Can Liberals Ever Be Happy?

[Reaganfan]

http://nymag.com/news/politics/liberals-jonathan-chait-2011-11/

Jonathan Chait: "Liberals are dissatisfied with Obama because liberals, on the whole, are incapable of feeling satisfied with a Democratic president. They can be happy with the idea of a Democratic president -- indeed, dancing-in-the-streets delirious -- but not with the real thing."

"For almost all of the past 60 years, liberals have been in a near-constant emotional state of despair, punctuated only by brief moments of euphoria and occasional rage. When they're not in charge, things are so bleak they threaten to move to Canada; it's almost more excruciating when they do win elections, and their presidents fail in essentially the same ways: He is too accommodating, too timid, too unwilling or unable to inspire the populace. (Except for Johnson, who was a bloodthirsty warmonger.)"

[Phony Moderate]

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

While Democrats are still a lock, Independents are leaning towards the GOP. It will be the center, not the left, of Obamas base, which will kill him.

[Хahar 🤔]

That's what happens when every president is right-wing.

[All Along The Watchtower]

That's what happens when every president is right-wing.

Depends on your definition of "right-wing." But yeah, by most reasonable standards (ie, non-Republican standards) Obama is a right-wing or at best, a "centrist" kind of Democrat.

[King]

Because modern conservatives are kings of compromise.

Ah, Naso threads.

[memphis]

Liberals tend to want to form their own opinions on things. It's one of the reasons the Dems are so fragmented and hard to lead. Conservatives, on the other hand love authority figures and line up to do as they're told. Just a different mindset.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Liberals tend to want to form their own opinions on things. It's one of the reasons the Dems are so fragmented and hard to lead. Conservatives, on the other hand love authority figures and line up to do as they're told. Just a different mindset.

Exactly.  Leading the Democrats is like trying to herd cats.  You can only be semi-successful if you stand there with a big bag of kitteh treats.  Leading the Republicans is like herding cattle.  They respond best when you shock them in the ass with a cattle prod.

[phk]

Liberals tend to want to form their own opinions on things. It's one of the reasons the Dems are so fragmented and hard to lead. Conservatives, on the other hand love authority figures and line up to do as they're told. Just a different mindset.

lol

[Stardust]

Liberals tend to want to form their own opinions on things. It's one of the reasons the Dems are so fragmented and hard to lead. Conservatives, on the other hand love authority figures and line up to do as they're told. Just a different mindset.

lol

It has always been most interesting to me that liberals who are in their personal lives vastly more individualistic than right-wingers tend to not reflect this in their politics, while politically individualistic conservatives walk in lockstep with their fellows.

[Wonkish1]

Liberals tend to want to form their own opinions on things. It's one of the reasons the Dems are so fragmented and hard to lead. Conservatives, on the other hand love authority figures and line up to do as they're told. Just a different mindset.

This is so unbelievably false. Both groups have a small minority that actually think about things on their own and both groups have large majorities of team players that get told what to do.

You're way underestimating how many dumb$hits who don't know a single thing about the world  among your "progressive" ranks.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Liberals tend to want to form their own opinions on things. It's one of the reasons the Dems are so fragmented and hard to lead. Conservatives, on the other hand love authority figures and line up to do as they're told. Just a different mindset.

This is so unbelievably false. Both groups have a small minority that actually think about things on their own and both groups have large majorities of team players that get told what to do.

You're way underestimating how many dumb$hits who don't know a single thing about the world  among your "progressive" ranks.

You way underestimate how many dumb$hits who don't know a single thing about the world are "conservative" LEADERS.

[Foucaulf]

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What does this even mean? And why should I trust someone who clumps Thomas Friedman, Chris Matthews, James Carville and the OWS occupiers into the same nebulous category of "Liberal"?

I get that the Democrats have/are more of a brokerage party than the Republicans. It's possible that the Dems deliberately try to build large coalitions, hoping to capture results before conflict within the coalition rises. But then Chait drags unsubstantiated pop psychology into it.

I know he's an Obama supporter, but his argument is dishonest. He brushes FDR aside "because his achievements were so enormous, and his failures so large as well". Considering America is supposed to be going through "the worst downturn since the Great Depression", I think we need a domestic policy that matches the New Deal.