The Democrat Enthusiasm Gap

God knows that I have complained about the issue of Democratic party members' lack of enthusiasm enough times - both last year in the lead up to the disastrous 2009 Virginia elections and now as we head into the 2010 mid-term elections. And who have I blamed? Principally Barack Obama and to a lesser extent Congressional Democrats who have been afraid of their own shadow on every issue and only too willing to sell out different portions of the Party base. Robert Reich has a piece in Huffington Post which again throws much of the origins of the problem back at Obama's feet. Yes, Obama took office facing huge difficulties, but time and time again his timidity and failure to act as a LEADER has set the potentially devastating stage now facing the Democratic Party. Democrats' wounds are largely self-inflicted and - in my view - could have been avoided or lessened if we had had a leader in the White House and not a follower. Here are highlights from Reich's article:
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Whatever the outcome of the upcoming midterm elections, the activist phase of the Obama administration has likely come to a close. The president may have a fight on his hands even to hold on to what he's already achieved because his legislative successes have been large enough to fuel strong opposition but not big enough to strengthen his support. The result could be disastrous for him and congressional Democrats.
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A stimulus too small to significantly reduce unemployment, a TARP that didn't trickle down to Main Street, financial reform that doesn't fundamentally restructure Wall Street, and health-care reforms that don't promise to bring down health-care costs have all created an enthusiasm gap. They've fired up the right, demoralized the left, and generated unease among the general population.
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The real choice is between achieving what's possible within the limits of politics as given, or changing that politics to extend those limits and thereby more assuredly achieve intended goals. The latter course is riskier but its consequences can be more enduring and its mandate more powerful, as both Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan demonstrated.
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So far, Barack Obama has chosen the former course. Despite the remarkable capacities he displayed during the 2008 campaign to inspire and rally Americans behind him, as president he has for the most part opted for an inside game.
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[T]he undeniable consequence has been to erode the capacity of the president and his party to accomplish much more from here on.
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Again, Reid and Pelosi and the spineless Senate and House members they preside over have not helped matters and, indeed, share the blame. But time and time again, Obama has waited until the bottom is about to fall out before he gets publicly engaged. And meanwhile, he breaks one campaign promise after another to differing parts of the Party base. Is it any wonder that Democrats are not enthusiastic or motivated?