Lefty Bloggers: Obama 'Just Not That Into Us'

Netroots Nation convention bemoans dashed progressive hopes
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 17, 2011 10:23 AM CDT
Netroots Nation Liberal Bloggers: We've Lost President Obama on Progressive Issues
President Barack Obama hosts military fathers and their children at the White House complex, Wednesday, June 15, 2011.   (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

One emotion running high at this year’s annual meeting of liberal bloggers: disappointment in the president. One popular panel at the Netroots Nation Convention was even titled, “What to Do When the President’s Just Not That Into You," and featured an editor at Daily Kos noting, “It’s like the president’s not our boyfriend anymore.” A gay-rights blogger added, “I honest to God thought I was voting for these guys and that it was going to be the first time in my lifetime that I'm finally in a position of power."

The editor reminded panelists of successes, such as the defeat of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. “But it sounded like a defense of the boyfriend who brought you flowers even though he cheated on you,” writes Ina Jaffe at NPR. Still, now is the time to hold the president accountable, said another blogger. “This is the time when he needs your vote. So don't give yourself away cheaply. Ask for what you need and what the country needs and this is the time to do it." (More liberals stories.)

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