Concern from Obama’s left

President-elect Barack Obama’s early moves have generated schizophrenic reactions - earning him praise from Republicans and cautionary criticism from liberals.

Though his most fervent supporters are defending him and urging patience, frustration is setting in for some Democrats concerned that Mr. Obama has backed away from a windfall profits tax on oil companies and hasn’t set a firm date for letting the Bush tax cuts for the richest Americans expire.

Other intraparty critics are complaining that the incoming White House, including Bush Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who is being retained, does not offer enough change and too closely resembles President Clinton’s team from the 1990s.

“I hope things happen quickly and that Obama doesn’t forget that it’s the left of center that got him elected, not the right of center, which is what Republicans keep saying,” user ’Paine’ wrote at BarackObama.com.

The Jan. 20 inauguration can not come soon enough for at least one congressional Democrat, Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, who last week blasted the incoming president for not taking a bigger role in negotiations to bail out U.S. automakers.

Republicans, meanwhile, are pleased that Mr. Obama has chosen leaders from the center of the political spectrum, and they have avoided privately or publicly taking political shots at the president-elect.

Steve Hildebrand, who served as Mr. Obama’s deputy campaign manager, stressed unity Sunday in a Huffington Post item defending the Democratic president-elect, titled “A message to Obama’s progressive critics.”

“This is not a time for the left wing of our party to draw conclusions about the Cabinet and White House appointments that President-elect Obama is making,” Mr. Hildebrand wrote. “Some believe the appointments generally aren’t progressive enough. Having worked with former Senator Obama for the last two years, I can tell you, that isn’t the way he thinks, and it’s not likely the way he will lead.”

Mr. Hildebrand noted that he considers himself a liberal and added that Mr. Obama “was elected to be the President of all the people - not just those on the left.”

The column sparked heated debate on the Web on Monday, with some calling Mr. Hildebrand a whiner.

Mr. Frank, frustrated by Mr. Obama’s insistence that there is “one president at a time,” said Thursday that Mr. Obama should be “more assertive,” while Democratic Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan said Mr. Obama should be “more involved” in automaker negotiations.

Obama supporters who still maintain a strong presence on his campaign Web site scolded Mr. Frank, who is chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

“It probably hasn’t dawned on a few folks that the presidency is a job. Frank is asking him to work for free,” wrote Catherine of Riverdale, Ill. “He is not yet the president. [G]ive the guy a chance to breathe, Barney!”

Mr. Obama also has been criticized for not giving a precise number of troops who will come home from Iraq, saying he may postpone raising taxes on the wealthy and quietly backing away from his one-time proposal to implement a windfall profits tax for Big Oil and give the money to the poor and middle class to help them pay their energy bills.

“Between this move and the move to wait to repeal the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, it seems like the Obama team is buying into the right-wing frame that raising any taxes - even those on the richest citizens and wealthiest corporations - is bad for the economy,” wrote liberal blogger David Sirota.

Obama supporter Janice from Colton, Ore., wrote on his Web site that she was frustrated by the tax changes.

“I campaigned for Obama, I believed in Obama, I am willing to give Obama a chance. However, he needs to put ’windfall oil profits being taxed’ back on his list,” she wrote. “Just because the price of oil has come down does not mean that the oil companies are not making excessive profits off of the sale of oil. Obama needs to stick to his promises.”

However, other supporters noted that Mr. Obama won in part by reaching out to Republicans and persuading them to give a Democrat a chance to change the country.

“Elections are decided by the middle, and Obama will have a balancing act to do,” BarackObama.com user ’Yesican’ wrote.

Indeed, Mr. Obama has done plenty to console Republicans who feared he would govern as a liberal, offering governors from the opposite party an olive branch and saying he was humbled by the 46 percent of voters who chose Sen. John McCain on Election Day.

Republican former Sen. Fred Thompson said on Fox News recently he likes what he has seen so far from Mr. Obama.

“He’s certainly, with his appointments and with the things that he’s said since the election, predictably, he’s moved more toward the center. And that’s a good thing,” the former presidential candidate said.

So far, the American people overwhelmingly approve of the Obama transition and have given high marks to his Cabinet choices.

A recent USA Today-Gallup poll showed 94 percent of Democrats approve of Mr. Obama’s transition choices.

In addition, even though pundits have tried to drum up dissenting views on the choice of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to be secretary of state, the poll showed 89 percent of Democrats are happy with the selection, and 79 percent of Democrats are pleased with his retention of Mr. Gates.

A Rasmussen survey shows 43 percent of the nation’s voters strongly approve of how Mr. Obama is handling the transition, 23 percent somewhat approve and just 15 percent “strongly disapprove,” giving him an overall plus-28 approval rating, his highest yet.

Obama supporter “Theresa in Maine” told critics to give the incoming president a chance.

“He doesn’t take office for 6 more weeks,” she told others on the Obama site Saturday. “I am getting sick and tired of people like you criticizing Obama for not doing what you insist he do in one way or another.”

From closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay to prosecuting Bush administration officials for their role in some of the scandals of the past eight years, groups are pressuring Mr. Obama on all fronts.

The same day some were saying the president-elect was reaching too far to the center, others were lauding his latest hires.

Jonathan Singer, blogging at MyDD, wrote that Gen. Marc Shinseki as Veterans Affairs secretary is a “solid addition” to the Cabinet because of his “willingness to speak truth to power.”

Others said because Gen. Shinseki was fired by the Bush administration for his disagreement with the handling of the Iraq war, he represents true change.

Also hailed was the choice of economist Jared Bernstein - also a blogger at Talking Points Memo - to be chief economist for Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., a pick Democrats said proved progressive voices would be heard in the White House.

Prominent Obama fundraiser Whitney Tilson of New York said he is worried the Democrat “might be tempted to make compromises I don’t think he has to make.”

He fears that on the key issue of education, Mr. Obama would make a safe pick rather than “get the nation’s largest and most powerful interest group (the teacher’s union) riled up in the early days of the new administration, so for this reason, I think he’s likely to pick a less controversial reformer.”

However, he argued, “It would send a powerful message that you’re truly a New Democrat, focused on doing what is best for the country, even if it means angering entrenched interests in your own party.”

Liberal groups that helped Mr. Obama win, such as MoveOn.org, are standing by patiently to see how he will govern once he is sworn in.

But MoveOn is offering a reminder, urging supporters to donate $12 or more for a T-shirt to wear to the inauguration to “show that Obama’s got widespread support for big progressive change.”