CIRCLE THE FIRING SQUAD:

Stung by the President on Air Quality, Environmentalists Weigh Their Options (LESLIE KAUFMAN, 9/03/11, NY Times)

"Energy from part of the base will now be directed at communicating with the White House and not with the public about the administration's record," said Daniel J. Weiss, director of climate strategy at the Center for American Progress, a liberal research group with close ties to the White House.

And Justin Ruben, executive director of MoveOn.org, a five-million-member online progressive political organization that played a significant role in President Obama's election in 2008, said he was sure that his members would be deflated.

"How are our members in Ohio and Florida who pounded the pavement in 2008 going to make the case for why this election matters?" Mr. Ruben said. "Stuff like this is devastating to the hope and passion that fuels the volunteers that made the president's 2008 campaign so unique and successful."

Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication, who does extensive work on public perception and the environment, said the real threat to the president's reputation stemming from the ozone decision went far beyond environmentalists.

"It could play into an emerging narrative in his own party that he is caving too quickly to Republican pressure," Dr. Leiserowitz said. "It is a dangerous narrative in your own base because it cuts down on enthusiasm and it is a narrative that his opponents will pick up on."

The harder the infighting the less damage they can do the rest of the country.

Posted by oj at September 8, 2011 7:02 AM
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