What To Do?

by Steve

As the Fed sends signals of renewed concern about the strength of the economic "recovery", I wanted to put up a post on something that was touched upon in the comments section to Deacon's post from yesterday. Specifically, if a Democratic administration shows more disdain for the progressive base of the party than it does to its politcal opponents on the right, and if the Wall Street-friendly, status quo policies of that administration haven't matched the rhetoric from the campaign, what is the proper response by that progressive base?

Although my observations about a double-dip recession have been dismissed by some of you when I made them months ago, I stnad by them today. But regardless of the economic impact of this calamity, the political impact of this administration's timidity early on to demand an effective stimulus package, when it had the political capital to do so, will be all too apparent in November. Democrats will lose dozens of seats in the House, making that body just as locked down as the Senate is now. There will be no economic second chances for the administration in 2011 with the stimulus, and the Democrats may be saddled with poor economic performance heading into 2012. How do progressives fare in that scenario?

If Obama's failings threaten the progressive brand, even if the policies and political choices of this administration have veered far from what progressives have wanted, what should the progressive base do about this heading into 2012?