I woke up today to new poll numbers for our president. I don’t need to rehash that here, as there are already a number of excellent diaries/posts that talk about the polls.
What I will contribute is this: Obama’s support among those who contribute financial support to his campaign is definitely on the wane. Allow me to explain after the flur-de-kos.
I am fortunate to live in an area of the United States that is ass-backwards as it relates to the economy. It would appear that “mansions” are in high demand out here in Silicon Valley.
But this isn’t a new phenomenon. So what to do with all that money when you live in one of the most progressive areas in the country and you’ve already purchased your big house? You participate in politics. It is well known that residents of Palo Alto, Los Altos, and Atherton area are well coveted for their check books. Candidates come from all over the US to sit at a hosted dinner. Even those who won’t be running to represent those who write the checks. I've been to a few of these events myself, including Darcy Burner's party.
This weekend, I hosted a Labor Day BBQ for many of my friends. These are people that I met years ago when my daughter was in pre-school. We’ve been hanging out socially for over a decade now. They represent some of the Bay Area donors that politicians are so willing to solicit. And all of them gave handsomely to the Obama campaign in 2008. So what did they have to say this weekend? I wasn’t quite prepared for their responses.
As a regular reader of Daily Kos, I know there are those in this community who have given up on Obama and those who are willing to continue to fight the good fight. Sadly, for this group of donors, they have given up. The talk around the table was one of despair and mourning. There certainly was a lot of head shaking and the tone of regret. And there won’t be a dime coming from any of them to his campaign for reelection.
One of my friends who writes about torture quite frequently is beyond upset about Obama’s continuation of Bush policies on this topic. He is incensed that in some cases, Obama is more extreme than Bush/Cheney. He cited many examples. Furthermore, he is visibly upset that if you search for his name on Google, the record of his donations appear. “You can’t make that go away,” he said. Obama will not get another donation from him.
Another of my friends, who is an environmental activist, was nearly yelling at the recent EPA capitulation made by the Obama Administration. Listening to her get more and more passionate in her disgust was quite alarming. Obama will not get another donation from her.
A man who runs one of the Silicon Valley publicly traded companies was also adamant in his disappointment. He kept going back to Obama’s negotiating skills. “It’s quite confusing. It seems at times that Obama has some secret strategy that will pull it off at the end, but we are met with a series of bad outcomes. I can’t support him anymore.” His wife was a supporter of Hillary in the primary (she had a look of “I told you so” on her face, but was polite enough not to rub it in) and was an active participant in the Obama campaign, spending countless hours on the phone to swing states trying to get out the vote. Obama will not get their dollars or her hours.
A few of the people who are not typically engaged in this kind of discussion piped in saying rather telling comments like “I doesn’t feel like we’re heading to solving any of this mess,” or “I knew it. All sizzle and no steak. The man can give a speech but so what.” No one will contribute to his reelection.
The lone Republican in the group was consulted on many times for who, out of this current batch of primary candidates he supports. Huntsman was about as committal as he’d get, but he’s not impressed by the former Ambassador. He hates the Tea Party crowd.
And that may be the only saving grace Obama has left. This anecdotal evidence suggests Obama is in for much more trouble than he’d care to admit. I still think he will be reelected, but I must candidly admit…he is not giving people who cared so much about him in the first place, a reason to pony up again and be a vocal advocate. If this dialogue is going on for the informed citizenry, then what on earth can they be saying in the politically ignorant circles? Oh...we already know what they're saying. They've been heaping it on from day one.
Sigh.