Liberals Unsure President-Elect Obama Will Govern From the Left
Pressure is rising on Obama to please many constituencies that helped him win the White House
Pressure is rising fast on Barack Obama to keep faith with the many constituencies that backed him in the November election and among those who hope he will support their agendas now that he is president-elect. He will need all the help he can get to govern effectively, but it's unclear whether some of his supporters will maintain a united front behind him after Obama takes office January 20.
The nation's governors, for example, are expecting more help from Washington than they've received in a long time, especially from the vast public works program that Obama is constructing. Obama has not put a price tag on this program to rebuild the nation's infrastructure, but he said in an address last Saturday that it would be huge. "We need action—and action now," he added.
This in turn created a strong sense of anticipation from the governors, who all want their share of the pie. "I think he understands if you're trying to reverse the economy and turn it around, this is not the time to do it on the cheap," Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania, a Democrat and chairman of the National Governors Association, told the New York Times. "This is not the time to do it in small doses. It's got to be big."
Expectations are also rising among other constituencies as Obama gets closer to taking over. So many people have invested their hopes in him that it will be nearly impossible to please everyone from organized labor and environmentalists to feminists and antiwar activists.
Liberals are already chafing because they don't think Obama is living up to the impression he gave during the campaign that he would govern from the left. The liberals fear that his appointments to the cabinet and the White House staff so far have been too centrist and may suggest that Obama is moving right.
Among their frustrations has been his naming of Defense Secretary Robert Gates to keep his job even though he has loyally served President Bush in that post for much of his second term. The left has also been concerned about the choice of Larry Summers as chief White House economics adviser. Summers, as former treasury secretary under President Bill Clinton, was an advocate of too much financial deregulation, according to liberal critics. Appointing Sen. Tom Daschle as secretary of health and human services might appeal to liberals but is unlikely to reassure many of them given all of the centrists in Obama's inner circle.
The frustration has grown so intense among liberal activists that Steve Hildebrand, one of Obama's senior campaign advisers, felt compelled to write a column on the Huffington Post website defending the president-elect. "This is not a time for the left wing of our party to draw conclusions about the cabinet and White House appointments that President-elect Obama is making," Hildebrand wrote last Sunday. "Some believe the appointments generally aren't progressive enough. Having worked with former Senator Obama for the last two years, I can tell you, that isn't the way he thinks and it's not likely the way he will lead."
No one can be sure. But the Obama high command says that, at minimum, he should be given the chance to prove himself. That seems fair, but it's unclear whether Obama's frustrated supporters will give him much of a break once he actually has power and starts making real decisions next month.
Reader Comments
At the end of the day...
...we are in the midst of an economic crisis that forsees a dismal end. The 21st century America has beocme a far cry from what the Founding Fathers had in mind.
The only issue that I have with the Leftist view is that when its ideals and "theory" is completely thought out, it has a very negative and dismal end. But that doesn't matter; as long as "we enjoy our freedoms now" - at the expense of a morally- responsible, tax-paying Conservative (from within the same party, I might add)...
With all of the "injustices" quoted by Leftist Liberals, the outcry is deafening. It deafens the TRUTH. Check the statistics on average income, job status, wealth and lifestyle...no underprivileged here...just more and more greed, lack of ethics and morality. All under the guise of "civil rights"
In the "I have a Dream" speech (ML King,Jr.; a Republican) was the quote "not by the color of their skin but the content of their character"...when does increasing the spread of AIDS in our communities and the build-up of government debt become second to equal rights based on sexual orientation and lifestyle preference?
I call it "fatally distracted"...
I don,t see?
Nor understand how picking a Radical Bigot Homophobe,helps unite anything,and yes I believe it is as offensive as having some inbred hillbilly like David Duke involved in the process. This is by far the worst call Obama has yet made, It calls into question his mindset on people whom are marginalized to a huge extent in this country,I still wish Hillary had won I do not believe we would have to wonder about whom she is or what she believes. Now I have concerns as to whom he will pick for Supreme Court Appointments? ,I still know its better than any Repub lican. To those whom say this is not a civil rights issue,that Homosexuals choose to be as they are only 1 ? comes to mind, When did you choose to be straight?
Liberals, Warren, Obama
Although I am unhappy by the lack of any liberals in Obama"s leadership team, I am also disturbed, and some what appalled by the lack of protest from the civil rights community by the selection of Rick Warren to give the invocation at our new president's enaugural. I have spent a good part of my 73 years in the struggle to defend and expand human rights. Now, in the name of opening dialouge with those who views differ from ours, Obama has selected a person who likens homosexuality to incest and child sexual abuse, as well as denying homosexuals membership in his church. All this in the name of religion.
Like Obama' I strongly support and have attempted to open dialogue between all people, no matter their perspective.. However,I never accepted or validated views that demeaned individuals or groups, sanctioned nor approved discrimination. I know that in selecting Rev. Warren to serve this very important role in, what has to be, the most important day of his young life, Obama has increasd the stature of The Revernd, and, intentionally or not, sanctioned and provided creedance to his, and thus, many others who share his views.
Wasn't it just a short time ago that religion was used to justify slavery, Jim Crow discrimination, and apartheid?
Think about it! How would the "human right" community have reacted had Bush selected one of the many "religious leaders" who continue to preach white supremacy? Is the next step, in the name of open dialogue, to appoint a David Duke type to serve in the Civil Rights division of the justice dept.? Certainly should open dialogue on issues of race.
Am I being Offensive and/or silly? No more than the selection of the likes of Rev Rick Warren {an outspoken homophobic bigot} and justifying his choice in the name of the opening of dialogue with those with whom we may disagree. Why has the Civil rights community been so so quiet? Where is the outrage?
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