At various points, the president insisted that raising the debt ceiling and cutting the deficit not be linked and that new revenue must be a part of a deal -- both positions he abandoned when Republicans refused to comply. Obama also surprised his allies when he put Social Security and Medicare temporarily on the table.

Next Round

The timing of the party dissention is important because it may diminish the president's leverage as Congress begins negotiating cuts in entitlements and changes in the tax code.

As part of the package that initially cuts $900 billion from the budget, Congress will create a bipartisan, 12-member committee that is expected to deliver recommendations for an additional $1.5 trillion in spending reductions by November.

In addition, a fractured or less enthusiastic base may weaken Obama politically in what is likely to be a tough 2012 re-election campaign amid U.S. unemployment rate that the administration and most private economists project will be above 8 percent.

While he's unlikely to face a serious primary challenge, complaints about the debt agreement among Democratic Party activists comes on top of frustration over the health-care law that they criticized for not going far enough and Obama's willingness to extend Bush-era tax cuts last year.

Disappointed

"Our members worked very hard to elect the president," said Justin Ruben, executive director of MoveOn.org, an advocacy group that claims 5 million members. "Many of them are disappointed."

That could translate to a reduced intensity of support for Obama in 2012, Ruben said. "People may just not be inspired to hit the streets," he said. "There is a bit of a credibility problem."

Representative Jesse Jackson Jr., an Illinois Democrat who has a close relationship with Obama, said the president made "a profound mistake" in signaling to Republicans that programs for the elderly and the poor are on the table for cutting.