Disillusioned Obama Supporter: 'I'm Exhausted of Defending You'

I know a lot of Obama/Democratic Party voters that feel the same way as this women. I know technically we have been out of the recession for 18 months now but it doesn't feel like it. All the money the government has indebted us with to get us out of the recession has only 'technically' ended the recession. It's done a great deal for the many unions that organize and fund the Democratic Party and Big Business that employes the unions. If you are a union member I wouldn't blame you for voting Democrat. Now for all those non-union employees and small business owners that are feeling all the pain of this recession it's time you do what is best for you and not vote for the Democratic Party. If you want higher taxes and bigger Big Brother then vote for the Democratic Party. If you want to punish the businesses that give you employment then vote for the Democratic Party. If you want to stick the next generation with higher debt and deficit spending then vote for the Democratic Party. If you think Christine O'Donnell's admission to "dabbling in witch craft" is worse then Obama's dabbling in cocaine,Islam,Black Liberation Theology and all the other questionable things he did in the past when he was an adult. Then vote for the Democratic Party. If you don't respect the 9/11 families feelings on the ground zero mosque then vote for the Democratic Party.  If you think obamacare,cap and trade,stimulus 1,2,3 and 4 are good for America then vote for the Democratic Party. But if you don't like these things then you better get over your prejudice when it comes to voting for the Republican Party for then next few years or you will get what you voted for. We know what the Democratic Party has become and we know what the Republican Party has become and it's high time we stop defending the Democratic Party when they don't defend us. Things are not over for the middle class and the average American citizen. People are in pain and they are losing hope for a better tomorrow. There are only 2 Party choices and it's time you vote for the choices that best reflect your views and not a Party line.                                   

WASHINGTON — It was billed as “Investing In America,” a live televised conversation between President Obama and American workers, students, business people and retirees on the state of the economy, a kind of Wall Street to Main Street reality check.

But it sounded like a therapy session for disillusioned Obama supporters.

In question after question in Monday’s one-hour session, which took place at the Newseum here and was televised on CNBC, Mr. Obama was confronted by people who said, in short, that they had expected more from him. People from Main Street wanted to know if the American dream still lived for them. People from Wall Street complained that he was treating them like a piñata, “whacking us with the stick,” in the words of a former law school classmate of Mr. Obama’s who now runs a hedge fund.

“I’m exhausted of defending you, defending your administration, defending the mantle of change that I voted for,” said the first questioner, an African-American woman who identified herself as a chief financial officer, a mother and a military veteran. “I’ve been told that I voted for a man who was going to change things in a meaningful way for the middle class, and I’m waiting, sir, I’m waiting. I still don’t feel it yet.”

A 30-year-old law school graduate, Ted Brassfield, told Mr. Obama he had hoped to pursue a career in public service — like the president — but could barely pay the interest on his student loans, let alone think of getting married or starting a family.

“I was really inspired by you and your campaign and the message you brought, and that inspiration is dying away,” Mr. Brassfield said, adding, “What I really want to know is: Is the American dream dead for me?”

And a third-generation business owner from Pennsylvania, Walter Allen, told Mr. Obama that his biggest challenge as an entrepreneur was a fearful, negative public. “How can you regain the political center?” Mr. Allen asked plaintively. “You’re losing the war of sound bites. You’re losing the media cycles.”
The extraordinarily personal tone of Monday’s conversation, coupled with more substantive policy questions from the session’s host, John Harwood of CNBC and The New York Times, reflects the erosion of support for Mr. Obama among the constituencies that propelled him into office two years ago.

As he leads his party into a midterm election that many analysts expect to be devastating for Democrats, the president faces overwhelming skepticism from Americans on his handling of the economy. A recent New York Times poll found that 57 percent of respondents believed that the president did not have a clear plan for fixing the nation’s broken economy.

Mr. Obama sought on Monday to address those concerns, telling his business critics that he was not anti-Wall Street and his middle-class questioners that “there are a whole host of things we’ve put in place to make your life better.” He cited his administration’s health care overhaul bill; a financial regulatory reform measure that imposes tougher requirements on credit card companies; and an education bill that makes student loans more widely available.

The president also laid down a challenge to the Tea Party movement, whose candidates have been defeating more mainstream Republicans in a string of recent primaries in Alaska, Delaware and other states. He said it was not enough for Tea Party candidates to campaign on a theme of smaller government; he tried to put them in an uncomfortable box by prodding them to offer specifics about just what programs they would cut.

“The challenge for the Tea Party movement is to identify specifically: What would you do?” the president said. “It’s not enough to say ‘get control of spending.’ I think its important for you to say, ‘I’m willing to cut veterans’ benefits,’ or ‘I’m willing to cut Medicare or Social Security,’ or ‘I’m willing to see taxes go up.’ ”
Mr. Obama hinted that he was open to considering a payroll-tax holiday to spur job growth, saying he would be willing to “look at any idea that’s out there. ” But he went on to say that some ideas that “look good on paper” are more complicated then they appear. And he ducked a question from Mr. Harwood about whether he would be willing to debate the House Republican leader, Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the way President Bill Clinton debated Newt Gingrich, then speaker of the House, 15 years ago.