Does Obama Have Cooties?

Don

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To Help Democrats in the Fall, Obama May Stay Away (NYT)
As lunch was served in the Roosevelt Room of the White House one day last week, President Obama assured the nine Democratic members of Congress sitting around the table that he would do anything he could to help them survive their fall elections.

Even, he said, if it meant staying away.

“You may not even want me to come to your district,” Mr. Obama said, according to guests, nearly all of whom hold seats that Republicans are aggressively seeking.
Apparently El Presidente has lost some luster over the last couple of years.
It is a vivid shift from the last two elections, when Mr. Obama was the hottest draw for Democratic candidates in red and blue states alike. And it highlights the tough choices Democrats face as they head toward Election Day with the president’s approval ratings depressed, Republicans energized, the economic slump still lingering and two veteran House Democrats now facing public hearings on ethics charges.

Democrats who are on the ballot hope to make the election about issues other than Mr. Obama, including the benefits to their constituents of the health care and stimulus legislation and the argument that voting Republican means a return to the policies of President George W. Bush.
Apparently, they'd rather campaign on benefits nobody's seen yet, and trot the old "lesser of two evils" horse out of the barn, than rely on Obama's stellar track record.

Does Obama's track record influence your voting plans for the fall?
 

SPMiller

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I expected going in that Obama wouldn't be much of a liberal, and so far he has proven me correct. In that sense, I can't be disappointed. There's no choice but to vote for the lesser of two evils. If you figure out an alternative, I'm sure the electorate would like to hear, but for now the two-party system is entrenched.

As to whether he has cooties, I don't know. Probably not, but you could try to kiss him to find out for sure.
 
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ColoradoGuy

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I expected going in that Obama wouldn't be much of a liberal, and so far he has proven me correct. In that sense, I can't be disappointed. There's no choice but to vote for the lesser of two evils. If you figure out an alternative, I'm sure the electorate would like to hear, but for now the two-party system is entrenched.

As to whether he has cooties, I don't know. Probably not, but you could try to kiss him to find out for sure.

Agree. Looking ahead to 2012, several of the potential greater evils look to be very, very much more evil.
 

Vince524

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I expected going in that Obama wouldn't be much of a liberal, and so far he has proven me correct. In that sense, I can't be disappointed. There's no choice but to vote for the lesser of two evils. If you figure out an alternative, I'm sure the electorate would like to hear, but for now the two-party system is entrenched.

As to whether he has cooties, I don't know. Probably not, but you could try to kiss him to find out for sure.

I think that to those people out there that voted for Obama and now feel he isn't liberal enough, they aren't going to not vote for someone in the fall election based on their association with him.

But for those who had voted for Obama and now feel he is too liberal, it may.
 

robeiae

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I expected going in that Obama wouldn't be much of a liberal, and so far he has proven me correct.
Yes, he's much more of a conservative, what with his massive spending cuts and freezes, his refusal to increase government involvement in healthcare, his willingness to let the market decide the fate of GM and Chrysler, and his never-ceasing refusal to bend to the unions...
 

William Haskins

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this is a common occurrence that just gets a fresh spin depending on who the president is.

mid-term elections, particularly in a president's first term, are a dicey proposition, especially if you're trying to hold control of the house or senate (or both).

"the base" is a moving target in a country dead-set on trying to force myriad political views into one of two party affiliations.

obama's biggest problems lie to the left of him, and he certainly doesn't have to worry about the lefties leaping over the moderates and joining forces with the right.

his liability, such as it is, in actively campaigning for the mid-terms is reminding the progressive wing how he's failed them (real or imagined) and simply demotivating them to such a degree that they stay home on election day.
 
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I think that to those people out there that voted for Obama and now feel he isn't liberal enough, they aren't going to not vote for someone in the fall election based on their association with him.

But for those who had voted for Obama and now feel he is too liberal, it may.

I voted for Obama. He is too liberal. I hope the republicans take over thehouse and as long as Palin isn't the nominee, the white house.

Please.
 

nighttimer

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I voted for Obama. He is not liberal enough. I hope the Republicans don't take over the House and if Palin is the nominee Obama will be reelected to a second term.
 

Don Allen

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As you know, I voted and supported Obama, and still do,,,, to an extent. Honestly, He's pissing me off with stupid things and with one big thing. The stupid is stuff like appearing on the View.. Fuck you Barrack,,, stay off the television and grow a set of balls and do something big, like stop the war...

The afgan thing is turned into a big pile of shit, and he's talking about Lindsey in jail....

I'm becoming disillusioned....
 

Michael J. Hoag

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Yes, he's much more of a conservative, what with his massive spending cuts and freezes, his refusal to increase government involvement in healthcare, his willingness to let the market decide the fate of GM and Chrysler, and his never-ceasing refusal to bend to the unions...

Naw, he's a liberal SOCIALIST because he personally killed the public option, pushed for a Republican "free market" health care plan pioneered by Mark Pauly and the Heritage Foundation, continued Bush's bail-out policies, appointed a radically Friedmanite economics staff (not to mention generally advocating for a "third way" approach to economics) and accepted a Neo-con "co-in" strategy in Afghanistan.

And THAT kind of "liberal" has definitely gots the coots.
 
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robeiae

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Bush wasn't much of a conservative, when it came to domestic policy. So, continuing Bush's bailouts is hardly evidence of Obama's non-liberalism.

As to the public option, Obama wanted it but knew he'd never get it. Right now. That--again--is hardly evidence of a guy lacking a liberal world-view.

And I'm pretty sure "Friedmanites" don't--as a rule--call for trillions of dollars in government spending as a means of "fixing" unemployment and the economy.

The "Obama's not much of liberal" deal is a clever bit of misdirection. But the reality is that Obama's agenda is all about growing government, increasing its role in daily life, and the like. He sees the government as a problem-solving machine, as something that can "fix" what ails the nation, the world. That's liberalism, not conservatism.

I understand the laments of those that find his liberalism sorely lacking in some areas--like foreign policy--and they certainly have valid points. But to look at the stimulus bill, the healthcare bill, and the now-defunct cap and trade legislation, then claim that Obama's "not much of a liberal," implying that he's somehow closer to the right, is silly imo.
 

Michael J. Hoag

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Bush wasn't much of a conservative, when it came to domestic policy. So, continuing Bush's bailouts is hardly evidence of Obama's non-liberalism.

As to the public option, Obama wanted it but knew he'd never get it. Right now. That--again--is hardly evidence of a guy lacking a liberal world-view.

And I'm pretty sure "Friedmanites" don't--as a rule--call for trillions of dollars in government spending as a means of "fixing" unemployment and the economy.

The "Obama's not much of liberal" deal is a clever bit of misdirection. But the reality is that Obama's agenda is all about growing government, increasing its role in daily life, and the like. He sees the government as a problem-solving machine, as something that can "fix" what ails the nation, the world. That's liberalism, not conservatism.

I understand the laments of those that find his liberalism sorely lacking in some areas--like foreign policy--and they certainly have valid points. But to look at the stimulus bill, the healthcare bill, and the now-defunct cap and trade legislation, then claim that Obama's "not much of a liberal," implying that he's somehow closer to the right, is silly imo.
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Obama's pretty much a "third way" guy, meaning---just as you said--that Obama-brand liberals aren't going to get their way about the government solving problems. So they're going to work with corporations to craft "market-based" solutions within the status quo.

It's politically inconvenient for both the left and the right to admit it, but that's been the hallmark of Obama's domestic policy.

Sure, you can point to the deficit and yell "socialist!" but you know that deficit is the Bush trickle down tax cuts, war and a generation of conservatives neglecting our infrastructure to pay for vote-pandering tax cuts.

Obama's as centrist as we'll ever get.
 

robeiae

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But I'm not yelling "socialist!"

And the deficit is a lot of things, not the least of which is year after year of pork and earmarks--sought by both sides of the aisle--along with the auto-increasing of federal budgets across the board, year after year (those that complain about this get the BS attack of "you want to cut program x!"), and the continued expansion of federal authority, via new programs and departments.

As to infrastructure, I had a long drawn out discussion on that subject once before on these boards. I'll say here what I said then: the great majority of infrastructure in this country is the responsibility of local and state governments, not the feds.

The idea that it has been neglected by conservatives to pay for tax cuts is nonsense. By and large, it's neglected by state, local, and federal officials/agencies because they can get away with it. And the monies they could have used (were supposed to use) to maintain infrastructure gets channeled into other projects. I don't think you can make a conservative/liberal line here, at least not where you might want it.
 
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rugcat

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Domestically, Clinton was far more of a centrist. Far more. It's not even close.
Yes
And Bush (the second) was--on balance--to the left of Clinton.
Ha, ha. Good one.

But to look at the stimulus bill, the healthcare bill, and the now-defunct cap and trade legislation, then claim that Obama's "not much of a liberal," implying that he's somehow closer to the right, is silly imo.
I think that's a reaction to those on the right who paint him as a far left radical, which is far from reality. He is indeed a classic liberal -- farther left than Hillary, I'd say, but still not that far from the center.

He's got into trouble with the left because he's tried to compromise, not because he's an ideological centrist, but in order to get his legislation passed -- on the premise that half a loaf is better than none.

Willingness to recognize political realities is usually a good thing. But I don't think he understood the depths of right wing resistance. So, he's ended up with crumbs much of the time.

I'll say here what I said then: the great majority of infrastructure in this country is the responsibility of local and state governments, not the feds.
I assume you'd exempt the Eisenhower promoted interstate highway system.

Th question is, if local and state cannot afford to repair infrastructure, is it not the place of the federal government to assist with funding? Infrastructure is the arteries of the nation's life blood -- if the Bay Bridge in San Francisco falls apart, it hurts not only the city and state, but the nation -- you know, interstate commerce and all that.
 

Michael J. Hoag

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Strange how conservatives loved the guy then. I guess conservatives prefer liberal policy. Right?

Which is why Karl Rove's famous "energize the conservative base" strategy hinged on crafting a strongly liberal domestic policy.

History schmistory, conservatives have an election to win, damn it, so Obama and Bush are LIBERALS and it's LIBERALISM that got us into this mess!

PS--I didn't mean "you" specifically. But Bush's debt is usually the thing people point to as proof that Obama's a "liberal."
 
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robeiae

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I assume you'd exempt the Eisenhower promoted interstate highway system.
Not at all. I said the "great majority." And that's what I meant. The interstate highway system is a part of what IS the fed's responsibility, when it comes to infrastructure.
Th question is, if local and state cannot afford to repair infrastructure, is it not the place of the federal government to assist with funding? Infrastructure is the arteries of the nation's life blood -- if the Bay Bridge in San Francisco falls apart, it hurts not only the city and state, but the nation -- you know, interstate commerce and all that.
But that begs the question, why can't they--local and state--afford it? Because they sure seem capable of affording lots of other things...

Again, infrastructure maintenance is an easy thing to set aside "for later." It's not sexy, it doesn't garner lots of "attaboys," 'cept when it actually falls apart. We can, of course, look at the levee system around New Orleans as a case study...