Obama Seeks to Debunk Perception of Liberal Dismay

There are lots of polls suggesting that President Obama is in increasing political trouble, but what seems to worry the White House and the Democratic National Committee most is the potential for falloff on the left.

This was clear in an email sent to reporters and Democratic activists yesterday by Patrick Gaspard , the DNC's executive director, who went to great lengths attempting to debunk this perception. He started out with a blast at the news media, arguing that pundits rushed to judgment and incorrectly said the Democrats were the losers in the debt-ceiling deal and that liberals were very upset with Obama for capitulating to congressional Republicans. "Fortunately," Gaspard added, "we don't have to depend only on the rush to judgment of a small cadre of Washington-based pundits and activists making their assessments off of one-sided leaks and spin; there is a thing called public opinion that we can look to for a more accurate portrayal."

[Check out US News Weekly's new iPad app.]

Gaspard pointed out that, since Obama reached a compromise on the debt ceiling with the GOP, CNN and Gallup polls have shown that a "hefty majority of Democrats [58 per cent, according Gallup] and liberals [51 per cent] support the deal while a hefty majority of Republicans [64 per cent], and particularly the all-important Tea Party Republicans, oppose it."

It's all part of the Democrats' effort to tamp down media speculation that Obama is facing deep disgruntlement from liberals and that his rift with the left is widening.The fear among Obama strategists is that such speculation will, at minimum, demoralize liberals and call attention to how much Obama has strayed from his 2008 promises to them, such as his pledge to create jobs, raise taxes on the rich and on big corporations, take on the oil companies, end the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and close the Guamtanamo Bay detention center.

• See a collection of editorial cartoons on President Obama.
• See a collection of political cartoons on Afghanistan.
• See a collection of political cartoons on the budget and deficit.

Reader Comments Read all comments (8)

Add Your Thoughts

Comment Name State Select One AL AK AZ AR CA CO CT DE DC FL GA HI ID IL IN IA KS KY LA ME MD MA MI MN MS MO MT NE NV NH NJ NM NY NC ND OH OK OR PA RI SC SD TN TX UT VT VA WA WV WI WY International Email

Please enter the two words below into the text field underneath the image.

Incorrect please try again

Enter the words above: Enter the numbers you hear:

Your comment will be posted immediately, unless it is spam or contains profanity. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ.