Mitch Stewart from Organizing for America (BarackObama.com) just sent me an email suggesting that I should be happy about the President's capitulation to Republicans. (The most recent one, that is...)
I think the last email I got from OFA asked us to support the President's decision to freeze federal worker's pay.
A pattern has begun to emerge: the OFA list (which was never shared with any of our imperiled Congressional candidates last cycle) is being used to rally support for the President's conservative decisions.
That's not what I signed up for.
So I unsubscribed.
You'll remember that I created and led the largest MyBarackObama.com group, Get FISA Right, when Obama decided to go back on his word and vote for retroactive telecom immunity. Obama ignored us, at least substantively. But I don't think it makes sense to give up; I remain hopeful that there is a progressive bone or two somewhere inside the President.
So I'm starting another movement. We need to let him know he needs to change course if he expects a second term. The quickest and most measurable way I know that the base can speak to him is for as many people as possible to unsubscribe from the OFA list.
Unsubscribing is easy; it will take you less than 30 seconds. You click the link at the bottom of the email, and they present you with a form asking for your email address and a comment explaining your reason for leaving. I suggest you leave the comment "I'm a fed up progressive" followed by any custom comments of your own. They need to know that this is a movement, and those words in common will give them something to measure by.
Look, the President, for whatever reason, seems completely unaware that he is losing his base, drip by steady drip. He needs an intervention, but he's not going to get it from any of the DC muckety-mucks who are going to enjoy the nice fat tax cut President Obama just delivered for them. We need to make ourseles heard, or we're going to find ourselves shouting at a Republican President in 2013.