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Who said the left and right can’t agree on anything anymore? Atlanta’s own Drew Westen, a professor at Emory University and Democratic consultant, took to the pages of the New York Times this past weekend to offer explanations for President Obama’s lackluster presidency. It’s a long piece, but there’s one section in particular that will sound awfully familiar to conservatives:
[One] possibility is that [Obama] is simply not up to the task by virtue of his lack of experience and a character defect that might not have been so debilitating at some other time in history. Those of us who were bewitched by his eloquence on the campaign trail chose to ignore some disquieting aspects of his biography: that he had accomplished very little before he ran for president, having never run a business or a state; that he had a singularly unremarkable career as a law professor, publishing nothing in 12 years at the University of Chicago other than an autobiography; and that, before joining the United States Senate, he had voted “present” (instead of “yea” or “nay”) 130 times, sometimes dodging difficult issues.
But it’s good to know that, three years later, one doesn’t have to be a racist, America-hating conservative to think Obama wasn’t qualified for his job. Too bad we didn’t hear this kind of liberal examination of Obama in early 2008.
Don't take any of that seriously. Liberals always orchestrate phony "criticism from the left" at election time. They think it makes them appear less extreme than they really are.
Well I just couldn't pass this thread up. Obama supporter here.
Realistically, I think Obama's chances are increasingly shaky. The only thing that gives me hope is that he is running against a field that is anything but loaded. Conservatives are right that Obama's not a very popular guy right now, even among his base. However, put him up against any of the likely GOP nominees and he actually has a fighting chance, which is similar to the 2004 election in which, by all accounts, GWB should have lost in a landslide given his declining popularity at the time, yet managed to pull it off due to the ineptitude and lack of oomph that Kerry brought to the table.
Something that hasn't been talked about yet, but might start gaining tracking as time goes along is the possibility of a 1980 all over again. By that, I mean that if Obama's support on the left continues to deteriorate there might be calls for someone to run against him in the primaries. And not just anyone. He could possibly end up running against Hillary or someone like that, and man would that be a nightmare. He's very close to that point, I think. The debt ceiling was a disaster for Obama, politically. Not because it gave a gift to the tea party (they have been in a tailspin too actually), but because it increased the likelihood that Obama's political aspirations in 2012 could implode from within. A strong primary challenger would be devastating because he would have to spend money and attention fighting off a major challenger and it would weaken him (or whoever wins) against a GOP challenger. Who knows...Nader might make a comeback too. Either way, I think that's Obama's biggest nightmare right now, and it's increasingly possible.
This is actually no big surprise to me. I am not a liberal but did vote for Obama and will do so again more than likely because like the poster above, I do not see anyone on the other side or any third party candidates that I would ever vote for and being that I ALWAYS vote, I will just stick with the incumbent.
I think it is strange that those on the right victimize themselves by saying that liberals consider them racists if they say anything against the president. I think it is more political and not a liberal vs conservative thing and that this is an issue where conservatives play their republican/conservative card. Not all liberals feel that everyone who doesn't like the president is racists.
Wanted to add that no matter the criticisms, I do feel that in today's polarizing political environment, that the Democrats do have more unity. I don't feel that anyone will challenge Obama as a primary candidate. I also feel, and which was evidenced during the debt crisis vote, that Dems will come together and keep solidarity within the party. The GOP is much more fractured than the Dems and liberals with the Tea Party in the mix. I also feel that it will come down to a lesser of two evils thing with liberals and that lesser will more than likely end up being Obama.
I guess just to add a follow up, I think Obama has never recovered from the healthcare debate. I have long supported health care reform myself, but he waded neck deep in a pool of political sh*t and the timing was bad. He clearly needed to focus more on the economy and convince moderates and average joes that he was committed to that priority above all others; instead, he gave the conservatives a gift by allowing them to control the narrative of Obama as a tax-and-spend liberal who was more focused on expanding government that repairing the private sector. I think Obama would have been fine with the temporary receivership of the banks and auto industries -- even conservatives could see the value in that even if they didn't like the political party engineering it. But the healthcare debate ended up squeezing him from both sides. On the right, he went too far; on the left, he didn't go far enough. For those in the center, the ones on whom his political future depends, he was distracted by something that was not their top priority.
Obama brags about how the individual mandate for corporate insurance was a Republican idea.
Uhh yeah. THAT IS WHY I AM AGAINST IT YOU DOLT!
If I wanted to support Republican policies I'd vote for a Republican.
Politics has become nothing but team jersey waving. If side A does something than side B whines about it. If side b does the same thing than A whines about it while B cheers it. Same corporate policies but just different agents implementing those policies. But people are so caught up in the labels of D or R that they don't actually pay attention to what is being done.
The reality is that both parties answer to the same corporate bosses.
Anyone, on the left, who isn't being critical of the Obama administration has zero credibility.
The only thing that gives me hope is that he is running against a field that is anything but loaded.
Wait until November/December.
Quote:
Originally Posted by C.C
Don't take any of that seriously. Liberals always orchestrate phony "criticism from the left" at election time.
Except it isn't phony, it's dead on. He's another Carter.
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