a party takes a large portion of its base for granted.
Let's see...at the national level, we have:
(1) A healthcare bill that passed the Senate which (a) incorporates the "Cadillac Tax" from John McCain's plan -- you know, the one people voted against, (b) has no public option to limit the ability of insurance companies to profit, (c) offers no single-payer plan (which is what so many wanted) and (d) makes it illegal to not buy into the system, with very large penalties if need be. Okay, okay, some call it chicken salad, but I call it chicken shit.
And then there was (more below the fold....)
(2) The broken promise on Don't Ask, Don't Tell. You know, that military policy which Obama could set aside with the stroke of a pen. He gave a great speech a few months agao about how he planned to set that aside, blah blah blah. Meanwhile, we still prosecute soldiers for being gay, and the Obama justice department filed briefs which suggest that gay sex is somehow on the level of bestiality. Oh...and the Obama folks have decided not to follow the orders of the Ninth Circuit regarding gay marriage, last I checked.
(3) But why stop with gay people? Obama promised to sign the Free Choice Act -- something he pushed for when he was a Senator, something he promised on the campaign trail. Got a lot of women to vote for him -- and men too. Here's a chance to end the abortion debate, obtain a victory in the confirmation wars, and so on, and so on. According to the White House, a few weeks after Obama took over, this legislative issue was "no longer a priority."
(4) Then there were the civil liberties folks. You know...people who wanted to (a) punish those who ordered torture, (b) close Gitmo, (c) put a stop to illegal surveillance, and (d) end the blanket claims of executive privilege which undermine our judicial system. The Obama administration now has essentialy refused to punish those who ordered torture, hasn't closed Gitmo, continues to assert that it has the constitutional authority to conduct surveillance and (d) can exercise executive privilege. In fact, Obama has taken executive privilege to a whole new level, claiming that not only does the executive have the power to arrest and detain anyone, including citizens, deemed to be "enemy combatants" but it can confine those people and hold them in prision EVEN IF A COURT FINDS THE PRISIONER TO BE INNOCENT.
(5) Then, of course, there were the people who wanted to see the end of mountaintop mining. Sorry, guys. Obama's department of interior continues to grant those permits. To hell with you -- its only Appalachia.
(6) Banking reform? Not so much.
(7) Jobs program? Its coming. We just needed to give a whole bunch of money to bankers first, so that they could continue to award themselves massive bonuses with our money.
(8) Card check for unions? Ha. We're going to tax the unions for negotiating cadillac health plans. Card check goes nowhere. After all, why spend political capital.
And then, with all of the above happening, the Democratic Party puts up a candidate who won't even bother to stand outside of Fenway Park and shake hands?
And yet, some wonder why our candidate lost?