Yesterday Barack Obama exhorted the Democratic faithful to “buck up” and stay engaged this election season. VP Joe Biden is saying the same, telling the administration’s dwindling numbers of supporters to “stop whining.”
Obama says he detects a certain “lethargy” among those who elected him, which reminds me of the woman at the economic “town hall” last week who told the president she was “exhausted” from defending him. The “lethargy” diagnosis reminds me even more, however, of Jimmy Carter’s “malaise.” In each case, an inept and unpopular president attempts to shift the blame from himself and his policies to the voters.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Obama says Democrats ought to be thankful for all he has done and be willing to fight for it.
It is inexcusable for any Democrat or progressive right now to stand on the sidelines in this midterm election. There may be complaints about us not having gotten certain things done, not fast enough, making certain legislative compromises. But right now, we’ve got a choice between a Republican Party that has moved to the right of George Bush and is looking to lock in the same policies that got us into these disasters in the first place, versus an administration that, with some admitted warts, has been the most successful administration in a generation in moving progressive agendas forward.
The idea that we’ve got a lack of enthusiasm in the Democratic base, that people are sitting on their hands complaining, is just irresponsible.
Has the president stopped to consider that perhaps the “lethargy” stems not from a sudden attack of drowsiness, but from a sudden realization that most Americans disagree with his “progressive” agenda? Remember, Barack Obama sold himself to the electorate as a mildly left-leaning moderate (though lots of us knew better).
He is now looking more like Jimmy “One Term” Carter all the time.
