Leid Stories - 12/30/13

The Thrill With Obama Is 62.5% Gone. What’s the Agenda for the Next Three Years?

The first year of his second term completed, it is no secret that the various constituencies that delivered for President Barack Obama -- twice -- are less than satisfied with the yield on their political investment.

Hushed rumbling has now become sharp, open criticism as historically marginalized groups see their standard bearer unable and/or unwilling to engage fully in the battle he had promised to wage in their behalf. There is a palpable sense that he has gone to “the other side” of business-as-usual politics, doing what is expedient rather than what is necessary.

Leid Stories closes the tumultuous year assessing where things stand with the original (2008) and extended (2012) contracts between Obama and his political base, and poses the question: “What’s the agenda – his and ours -- for the next three years?”