There Were Lots of Clues

There Were Lots of Clues
By Time for Change | Democratic Underground

Most liberals, myself included, have become progressively disenchanted with President Obama since the beginning of his administration. With the recent health care debacle that disenchantment has reached such an intensity that for the first time I consider it unlikely that he will be re-elected. Therefore, barring unforeseen circumstances, I am hoping to see a serious challenge to his re-nomination from the Democratic left.

The main reason for our disenchantment has been Obama's turn to the center or center-right since being elected: His decision to "look forward" rather than prosecute Bush administration officials for their use of arbitrary incarceration, torture, and preemptive war seemed inconsistent with his outspokenness against these crimes as a U.S. Senator; his rhetoric in favor of fair trade during his campaign gave way to following the advice of his free trade advisors as President; his campaign pledges to focus on relief for homeowners gave way to a massive bailout of Wall Street as President; and most recently, his campaign promise to offer public health insurance to all Americans was dropped as President. Read more.