Is Obama’s Base Abandoning Him?

When Sammy Davis Jr. was playing a round of golf and someone asked him what his handicap was, he said “talk about handicap, I’m a one-eyed negro Jew.” And indeed, in the ’50s and ’60s, his profile did present a rather serious handicap. Nowadays, Barack Obama could imagine for himself a statement similar to that of the Rat Pack member, only his handicaps would be: health care plan, economic crisis and oil spill. Since he arrived at the White House, his presidency has been an unrelenting obstacle course. Obama woke the right up, contributed to the birth of the Tea Party, pushed black elected officials to consider themselves ignored and now his liberal (left) base might abandon him.

An indubitable sign: Jon Stewart, host of the very influential Daily Show, a satirical news program, has started to make fun of the White House’s occupant.

The liberal “friends” of the 44th president scold him for not having yet closed Guantanamo, put an end to the culture of corruption in Washington or ended anti-gay policies in the U.S. Army. Proof of this absence of love: the futile attempt of the ACL-CFO, the union that supported Obama during his campaign, to make Senator Blanch Lincoln of Arkansas lose her seat under the pretext that she supported health care reform. The unions swallowed $10 million in a resounding failure. But this is a sign, according to naysayers, that the left is not welcoming W.’s successor.

However, the numbers go against this proposition.

A collection of surveys carried out by the Washington Post and ABC News show that liberal support for Obama has actually remained solid and stable. The most recent survey is from the beginning of June. Eighty-five percent of self-identified Democrats support Obama.

The opinion polls of the Post and ABC News were not the only ones that found the liberal base supportive. A Gallup poll shows that liberal support for Obama is at 77 percent — better than it was in March, for example.

However, behind these positive figures, we can see some weaknesses. For example, 68 percent of liberals think America should get out of the war in Afghanistan. And 30 percent of liberals are in disagreement with Obama regarding the economy and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Now, the question remains whether his allies are ready to get moving in November.