The Democrats have taken to blaming the voters in recent days. Vice-President Joe Biden has even blamed the Democratic base and told it to buck up and stop whining.
Folks like John Podhoretz are telling the Democrats that this is very bad tactics, even though Joe Biden is right.
So what if President Obama has delivered just about all that his progressive base could expect, given that there is such a thing as a moderate Democrat in the land? The base wants more.
The big problem for Democrats this year is that politics runs on rage. You get your best turnout when you are out of power and you are telling your supporters that the current incumbents are crooks, liars, and tyrants. But once you get into power, the motivation of your supporters becomes a much more difficult matter.
In 2002 and 2004 the Bush team performed miracles of voter mobilization, staying in power under difficult circumstances. But by 2006 the base was exhausted, and the Democrats motivated moderate voters to cast their votes against the tired, corrupt Republicans.
Mind you, it takes a special talent to turn your base into discouraged complainers in a mere two years.
But forget all the talk about stupid Democrats bad-mouthing their supporters. What the top Democrats are really telegraphing is that the battle is over for 2010. They have lost and they know it.
But it is kind of mean-spirited to start blaming their supporters for lack of energy. Let's face it, when you know that the battle is lost, it becomes very hard to get up the energy to keep on fighting. Nobody wants to be the last guy to die for a losing cause.
After a losing battle the generals generally get to fly away in their helicopters. The grunt on the ground may well lose his life in the agony of defeat.
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