> Really? Because you can just as easily interpret exactly the
> opposite: that because 1/2 of Obama's money came from little
> donations, he is more beholden to keeping his base excited about him
> than any previous Dem. Because if they stop being excited, they'll
> still vote for him, but they won't cough up money and they won't
> people his machine. The machine is an indispensable thing you've
> always needed a base for which has always meant a candidate has to pay
> some attention to their mood.
Yeah, but how does the base know he's not selling them out? What organization is there to keep an eye on the Obama White House and alert the masses to betrayal? In fact, how would anybody even know what these people are demanding so that you could tell if their demands were being sold out? The only thing that's known about their preferences is that they love Barack Obama - the middle-of-the road progressive firebrand, the devout Christian secularist, the antiwar leader who wasn't sure if he would have voted for the Iraq war, etc. All that these people are getting is a weekly email from Obama.com (or whatever) telling him what exciting things the president is doing for them.
SA