Cenk, I think you're exactly right. Barack Obama is a centrist more than anything else, his biggest fear is to look in anyway radical, and the only way to move him is to move the center.

You call on progressive politicians to vote things down, but as things are now, I don't think that will happen often enough. In the U.S. House and Senate, the problem is not only that progressives aren't forceful enough, but also that there are too few real progressives to begin with. On the other hand, there are numerous conservative Democrats and the very large group of those who, like Obama, always gravitate to the "center".

How do you change this? There is no easy way. If the Democrats lose the next election, they will probably draw the wrong conclusions, plus the Republicans get another opportunity to practice their lunacy. The only real answer is: Good old protests. Progressives and populists must somehow unite, move their asses to Washington and show the establishment what the people really want. Do it like the teabaggers, with real grassroots instead of astroturf.

Like candidate Obama said many times: Change never comes from Washington, change comes to Washington. He said "I will need your help." I think he meant it. Polls aren't enough to convince the establishment the people are serious about something; neither are letters or emails to congressmen and -women. Like the teabaggers, you'll have to yell into their faces and their cameras to capture their attention. Show them how pissed you really are! That makes for good "news". And it forces the media and thus the politicians to acknowledge that the center is not where Joe Lieberman is.