There has been so much going on over the last couple of weeks that it is hard to keep it all straight. I think some of us deserve some time to be angry, frustrated, pissed-off, dismayed, and fairly surprised at the apparent opportunity the Democrats had and appear to be squandering before we get back to the basics. I know I've talked to a couple of people at my job who voted for President Obama and are now complete cynics of politics. They believe somewhere in their gut that no-one is looking out for them because they are not in that top 1-5% of wealthy individuals in this country.
I work with a gentleman who if you went by stereotypes you would think is a republican (everyone else in his family is) but he is a Democrat who voted for President Obama not a conservadem but a real live Democrat (although he does watch Fox News). Then there is another young woman who voted for the first time in her life at the age of 32...she told me today that she won't be voting again because there is no point in voting. That there hasn't been any real change for the middle class and it doesn't appear to be moving in that direction. I sat and I thought to myself...what is going on? What happened in the last year? Neither of these 2 people follow the news very closely and couldn't give you broad details on the most recent Supreme Court ruling, the status of Healthcare Reform, Immigration Reform, or anything else really. However, they both came to the same conclusion and that conclusion was that the President made a lot of promises during the campaign and it seems that he either WON'T lead his caucus to get stuff done or he CAN'T lead the democrats to get stuff done. Either way they are disappointed and believe Dems are INEFFECTIVE at governing because there is too much corruption on both sides to really make change. Neither of these people are looking for miracle fixes but they just don't see any movement in their everyday lives and the lives of the people they know.
The bottom line is this...the cool well oiled machine of the campaign is long gone. Daily Gallup has the President's numbers at 48/47. They are not moving in the right direction. I am not going to lay all of this at the feet of the President but I am going to lay a large percentage of it on him. When you have folks like Lincoln, Nelson, and Bayh already coming out against reconciliation for HCR today (a pre-emptive strike) No Dog Democrats that shows a blatant lack of respect to this President and their collegues. Is it any surprise if you've been following this Presidency closely? No...but Dems need to get on message even when they disagree. However, that is why it makes me especially mad to hear that Pence (who is currently polling higher than Bayh) will not be getting into the Senate race. Don't get me wrong I don't want a republican holding this seat but why did he bow out?? Is the fact that Evan Bayh has been good for big business and his wife sits on the board of a healthcare firm? Is this why (R) Pence is staying out of the IN race Pence Challenge because Evan Bayh is a reliable vote for Corporate America? Was that his pay-off for voting against the interests of the American people? But alas, I digress. What do everyday folks see...Democrats can't govern.
President Obama is the Leader of this Country. LEAD. If folks wanted republicanism they would have voted for the Republicans in the last Presidential election. That is why the poll numbers for President Obama and Congress are dropping.
I know a lot of people think Dennis Kucinich is a kook but I think he was right on the money