Mandate Watch: Were Democrats Elected to Attack "The Left?" Part II
Open Left - Front Page — ... ago a Senate Democratic aide and Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) kicked off a campaign to publicly berate "the left" in the wake of the 2008 election. Now, here's a rant-ish "Message to Obama's Progressive Critics" from top Obama aide Steve Hildebrand today demanding the Dirty Fucking Hippies of "the left" STFU: ...

Obama Deputy Steve Hildebrand: Liberals Need To STFU
Firedoglake — ... by Rachel Tapley Steve Hildebrand writes a hectoring, finger wagging post aimed at Obama's liberal critics: This is not a time for the left wing of our Party to draw conclusions about the Cabinet and White House ...

Them's fightin' words
The Reaction — ... Today, Obama's top aide Steve Hildebrand decided to post a plea for understanding from the Left on the Huffington Post which can only be termed condescending, if not outright insulting. See, it's one thing to reach out, it's quite another, as Jane Hamsher ...

Never Satisfied
QandO — ... Steve Hildebrand, of the Obama Campaign, tells the far left, essentially, that they were successfully used and they need to just shut up and get over it: ...

This Is Not A Time
pandagon.net - we are the public option — ... Steve Hildebrand, Obama’s deputy national campaign director, writes a message to the “left wing” of the Democratic Party telling us about the fierce urgency of later.  ...

Barack Obama, Community Organizer, Welcome Back! Obama Defends Shafted Workers in Hometown of Chicago.
BuzzFlash.org - Progressive News and Commentary with an Attitude | Fight Ignorance: Read BuzzFlash — ... spread to my house."Barack, the community organizer is back, the one Michelle Obama and America fell in love with. And not a moment too soon. Given increasingly vociferous concerns from the progressive community about Obama's cabinet appointments (although BuzzFlash should note that there are some very progressive people in the secondary level appointments and in Obama's kitchen cabinet and among his key fundraisers), the Obama transition team had his deputy campaign manager write an op-ed of reassurance to the liberal blogosphere. But that's just a staffer putting out a fire. ...

Hildebrand's defense
Ben Smith's Blog — Steve Hildebrand responds on Huffington Post  to (muted) progressive complaints about Obama's cabinet: The point I'm making here is that our new president, the Congress and all Americans must come together to solve these problems. This is not a time for the left wing of our Party to draw conclusions about the Cabinet and White House appointments that President-Elect Obama is making. Some believe the appointments generally aren't progressive enough. Having worked with former Senator Obama for the last two years, I can tell you, that isn't the way he thinks ...

Quote For The Day
The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan — ... is making. Some believe the appointments generally aren't progressive enough. Having worked with former Senator Obama for the last two years, I can tell you, that isn't the way he thinks and it's not likely the way he will lead. The problems I mentioned above and the many I didn't, suggest that our president surround himself with the most qualified people to address these challenges. After all, he was elected to be the president of all the people - not just those on the left," -Steve Hildebrand, Barack Obama’s National Deputy Campaign Manager. ...

Top Obama Adviser Hits "The Left Wing Of Our Party" For Criticizing Cabinet Picks
TPM Election Central — ... Steve Hildebrand, the former deputy national campaign director for Barack Obama, has a new piece up at the Huffington Post, rebutting left-wing critics who say that Obama's cabinet choices have been too centrist or even conservative: ...

The Middle Way
The Mahablog — I say there is a vast middle way between brainless robo-cheerleading for the Obama Administration and declaring that the Obama Administration already has sold out progressive values and will be no better than a third Clinton term. I agree with Jane H. and John A. (objecting to Steve Hildebrand) that there are reasons to express concern about some of Obama’s cabinet choices. The blogosphere in particular will, I hope, maintain some objective distance from the Obama Administration. This is not just to remind Obama of what we expect from him. ...

Ideological Purity Pity Party
Taylor Marsh — ... --insert laugh track here-- Oh, and if you find a female quoted in the Politico article above let me know. But, good grief. Did Obama’s team have to take the bait? ...

Grumbling on 'The Left'
Ben Smith's Blog — ... The Democratic left, which -- to the dismay of the press -- has been pretty mild in its criticism of Obama's centrist choices, isn't particularly pleased with Steve Hildebrand's tone this morning. ...

Horrors!
The Reaction — ... Goodness gracious! A politician allowed the delusional to maintain their delusions just long enough to get him elected! ...

The Daily Grind
Weekly Standard Blog — ... loss, ignoring Cao's compelling life story and Jefferson's, ahem, ethical challenges. Abortion politics didn't doom the GOP. Five secretaries of state advise Hillary. Jeremiah Wright vs. Elisabeth Hasselbeck: "That dumb broad." Fall of Western Civilization Watch: Words about Christianity and British history removed from children's dictionary in UK. Some liberals flat-out angry with Obama. Obama team runs to HuffPo to explain cabinet choices to the angry Left. ...

How Not to Stem Criticism From Obama’s Left Flank
Comments from Left Field — Memo to Deputy Transition Director Steve Hildebrand: poking a beehive with a sharp STFU stick isn’t gonna stop the buzzing. It’s just gonna get your dumb ass stung. David Sirota patiently explains why muzzling progressives isn’t the answer: The reason the Republican Party and conservative movement were so successful [up until recently] was because they developed a symbiotic relationship. Specifically, the party apparatus knew that sustained conservative movement pressure on the party ...

Obama Aide Bites Left, Left Bites Back
Politics Daily — ... Obama Deputy Campaign Manager Steve Hildebrand published a kind of open letter to Barack Obama's "progressive critics" today in Huffpo that has drawn immediate criticism. Here's Hildebrand: ...

Liberals to Obama: What’s up with your admin picks, policy shifts?
Sister Toldjah — ... Democrat strategist Steve Hildebrand, who was also Obama’s National Deputy Campaign Manager, writes today at the HuffPo that, essentially, Obama was elected as president of all people, not just the left: ...

The Washington Left Asserts Itself
The Atlantic Politics Channel — ... In Steve Hilderband's "trust us" caution today, I see a bit of a genius move: By all means, we must reject all the concerns of the die-hard leftists, and instead, move sharply toward the center of American politics, doing such reasonable, centrist bipartisan things as bringing the troops home from Iraq, making health care affordable, and embarking on a massive public works projects and using government policy to eliminate our dependence on fossil fuels. ...

Hildebrand's advice
Political Animal — HILDEBRAND'S ADVICE.... Democratic strategist Steve Hildebrand, a deputy campaign manager who oversaw the state, field and political operations for Barack Obama, has heard some liberal consternation about Obama's cabinet choices. In an item for the Huffington Post , Hildebrand offers some pushback. After noting the extraordinary challenges facing policy makers, he argues: [O]ur new president, the Congress and all Americans must come together to solve these problems. This is not a time for the left wing of our Party to draw conclusions about the Cabinet and White House ...

Corzine On Obama’s Appointments: They’re People Who Are ‘Pragmatists With A Progressive Agenda’
Think Progress — ... Attempting to diffuse the nervousness, Obama’s top campaign field operative Steve Hildebrand pens a response in the Huffington Post, warning that now is “not a time for the left wing” to be drawing conclusions. (Hildebrand’s argument has ...

Black left, white left
Ben Smith's Blog — The mild back and forth this morning between Steve Hildebrand and David Sirota and others on the -- as yet small, civil -- fissures between Obama and the left; and our story on the topic quoting a range of worried liberals; and Bob Kuttner's and others' concerns about the Secretary of Labor, prompted a blunt email from a reader   Do you know what all of these so-called progressives have in common? They are white and they never initially supported Obama.... You will also notice nary a peep of progressive blacks, because we know ...

Open Season On "The Left"
Open Left - Front Page — Barack Obama, seven days ago, when announcing his national security team: "I am going to be welcoming a vigorous debate inside the White House," Obama said. Steve Hildebrand, deputy national campaign director for Barack Obama, yesterday: This is not a time for the left wing of our Party to draw conclusions about the Cabinet and White House appointments that President-Elect Obama is making. Um, what? Obama himself said that he is "welcoming a vigorous debate," but one of Obama's top deputies writes that "this is ...

The Left v. Obama Aide, Not Yet A Flamewar
Swampland — ... Steve Hildebrand's piece in Huffington Post is just the sort of thing to get the blogging juices going. As a former deputy director of the Obama campaign, he delivers a blunt message to the left: Sit tight. Everything will be alright. ...

Steve Hildebrand: "SYFPH".
Daily Kos — ... Steve Hildebrand, the Deputy Campaign Manager of Obama for America over the past two years, has decided to drop by and spend some time with the unwashed masses of the blogosphere. We know this because he's written a heavily trafficked piece at Huffington Post, in an attempt to tamp down the apparently rampant Progressive Criticism of our new President. ...

"Surprised" Hildebrand Responds To Critics: "I Don't Regret Any Of It"
TPM Election Central — ... Former Obama adviser Steve Hildebrand, who touched off an explosion with his HuffPo piece arguing that "the left" should hold its fire and let Obama do his thing, says he doesn't regret a word of the piece, though he did make a key concession to critics. ...

The Obama Administration: Why Not Just Sit Back and See What Happens?
Open Left - Front Page — ... It's fair to say a post by Obama Deputy Campaign Manager Steve Hildebrand essentially telling certain liberal bloggers to calm down has not calmed things down. There's a bit of a pie fight going on over at dKos right now after ...

Embrace the Dominant Paradigm
TPMCafe — ... Now we have this nebbish, this shmendrik, one Steve Hildebrand, presuming to lecture the nation about public policy, a topic concerning which, as his post reveals, he ought to just shut his stupid face. ...

The Early Word: Obama Faces Liberal Angst
The Caucus — ... wary of undermining what they see as the most liberal president sent to the White House in a generation. They are quietly lobbying for more liberals in the next round of appointments, seeking at least some like-minded voices at the table. And they are banking on the idea that no matter whom he installs under him, Mr. Obama will be the driving force for the change they seek. As Mr. Baker notes, Obama aide Steve Hildebrand answered some of the criticism coming from liberal quarters in an article on the Huffington Post over the weekend in which he urged the “left wing of our ...

12/9: Scandalous!
Blogometer — ... that press reports are neglecting to mention that Blagojevich is a Dem. Before the Blagojevich news broke, the dominant topic in the political blogosphere was ex-Obama strategist Steve Hildebrand 's Huffington Post diary , in which he told Obama's "progressive critics" that "this is not a time for the left wing of our Party to draw conclusions [about Obama's appointments]." Liberal bloggers were ...

Hildebrand Responds To His Critics on MSNBC
Firedoglake — ... Steve Hildebrand unleashed a wave of criticism with his Huffington Post piece where he stated that "[t]his is not a time for the left wing of our Party to draw conclusions about the Cabinet and White House appointments that President-Elect Obama is making" and "he was elected to be the president of all the people - not just those on the left." In classic concern-troll fashion, he identified himself as "a liberal member of our Party." ...

Starting With Where the World Is
Open Left - Front Page — ... . It's why one of his top aides saw no risk in writing a screed using Fox News talking points to tell the "left wing" of the Democratic Party to STFU. Because Team Obama ate part of the left, and organized it around the celebrity, charisma and leadership of one man - and the progressive movement that is organized around issues like the war, the economy and trade is still too weak to change the dynamic. Put another way, the forces of money and power that want Obama to embrace militarism, free market fundamentalism, corporate-written trade deals and general bashing of the Dirty ...

Creating Space for Disagreement
Open Left - Front Page — ... who criticize Obama will be responsible for his defeat, and thus need to be silenced / separated from his true supporters. (This is actually my favorite example of Obama supporters adopting totalitarian language.) Shut up, because Obama is smarter than you (a very common meme) Shut up and clap louder. (This one seemed to grow in popularity during December) Or, just shut up to anyone who criticizes us at all, mostly famously from Obama advisors Hildebrand and Plouffe. This tone is impossible to miss if you have lived ...

What Took You So Long Steve Hildebrand?
Open Left - Front Page — ... The Hildebrand quotes from the first column come from a HuffPo piece he wrote in December and the second column from ...

Change
Daily Kos — ... things. The American people put confidence in the Democrats because they thought we could get things done, and if we fail, they’re not going to give it back." "I gave up a lot to elect Democrats, and I expect them to give it up for me. I’m going to speak loudly. The Republicans don’t have power unless the moderates and the Blue Dogs give it to them — which is what they’re doing now," he said in the speech. Steve Hildebrand, December 7, 2008: A Message to Obama's Progressive Critics ...