Barack Obama's approval rating among self-identified liberal Democrats consistently hovers in the 90-percent range, but those numbers conceal reservations that bode poorly for his 2012 reelection campaign's ability to raise small-dollar donations and marshal the type of grassroots army that helped carry him to victory in 2008.
[. . .]
Gallup doesn't break the support down by intensity, but the Democratic polling firm Democracy Corps last month found that of the 92 percent of liberal Democrats who back Obama, 64 percent strongly approve and 28 percent are only somewhat supportive.
[. . .]
At Netroots Nation last week, a gathering of progressive bloggers and activists, a similar survey found strong support for Obama -- 80 percent -- but with 53 percent only "somewhat" backing the president.
As someone who was frequently disappointed in Presiden Bush's departure from conservative/libertarian principles, I was mildly surprised at the visceral hatred of him by a lot of liberals. This was the guy who crossed the aisle to work with Teddy Kennedy on further federalizing education. This was the guy who gave us the Medicare prescription program. This was the guy who wanted a path to citizenship for illegal aliens. Hell, until Barack Obama came along and made his contribution look like small potatoes, Bush was the "compassionate conservative" who beat liberals by growing government more than they did. He was practically one of them, so what was their problem?
So now let the liberals say the same sorts of things about people like me. I am mildly surprised now at the disdain of many liberals for President Obama. I just can't see how someone whose extreme politics scare me to death can possibly be not progressive enough for some people.
