What's become increasingly clear is that even though he's arguably the most liberal president since FDR, the president has probably lost the left. Not all of it -- mainly just the far left.
Looking at the last several weeks in which there have been some fairly substantive liberal successes from the Obama White House, it's all more or less been received with a "not good enough" reaction from the left, which leads me to the conclusion that even if the president were to deliver on some very liberal accomplishments, it won't matter. It'll always be viewed -- rightfully or not -- through the prism of the not-very-progressive aspects of the administration.
Take Guantanamo for example. The president has been trying to close the military prison there for most of this first year. But he's still blamed by certain groups for not having closed it yet, even though the promise was "within a year" and 98 senators voted against funding the closure, including super-progressives Sanders and Feingold. The left would otherwise be satisfied with the president's effort were it not for this curse of "not good enough."
I hasten to say that it's not entirely the fault of the left being too critical. The president has governed the way he always promised -- not as the president of liberals but as the president of The United States of America. So we get aggravating and disconcerting things like Rahm Emanuel's DLC centrism. We get some troubling legal positions on state secrets and DOMA. We get major legislation that isn't entirely reflective of liberal positions. So some of us are understandably pissy.
Accountability is mandatory. But "pissy" and "not good enough" isn't just about accountability anymore. Many liberals are done with the president and have simply stepped off the field where they're satisfied to be almost as insanely anti-Obama as the wingnut right. Disillusionment is rapidly becoming permanent. Accountability is metastasizing into insatiable anger.
So what happens now? The president is all about building consensus, so why not try to connect with the left? The president could try for some very liberal accomplishments -- I mean, some items torn directly from the progressive wish list. But, again, based upon the last couple of weeks, I question whether or not that will even be good enough. What if he were to sign an order to end military discharges under DADT? What if he were to fire Geithner and Emanuel? What if he were to completely withdraw from Afghanistan? Would these things change minds on the far left? Right now, I don't know.
If not, why should the president even bother trying to win back the left? Historically, this is how we end up with moderate legislation through which the president and Congress secure the shifting middle. In other words, this is unfortunately how the left often becomes marginalized by the Democratic Party leadership. Ultimately, in order to get further liberal governing from the president there needs to be a major shift in attitudes from both the White House and activists to its left. For the sake of additional liberal legislation, I hope this happens soon.