Discouraged, progressives look beyond Obama

Photo caption: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told left-of-center activists Saturday in Las Vegas that "I share your impatience" about Congress not voting on a bill to protect gay workers from job discrimination.

MSNBC brings us this dose of political reality:

Progressives helped elect President Barack Obama, but some of those who gathered in Las Vegas for the annual Netroots Nation convention over the weekend were less than thrilled with his performance so far.

The list of letdowns for progressives includes the failure to secure a public option in the health care reform law and an Obama executive order barring use of funds under the law to pay for abortions.

Abroad, there's Obama's escalation of U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan and the continued operation of the prison at Guantanamo as well as what some have called "Obama’s Guantanamo" — the detention center at the Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.

Adding to their discontent, progressives see no progress on passing the Employment
Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) to protect gay employees. They also complain about
increased deportations of illegal immigrants and the decision by Obama and Democratic congressional leaders to abandon their push for a comprehensive immigration reform bill.

"He’s been conciliatory when he need not be," said Sara Reed, an activist from Portland, Ore. "This is a time for decisive leadership. There is an element on the right that is not yielding any ground and cannot be dealt with in a bipartisan way."

"I’ve been disappointed; I wanted more courage," said Helen Cox, a retired middle school teacher from Long Beach, Calif. "I think sometimes there’s too much emphasis on compromise. Compromise has its place, but I don’t believe it’s always necessary or respected by the people you’re compromising with. For example, in the health care bill, the fact that women who want control over their own reproductive rights are not going to benefit from this law. That kind of thing I find deeply disturbing."

She admitted that "some of the things he’s doing that I don’t like he did say he would do (during the 2008 campaign), like going into Afghanistan. I knew I was taking a risk voting for him."

"He was a moderate candidate. I knew that," said Travis Ballie, a recent American University graduate who lives in Washington, D.C. and works as an intern at NARAL Pro-Choice America. "I was so engaged and so proud of his campaign because he made a personal change for me, as a person of color, to know what’s possible in this country. But I knew politically he was still a moderate."

"Most disappointing for me has been his refusal to stand for a core Democratic principle of a woman's right to choose," he added.

The president appeared at the convention via a three-minute video presentation. "What I’m asking you is to keep making your voices heard, keep holding me accountable," he said on a giant screen in front of the 2,100 attendees. "Let’s finish what we’ve started."

His comments won polite – but not rousing - applause.