President Obama has taken bold jabs at two distinct pillars of his party's base recently, thumbing his nose at both trial attorneys and gay-rights activists.

Both groups worked hard to elect him last year, pouring money and manpower into his campaign. Both groups greeted his latest gestures with crossed arms and cold stares. Both moves were strategic. But which could do the popular president more harm?

As gay marriage initiatives advance in the states, a president who claims to be an ally appears to be moving in the opposite direction.

In the more curious move, the Obama administration picked yet another fight with gay-rights activists late Thursday by filing a motion to dismiss a court challenge to the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, a law that denies federal marriage benefits to same-sex couples and allows states to withhold recognition of same-sex marriages performed in another state or country. The Justice Department said Obama wants to repeal DOMA, which President Clinton signed in the middle of the night to avoid a photo-op that would outrage gays: "However, until Congress passes legislation repealing the law, the administration will continue to defend the statute when it is challenged in the justice system."

Competing for Democratic primary votes last year, Obama took a different view. At the time, he said DOMA was "abhorrent" and promised to work to overturn it. The brief filed Thursday, however, was the first effort Obama has made, for or against the law, as president.

Gay-rights organizations are outraged. In the past few days, several top gay donors have pulled their support from a Democratic National Committee fundraiser next month being headlined by Vice President Joe Biden.

"Although I and other [gay] leaders have introduced ourselves to you as policy makers, we clearly have not been heard, and seen, as what we also are: human beings whose lives, loves, and families are equal to yours," Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese said in an open letter to Obama. "I know this because this brief would not have seen the light of day if someone in your administration who truly recognized our humanity and equality had weighed in with you."

It's not the first time gay voters, who backed Obama over John McCain, 70 percent to 27 percent, have been disappointed with their friend in the White House. There was, of course, the incoming president's decision to invite the Rev. Rick Warren to speak at his inauguration. Then there was his decision to file a brief last month urging the Supreme Court not to review the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" ban on gays in the military, another policy Obama said he would work to overturn. The court sided with the administration, leaving the policy in effect for now.

Eyeing this string of recent events, gay-rights activists have begun to view Obama as a less-than-honest broker. The Rev. V. Gene Robinson, the openly gay Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire, who also spoke at Obama's inauguration, told The Hotline last week that "patience is wearing thin" with the new president. "I think it's time for him to begin to give this some of his time and energy," he said.

Disappointment within that community is particularly acute, given the high hopes it had for Obama after eight years with no policy voice under George W. Bush. But the disappointment is mixed with head-scratching confusion: As gay marriage initiatives advance in the states, a president who claims to be an ally appears to be moving in the opposite direction.

The softening of gay-voter support could mean trouble for the young administration, but White House advisers insist tensions will subside once Obama focuses on a more ambitious gay-rights agenda, probably sometime in 2010. (To tide them over, Obama was to sign an executive order today giving same-sex partners of federal workers access to health and other benefits). Meanwhile, the battle Obama is waging with trial attorneys could be more complicated.

The president recently signaled a willingness to protect doctors from medical malpractice lawsuits as part of his plan to cut health care costs. The move has alarmed trial attorneys, one of his party's biggest sources of campaign cash. Lawyers and law firms gave Obama more than four times as much money in 2008 as they gave McCain, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

In the Senate, Obama also advocated efforts to reduce lawsuits. As part of his bid to pass a signature health care reform plan this summer, however, Obama is highlighting the stance to gain credibility and keep potential opponents from balking. It could be the glue that holds together a particularly fragile bipartisan coalition -- in which case, aides believe, the fight will have been worth it.

We're starting to see a theme in the early days of the Obama era: Pushing allies away in the short term is fair game, as long as it suits the long-term goals of all sides. Whether that strategy works in the long term -- for Obama or his allies -- is anyone's guess.