Will Barack Obama be a disappointment to Democrats?

Under Obama, the Left feels left out
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1209/30776.html
The outrage among some of America’s most vocal liberals at President Barack Obama’s failure to expand government-run health care caps a year of disappointments for Obama’s allies on the left and raises worrying questions for Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections.

The revolt led by former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean comes after a series of more contained disappointments among traditional Democratic constituencies that invested heavily in Obama — unions, gays, civil libertarians, Hispanics, and anti-war Democrats, among others — who have seen specific promises deferred and grand hopes of systematic change denied by an administration that has found itself severely limited by a combination of economic realities, congressional imperatives, and tactical choices.

The disillusion has produced a growing tide of organizing energy — and money — among liberals aimed at dragging the White House back to where many supporters believe Obama's heart really lies. Union presidents have discarded their talking points and are openly sparring with the White House, while gay rights activists threaten civil disobedience, the ACLU keeps litigating, and congressional Hispanic leaders work to force their issues into the debate.

But while those actions may actually create politically useful space to the president’s left, the other consequence of disillusion is what polls have found to be deepening apathy among Democratic voters.

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[More at the link...]

The Great Uniter is disappointment to Cupcake... she really needs a vacation!

Couric: 'I Feel Like Right Now in Many Ways, We're a Very Angry Nation'
http://eyeblast.tv/public/video.aspx?v=GdaGeuqG6U

President Obama received a high-level briefing regarding the possibility of holiday attacks on the U.S. only days before the failed terror plot aboard Detroit-bound Northwest Flight 253, Newsweek reported Friday.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/01/02/obama-received-holiday-threat-briefing-attack-attempt/

ok all you bush bashers who said if he woulda read/listen to the warnings he coulda prevented 911. what do you have to say about obama?

I would imagine that all presidents recieve a lot of high level briefings about terror plots that do and do not pan out. The difference is that Bush's people were financially in bed with the people who attacked us, with Saddam Hussein and with the rest. Also, it's fair to say that both dropped the ball. But in Bush's case, more than 3,000 people died and he used that tragedy as an excuse to attack a country that did not want war with us, that had not provoked us.

In Winnie-the-Pooh, there is a significant moment when the bear is asked whether he wants honey or condensed milk with his bread. He replies “both”. You can get away with this sort of thing if you are a much loved character in children’s literature. But it is more problematic when great nations start behaving in a childish fashion. When Americans are asked what they want - lower taxes, more lavish social spending or the world’s best-funded military machine - their collective answer tends to be “all of the above”

The result is that the US is piling up debt. A budget deficit of about 12 per cent of gross domestic product is understandable as a short-term reaction to a huge financial crisis. What should worry Americans is that, with entitlement spending set to surge, there is no credible plan to bring the budget deficit under control over the medium term.

The US has formidable strengths that will allow its government to be profligate for far longer than other nations could get away with. But if the US keeps running huge deficits, sooner or later the country will start flirting with bankruptcy.
http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&ct2=us%2F0_0_s_0_0_t&usg=AFQjCNFyEGBvvuVMRwkOwGaBlx5NW9hnUw&cid=17593692094905&ei=bxVMS6iPPIbyMvjZ3Uc&rt=SEARCH&vm=STANDARD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2Fa8486284-fee9-11de-a677-00144feab49a.html