
NOTE: I believe that Democrats will be far better than Republicans on all of these issues (and nearly everything else), and I won't vote for a Republican for ANYTHING, ANYWHERE, ANY TIME. That's separate from how excited I am about fighting to get Democrats elected.
Also, Obama has done lots of great stuff since being elected, especially considering the opposition that he has faced from the GOP. But excitement isn't about abstract lists of accomplishments -- it's about connecting with visceral issues. Here is a quick personal survey of where I am with that.
Health care: I really care about this issue, and I'm glad we got that law passed. But what I really felt in my gut was the need to reign in health insurance companies, which seem to be largely about profit, rather than about health. Some outliers among the Democrats kept that hope going, but the main Democrats (including Obama) seemed to drop that concern early on. So I'm feeling no huge excitement here.
Immigration: I'm a 4th (or more) generation WASP, but I grew up very much aware that my immigrant ancestors came here for a better life. So I resonate to immigration issues. I hear too much immigrant-bashing from Democrats to get really excited about electing Democrats on this issue. More to the point, I hear batshit crazy stuff from the Republicans (border fences, illegals cause theft and murder, anchor babies will grow up to be terrorists) and I do NOT hear enough clear, cogent mocking and trashing of their positions from leading Democratic politicians. They seem afraid to take a stand for fear of offending someone.
Gay marriage: I eventually overcame my upbringing and became a supporter, but I never really felt this issue viscerally until I read Judge Walker's ruling. I was electrified! The logic and passion recorded in that document make it overwhelmingly clear to me why anyone who really values marriage needs to aggressively support gay marriage -- or rather, why we need to stop thinking in terms of gay or straight marriage and recognize that it is all just MARRIAGE. So I'm excited -- but it wasn't a Democratic politician who did it. Where is the leadership on this from the Democratic party and its leader? Even just suspending DADT expulsions for the rest of the year would send a message.
Economy: I still have a good job, with strong prospects of keeping it. My brother is out of work, but he isn't going to directly get his tech job back through any of the stimulus programs. The most visceral part of this for me is resetting the playing field so that there is less manipulation in favor of the already rich. In particular, I think that people who actually DO things and CREATE things should get rich, but people who move money around and manipulate the markets should NOT. The Detroit auto-company loans were a good thing. The financial system bailout was necessary, but should have been accompanied by a stronger determination to fundamentally change the system. Yes, I know that making this into actual law would probably have been impossible, but there are lots of things that Obama could have done differently on his own authority.
Freedom of speech and religion: Republican politicians (mostly) started fear-mongering about building an Isamic religious center in New York. Then some started saying that we should allow NO mosques to be built anywhere in this country because all of Islam wants to replace US law with their own religious law! Why aren't the Democratic politicians going 24/7 with mockery about them trashing the Constitution? Why aren't they pointing out that "religious tolerance" doesn't mean JUST tolerating those of your own religion? Why aren't they pointing out the cognitive dissonance of making such statements while supporting people on the right who talk about violent revolution if they lose elections, or who want to impose their own religious law on our nation? Underlying it all, where are the Democratic politicians who passionately defend the right of freedom of speech? This whole "some speech is un-American" bit is so counter to the fundamentals of this country that I am speechless (ahem). Yes, some Democratic politicians have spoken out, and Reid said some good things recently, but I'm just not convinced that Democratic politicians in general care enough about these issues to take risks to defend these rights.
Torture, indefinite detention, assassination, spying on Americans: These were my most visceral issues before the election and they still are. I've read lost of diaries and blog postings asserting that Obama has not only continued most of Bush's policies (and court cases) along these lines, but has extended them in some key ways. I've read lots of diaries trashing those diarists, but they listed OTHER things that Obama has done, and did not ever (that I found) address the substance of the issue, which is whether Obama has reduced or not reduced the (in my view) grossly evil policies put in place by Bush. I had hope that Obama's election would mean the slow udoing of all of these terrible changes in our country, but I have not seen that happening. On this issue I am EMPHATICALLY NOT EXCITED.
Concluison: That's a quick list of some topics where I would like to be excited. With one exception, I'm really not. And that issue wasn't every one of my visceral issues, until a Republican (I assume) judge made it one. I'll keep giving money to selected Democratic campaigns, but I'm pretty busy this fall -- at present I have no plans to work on campaigns.
In closing, I learned after Obama was elected that his campaign put great emphasis on telling a positive story. Facts aren't enough, and anger doesn't work, the training supposedly taught -- the message has to be part of a story that the people hearing it care about. Or something like that. Note that this method can be used for good (with true stories) or for evil (with lies, as the Republicans so regularly do). It's just a method -- but it's a method that works.
My point here is to request that commenters remember to be positive. If you think I should be excited, it's not going to help to trash me or people like me (e.g. by calling us "bashers" or "naysayers"). What will help is to give me a reason why I should be excited. I already fear the Republicans -- fearing them more won't get me excited. Give me things to hope for that viscerally matter to me. Kossacks, Obama and Democratic candidates, do you hear me? Please, I'm begging you!