Wake-up call comes Tuesday as Mr. Obama’s political strength is depleted; environment could hold major implications for this year & his own agenda.

A 11-04-09 post entitled "Omaba, please return to the middle where you ran! Contests serve as warning to Democrats: It's not 2008 anymore," provided in part:

The most significant change [in the off-year elections in Virginia and New Jersey] came among independent voters, who solidly backed Democrats in 2006 and 2008 but moved decisively to the Republicans on Tuesday, according to exit polls.

For months, polls have shown that independents were increasingly disaffected with some of Obama's domestic policies. They have expressed reservations about the president's health-care efforts and have shown concerns about the growth in government spending and the federal deficit under his leadership.

And a 11-06-09 post entitled "Democrats ought to read and consider this David Brooks column. Every word of it is accurate" provided in part:

Democrats did poorly in elections on Tuesday partly because of disappointed liberals who think that President Obama is moving too slowly, but mostly because of anxious suburban independents who think he is moving too fast. In Pennsylvania, there was an eight-point swing away from the Democrats among independents from a year ago. In New Jersey, there was a 12-point swing. In Virginia, there was a 13-point swing.

The most telling races this year were the suburban rebellions across the country. For example, in Westchester and Nassau counties in New York, Republican candidates came from nowhere to defeat entrenched Democratic county officials. In blue Pennsylvania, the G.O.P. won six out of seven statewide offices.

Middle-class suburban voters who have been trending Democratic for a decade suddenly lurched out of the Democratic camp — and are now in play.

Over the past year, there has been a shift to the right on issue after issue. According to Gallup, the percentage of Americans who believe that there is too much government regulation rose from 38 percent in 2008 to 45 percent in 2009. The percentage of Americans who want unions to have less influence rose from 32 percent to a record 42 percent.

Americans have moved to the right on abortion, immigration and global warming.

[O]nly 31 percent of Americans believe that the president and Congress “should worry more about boosting the economy even though it may mean larger budget deficits.” Sixty-two percent, twice as many, believe the president and Congress “should worry more about keeping the deficit down, even though it may mean it will take longer for the economy to recover.”

These shifts have not occurred because conservatives and liberals have changed their minds. They haven’t. The shift is among independents.

Independents are in the position of a person who is feeling gravely ill at the same time he has lost faith in his doctor.

This does not mean that independents are turning into Republicans. G.O.P. ratings are still in the toilet. But it does mean the Democrats have to fight to regain some of their most crucial supporters.

And despite the clear warning signals, the handwriting on the wall, it has remained -- for the most part -- business as usual clearly for senior advisor David Axelrod and apparently (but I may be wrong and he may just not have the President's ear) Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

I entitled this post a wake-up call. But really the wake-up call came last November and was then and continues to be ignored. I have no reason to expect the reaction to be different after tomorrow's results in Massachusetts for the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by a member of one of the country's most influential political families and one of the most effective senators in American history.

I am a sad moderate Democrat. I still support and have not lost faith in my President for whom I was an early, very, very early supporter, but my faith dims, and is in need of some serious stroking and reinforcement.