One of the most persistent story lines for the president has been that the liberal left has grown increasingly dissatisfied with his actions (or inaction) on some of its priorities - including single-payer health insurance, the extension of the George W. Bush tax cuts and whether to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
But an examination of the polling data among key subgroups that constitute Obama's base makes clear that he has as much support from them as any modern president seeking a second term.
"There is one immutable fact about President Obama's reelection chances: Nobody has a more solid 44 percent base than he does," Democratic pollster Peter Hart wrote in a not-entirely-uncritical memo assessing the state of political affairs a year out from the election...
...At the heart of the president's enduring strength among his base are African Americans who have never wavered in any meaningful way after 95 percent of black voters opted for the Illinois senator in 2008...
...That's a reality that even Republicans acknowledge.
"Anyone who thinks African Americans are not going to turn out and vote in numbers similar to 2008 are fooling themselves," said Glen Bolger, a leading GOP pollster. "There is no way they are going to say, 'Well, we didn't get everything we wanted from making history, so let's sit on our hands.' "
The story in "The Fix" highlights a point that we've been making repeatedly here: President Obama's approval ratings are a number that are measured against himself, and not against a hypothetical opponent. In other words, as much as voters may or may not be disappointed with his first term, they still have to choose between re-election and the Republican candidate -- the latter of which appears to be a less-than-enthralling choice no matter who emerges from the primary.
President Barack Obama will be in Denver on Tuesday and Wednesday to tout the jobs plan he is trying to push through Congress as well as to raise campaign funds.
And his Environmental Protection Agency chief will visit Denver on Monday.
Obama is slated to arrive Tuesday night on Air Force One. He has a fundraising appearance slated that night, The Denver Post's Allison Sherry reports. Obama will appear at the Pepsi Center with Denver Mayor Michael Hancock, according to Hancock's schedule.
The president will speak Wednesday morning at the Auraria campus in support of his American Jobs Act, the White House announced.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson is speaking this morning at National Jewish Health in Denver as part of a discussion on Colorado's "Clean Air, Clean Jobs" effort.
President Barack Obama on Friday declared an end to the Iraq war, one of the longest and most divisive conflicts in U.S. history, announcing that all U.S. troops would be withdrawn from the country by year's end.
"As promised the rest of our troops in Iraq will come home by the end of the year. After nearly nine years, America's war in Iraq will be over," Obama said.
"Today I can say that troops in Iraq will be home for the holidays."
Dennis K Obduskey, Co-Chair of the Progressive Democrats of Colorado[PDC-PDA]suggests that it is time for a primary challenger to President Obama.
Dennis is also vice-chair of the Park County Democratic Party, a member of the State Central Committee, a member of the State Executive Committee from the Central Rural Region, a member of the state Platform Committee from House District 60, a member of the state Outreach Committee from the 6th Congressional District, and serves as secretary/treasurer for Senate District 4 and House District 60.
What he has to say undeniably carries weight among rank and file Colorado Democrats.
Like most Americans, I had high hopes for a lot of change. Among my highest hopes was that you would change the toxic political culture in Washington. You have been the statesman I expected you to be, and tried valiantly to be bipartisan and to compromise. However, your efforts have been met mostly with vitriol and partisanship. It is clear that most Republicans and their leadership have one goal and only one goal-to see that you are a one-term President, period. And they are willing to go to any lengths-including threatening to purposely default on our sovereign debt and further damage our still fragile economy. They even refused to fund the FAA and put 70,000 people out of work. All because they care more about their personal political interests than the national interest. Their insane strategy to sacrifice the wellbeing of the people they claim to represent, not to mention our country's reputation, simply to reclaim political power, is unconscionable and unacceptable, and they must be stopped.
Perhaps the Democratic Party WILL have a Presidential Primary.
Bob Schieffer was enjoyably prickly today as he interviewed President Obama's campaign advisor David Axelrod. After playing a clip of Obama from the beginning of his presidency telling Matt Lauer that three years later Americans will be able to determine whether he deserves a second term, Schieffer posed the question rather bluntly to Axelrod. "Is this going to be a one-term presidency?"
The question prompted this exchange, which seemed to leave Axelrod a bit shaken.
From an article in Dick & Sharon's LA Progressive - Read the whole article here: http://bit.ly/o802iY
"On Saturday, July 30th, 2011, an estimated 75 members of the Progressive Caucus of the California Democratic Party (CDP) passed a resolution in support of a Democratic Party Presidential Primary challenge to President Barack Obama. Gathering in Anaheim during an Executive Board meeting of the CDP, the group overwhelmingly endorsed the resolution following a discussion on the importance of not only challenging the far-right agenda of unmitigated corporate greed but also the current administration's willingness to slash 650-billion dollars from Social Security and Medicare."
Immediately, it appeared that the powers that be within the California Democratic Party tried to suppress and censor the effort.
UPDATE: There's an interesting CBS News story (h/t to SSG_Dan) today about how quickly we forget that a similar fight happened before, under George W. Bush:
Just a few short years ago, a president sent a request to Congress for a simple, but expensive piece of legislation. President Bush asked lawmakers for a $700 billion blank check to rescue the troubled financial sector that was on the verge of collapsing and taking the US economy down with it.
Both parties in Congress balked. And when the Democratic controlled House of Representatives failed to pass the TARP increase, the markets responded. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped over 777 points after the House vote on September 29, 2008. The Senate came to the rescue by passing the program and the House quickly followed suit...
...Could the legislative game of chicken that eventually passed the TARP program be on tap as Washington steams toward the August 2nd date of the Government being unable to pay its bills?
Unfortunately, not. The 777 point drop, the largest single day point drop in history, could look tiny compared to what could happen if the nation's credibility to pay its debts is challenged. If world markets lose faith in the American economy, there not be a chance for a second vote if there is any failure to raise the debt limit.
We ask the same question that we asked below: If the budget talks crumble and the economy continues to tank, are Republicans really sure that voters won't blame them come 2012?
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Our friends at "The Fix" give a rundown on President Obama's press conference this morning:
Obama is quite clearly now using the bully pulpit afforded him by the presidency to cast himself as the adult in the room on the debt ceiling.
One example: He flat-out rejected the idea of a short-term deal - 30, 60, 90 or even 180 days - on the debt ceiling by noting that "this is the United States of America, and we don't manage our affairs in three-month increments." (Hard not to hear parental echoes in that line; "That's not the way we do things in this house....")
And while Obama avoided taking the sort of direct shots at Republicans that he did during his late June press conference, he still emphasized that adopting a "take your ball and go home" mindset is not acceptable.
"If everybody gets into the boat at the same time, it doesn't tip over," Obama said at one point. At another he argued: "American democracy works when people listen to each other."
Congressional Republicans continue to flat-out refuse to discuss any revenue generating proposals, using the "tax increase" rhetoric as often as they can spit it out. Republicans believe that a down economy probably benefits them politically in 2012 (and some, like Michele Bachmann, are even saying it out loud), but this debate may be happening a year too early for the GOP. If a budget compromise is not reached, a year from now will Americans blame Obama or Republicans in Congress? Republicans may want to make sure that their message isn't peaking too soon.
President Barack Obama is expected to announce on Wednesday his plan to withdraw by the end of 2012 the 33,000 additional surge troops sent to Afghanistan, with at least 5,000 personnel - a brigade - to exit by the close of this year, administration officials told POLITICO.
Obama has yet to determine the precise pace of the drawdown that he will outline during an 8 p.m. ET address to the nation from the White House, people familiar with the situation said.
Following the withdrawal of the brigade in 2011, the president also is considering removing an additional 5,000 troops from Afghanistan by next spring, the sources said.
Whatever the pace, all 33,000 forces that were part of the surge would be gone by the end of 2012, sources told POLITICO.
