In Clinton's case it was defending him from the non-stop personal attacks that was so wearying. It took a brave soul with a taste for political combat to keep fighting in the face of that onslaught. It was called Clinton Fatigue, the sense that even people who were sympathetic to the president's political plight and understood that his enemies were rabid and insane, just wanted it to end. Many analysts think it was the reason why Gore had such a hard time even though the economy was roaring --- normally the country would have not wanted to rock that boat. It was the prospect of four or eight more years of wingnuts shrieking and howling that made at least few people say "whatever... give it to them ... anything to shut them up."
In Obama's case it's this moribund economy vs the outsized expectations that form the substance of the Democratic base's complaint. And there's good reason for people to be disappointed and worried. But the exhaustion at defending him, at least some of it, comes from the same place as that Clinton Fatigue. The right's non-stop attacks eventually just wear people down, sap them of their enthusiasm, make them question their own judgment, especially in the face of a negative and less than hopeful future. You have to be pretty committed to want to wallow in this toxic mud every day and most people have better things to do with their time.
I'm not saying that if the GOP wasn't relentlessly attacking Obama that this woman would feel good about him. He hasn't been very successful at addressing her concerns and there are plenty of liberals who are critical of him as well. But even if he were able to allay her concerns about the economy and the future of the country, the exhaustion that comes from battling back these lunatics is what really takes its toll.
Sometimes it's better to just give the whiny brats a cookie to shut them the hell up because you just don't have the energy to deal with it anymore. Sometimes it's better to surrender just so you can marshal your strength again to keep going at a later date. Digby has a point. We're all feeling pretty exhausted yelling into the pointless darkness trying to create light.
But that's when you remember that the alternative is to watch these lunatics wreck the country again. They've already cost us trillions. Now they want to finish the ritual blood sacrifice of the American middle class, and if we turn away and say "screw it" they win.
They know exactly what they are doing. The constant tide of fanatic Obama Derangement and lies and half-truths and lazy Village reporting and banksters screaming how we're just soooooooo mean to them is frustrating to the point where any normal human would just stop caring and let them destroy the country just to quiet down the voices to a dull roar. It's easier to swim with the flood than against it.
But it's not the right thing to do. At some point you have to suck it up and keep going anyway, because the alternative is much, much worse. Americans have a long and rich history of holding out against the storm. Now is simply one of those times.
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