Blue Collars, Green Ties

Netroots Nation convention bemoans dashed progressive hopes

(NEWSER) - 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." More»

Surprise: San Francisco tops list

(NEWSER) - After compiling its list of the most conservative-friendly counties in the US, the right-leaning Daily Caller now brings it with the top counties for liberals:

• San Francisco. With liberals, unions and gays, “surprise, surprise,” Chris Palko writes.
• Montgomery County, Md. This DC suburb is rich, educated, and home to “the bureaucrats conservatives despise.”

Pragmatic president must reassure his supporters tonight, Tomasky writes

(NEWSER) - "The summer has been a bummer for American liberals," writes Guardian America editor Michael Tomasky; after the heady optimism of President Obama's first 100 days, "reality has set in, and with force." Not only is conservative opposition "as Leninist as ever," but liberals have descended into a funk, unable to believe that their man is floundering. That's why Obama needs to go big during tonight's address—not only to save health reform, but to save his own supporters. More»

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama has done next to nothing for gay and lesbian Americans since coming to power, but liberals keep insisting that he's a closet supporter of same-sex marriage and open military service. That's ridiculous, writes James Kirchick in the Washington Post, who sees no reason to assume Obama will act. "Whatever he 'really' thinks," he writes, "Obama's stance on gay marriage is virtually indistinguishable from that of John McCain." More»

Left feeling spurned by new president's policies

(NEWSER) - Sorry, ladies: Hell has no fury like a political base scorned, and tensions are simmering among liberals, who feel spurned by President Obama, Josh Gerstein writes for Politico. With his reversals on military tribunals and releasing photos of abused detainees, and reluctance to tackle gay rights and immigration reform, some are accusing Obama of turning into—gasp!—George W. Bush. More»