(Note this is a comment I wrote in response to "So you think you're 'the base' huh" , a comment that I think turned into a diary)
I live in heartland America, in downstate Illinois, land of Lincoln as well as Obama's homestate.
I live and work and have family and interact daily with Middle Americans in Middle America with people of all races (my town is 40% African American), with people who have never heard of DailyKos or Krugman or Jane Hamsher. They are representative of the majority of Americans.
They are not just some of them Obama's base, they are America's base.
Therefore I do not need a lecture about Obama's base or about how conservative or not they are or how out of touch people on Dailykos are.
And my friends and family and neighbors are as angry and alienated with Obama and the Democrats as many of the so-called progressives on this site and for many of the same reasons.
(more after the fold)
(To illustrate just how angry people in my community have become with the Democrats, my Congressional District, flipped with a vengeance, after electing Debbie Halvorson in 2008 by a landslide, 58.4%/34.5%, they threw her out in 2010 by a whopping 57.5%/42.5%, to an unknown and underfunded opponent--she didn't even carry my largely Democratic, 40% African American, strong union supporting town.)
And it's mostly all about jobs, jobs, jobs. The mantra in my community is that Obama bailed out Wall Street but not Main Street.
And it's about plummeting real estate values (in some parts of town you can buy a house for less than the cost of a 2011 Toyota Corolla, in one of the nicest parts of town there is a townhouse condo complex where 2 bd condos are languishing at $35,000.)
And what is Obama proposing to do about jobs and plummeting real estate? What is the bold plan? people around here are asking.
Nothing or worse than nothing-- trade deals with countries like Korea and Colombia--which again has people here seething--they're still furious with the Democrats about NAFTA (you have no idea how much that still hurts Democrats prospects around here--many are convinced that their jobs went to Mexico)
And now there's Obama talking about cutting SS, Medicare and Medicaid and in case you've missed the polls, about 71% of Americans are opposed to that and are willing to pay higher taxes to support these programs.
As many of them now work at jobs (if they are lucky enough to have them) that pay nine-fifty or ten-fifty an hour, they know that they will be completely dependent on SS and Medicare when they retire and they are absolutely furious with Obama for wanting to lay a finger on these programs.
The can't believe a Democrat would propose such a thing.
And all this anger and frustration is showing up in the Obama's plummeting approval rating, coming from the anger of Middle Americans in Middle America who want a jobs program not deficit reduction and who say absolutely keep you hands off my SS and Medicare.
So spare me the lectures on who is or isn't Obama's base. I live and work in heartland America and I know full well how angry they are with Obama and I know why (as an early and outspoken supporter of Obama in this community I am now something of a lightning rod and believe me I hear Middle America screaming).
And their disenchantment and their fury is not all that different from the so-called progressives on this site.
They want jobs jobs jobs and they want Obama to keep his hands off their Social Security and Medicare and they're furious that Obama bailed out Wall Street but not Main Street.