http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/11/us/politics/11obama.html?_r=1 Democrats are expressing growing alarm about President Obama’s re-election prospects and, in interviews, are openly acknowledging anxiety about the White House’s ability to strengthen the president’s standing over the next 14 months. Elected officials and party leaders at all levels said their worries have intensified as the economy has displayed new signs of weakness. They said the likelihood of a highly competitive 2012 race is increasing as the Republican field, once dismissed by many Democrats as too inexperienced and conservative to pose a serious threat, has started narrowing to two leading candidates, Mitt Romney and Rick Perry, who have executive experience and messages built around job creation. And in a campaign cycle in which Democrats had entertained hopes of reversing losses from last year’s midterm elections, some in the party fear that Mr. Obama’s troubles could reverberate down the ballot into Congressional, state and local races. “In my district, the enthusiasm for him has mostly evaporated,” said Representative Peter A. DeFazio, Democrat of Oregon. “There is tremendous discontent with his direction.” The president’s economic address last week offered a measure of solace to discouraged Democrats by employing an assertive and scrappy style that many supporters complain has been absent for the last year as he has struggled to rise above Washington gridlock. Several Democrats suggested that he watch a tape of the jobs speech over and over and use it as a guide until the election. But a survey of two dozen Democratic officials found a palpable sense of concern that transcended a single week of ups and downs. The conversations signaled a change in mood from only a few months ago, when Democrats widely believed that Mr. Obama’s path to re-election, while challenging, was secure. “The frustrations are real,” said Representative Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, who was the state chairman of Mr. Obama’s campaign four years ago. “I think we know that there is a Barack Obama that’s deep in there, but he’s got to synchronize it with passion and principles.” There is little cause for immediate optimism, with polls showing Mr. Obama at one of the lowest points of his presidency. His own economic advisers concede that the unemployment rate, currently 9.1 percent, is unlikely to drop substantially over the next year, creating a daunting obstacle to re-election. Liberals have grown frustrated by some of his actions, like the decision this month to drop tougher air-quality standards. And polling suggests that the president’s yearlong effort to reclaim the political center has so far yielded little in the way of additional support from the moderates and independents who tend to decide presidential elections. “The alarms have already gone off in the Democratic grass roots,” said Robert Zimmerman, a member of the Democratic National Committee from New York, who hopes the president’s jobs plan can be a turning point. “If the Obama administration hasn’t heard them, they should check the wiring of their alarm system.”
He should count his blessings that he's imploding now instead of this time next year. He can still recover.
The error of Obama and his advisors is that they think his unpopularity is driven by jobs and economics. As the last sentence hints, the reasons liberals are leaving him are not economic. We know that he can't get anything done there due to Republican obstructionism. But he could easily have the government stop fighting for torture extraditions in courts, reverse many Patriot Act practices such as recording and classifying this very message board post, and push some lesser things I don't follow that the environment and gay groups want. He's a Bush conservative on all those issues. But he thinks the only issue losing him votes is jobs.
You were nice to me, that's why I won't totally thrash into this comment. :] We have 9% unemployment, and our debt is accruing. It is pretty obvious why he's a one-term prez.
Bush wasn't a conservative, though. All the things you say about Obama losing his left base are true about Bush losing his right base.