PITTSBURGH (AP) | They wish he’d done more in his first eight months, but the liberal bloggers who helped propel Barack Obama to the White House are far from giving up on him.
Gathered in Pittsburgh for the annual Netroots Nation convention, they say they’re not disappointed. At least not too disappointed. Yet.
If politics is a meal being served up by the new president, they’re just looking for something to at least sweeten the bland, sometimes bitter fare they’ve grown to expect in Washington.
“He’s making some strides … but I think there needs to be more action,” says Los Angeles-based blogger Lisa Derrick, who writes daily about politics, entertainment and pop culture on Firedoglake.com under the name La Figa.
Rumblings on the left could spell trouble down the road for the president and for other Democrats. The group MoveOn.org is threatening to run ads against moderate and conservative Democrats who don’t toe the line on Mr. Obama’s health care overhaul push.
The president himself is giving too much ground on health care, in the eyes of some of the bloggers here. Some also think he ought to be getting out of Iraq faster. And they want him to do away with the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.
“There’s a degree of accountability that’s necessary,” Ms. Derrick said.
The White House hasn’t forgotten the bloggers Mr. Obama courted in the presidential campaign, elevating the Internet presence of the White House to new heights. And senior Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett will be here in Pittsburgh to address the Netroots convention.
Denim everywhere, the convention’s informal atmosphere reflects the vast election support Mr. Obama garnered among youngish, tech-savvy people, many of whom became involved in the political process for the first time.
After actively helping usher Mr. Obama into the Oval Office - often employing Web-based organizing - many now refuse to relinquish their newly discovered role in democracy, determined to remain vigilant in ensuring the president makes good on campaign promises.
“I will wait and see. I will watch, but I don’t see myself at the point of completely disappointed,” said Karen Johnson, a Portland, Ore., “lurker” on the Daily Kos Web site, meaning she comments and reads daily, but doesn’t blog.
Still, there is disappointment, many say, that Mr. Obama has failed to actively pursue what they call Bush-era crimes - from torture in the terror war to a blurring of lines at home between the Department of Justice and the White House.
And they view the health care debate with trepidation, saying Mr. Obama has not provided a clear plan or spoken out strongly enough against hard-line critics who have turned some lawmakers’ town-hall meetings into screaming matches. Now, they say, Mr. Obama is on the defensive, weakening his attempt to overhaul the system.
“They’re compromising too easy, too soon,” said Pittsburgh-based blogger David DeAngelo, who writes on the Web site 2politicaljunkies.
“But on the other hand, it’s going so much better than a McCain presidency would have,” Mr. DeAngelo added.
Mr. DeAngelo’s blogging partner, Maria Lupinacci, who initially supported Hillary Rodham Clinton, said if Mr. Obama does not provide a viable public health care option to compete against the private sector, he will lose the support of progressive liberals.
Despite their criticism, the blogging duo stops short of outright disappointment.
“I always saw him as a good, liberal Democrat. I never saw him as progressive, so he’s doing what I expected,” Ms. Lupinacci said. “So, I’m not necessarily surprised, disappointed or happy.”
Sean Wong, a Los Angeles-based blogger who writes under the name Bruin Kid on the Daily Kos Web site, said Mr. Obama has also improved U.S. standing internationally, reversing in just the first few months of his presidency much of the damage done by Bush administration policies.
Mr. Wong wishes Mr. Obama would have taken strong measures early on that he feels could have been done without the loss of significant political ground - such as repealing the military’s ban on open gays - he echoes the general feel in the convention corridors.
“I’m still happy with what he’s done,” he said, grinning.
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