Jeremy Varon, a historian at the New School for Social Research in New York City and a liberal activist, described his participation in last week’s Occupy Wall Street march as the most exciting moment in politics for him since Election Night 2008 — and now, he said, liberals are breaking free from Obama.

“I do feel a generation of young progressives has come out of the mystifying shadow of the Obama administration and said to itself, ‘We have values that this presidency isn’t going to advance,’ ” said Varon, 44, a vocal critic of Obama’s anti-terrorism policies.

Several activists camped out in McPherson Square this week expressed a range of feelings about Obama, from indifference to disgust.

Christina McKenna, 26, quit her waitressing job in Richmond and drove to Washington with her 4-year-old twins to remain at the demonstration.

Seated on a blanket in the grass as her son and daughter frolicked nearby, McKenna recalled canvassing and phone-banking for Obama four years ago.

“But I was younger and more naive then,” she said.