One big difference between Obama and Sanders...which is why you can't compare the two

[AZ Progressive]

Obama still had the backing of the establishment. Obama pretended to be a populist and an outsider but when he won the election, the façade came off. Obama even had his own personal billionaire backer, Penny Pritzker (member of the family who owns Hyatt Hotels and Royal Caribbean cruise lines) who had a net worth of $2 billion in 2008.

She's a longtime supporter of the president. Pritzker, 53, first met President Obama and his wife, Michelle, at a Chicago YMCA in the early 1990s while her children were playing basketball and Michelle Obama's brother, Craig Robinson, was coaching. Since then, she has been an important supporter and has helped raise millions of dollars for his political campaigns since he ran for the Senate in 2004. During Obama's 2008 White House run, Pritzker served as the national chairwoman of his campaign finance team, which shattered fundraising records. Although she wasn't as active in the 2012 reelection effort, she was a top bundler, bringing in more than $500,000. She also served on the two White House economic advisory panels during Obama's first term.

- http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/05/obamas-new-commerce-secretary-a-billionaire-chicago-hotel-magnate/275500/

[Armstead]

1. True -- He was touoted as a candidate from the time he mader that speech at the convention

There were also several months of "will he or won't he?" speculation before he announced.

[bvar22]

12. He was being groomed for the Prsidency since he was a State Senator in Illinois.

How does a little known state senator with an undistinguished record land one of the biggest Political Plums in the Democratic Party...Keynote Speaker at the 2004 Convention?
Most Democrats would KILL for all that free Face Time in front thousands of cheering Democrats.

[Ken Burch]

19. He's done some decent stuff as president, but I have to say this:

Sometimes his entire career trajectory feels like a subplot on The Good Wife.

[Ferd Berfel]

39. yes, And that's why TPP - He has to pay back his billionaire creature and it's friends

[LexVegas]

2. This will help get that minority support....attacking Obama. You guys are priceless. nt

[AZ Progressive]

4. I didn't know DU was that important to the success of the Democratic Party

Oh my!

[TM99]

7. Of course it is just about Obama's race, right?

You know some of us PoC weren't that pleased that Obama was a New Dem.

[LexVegas]

9. You know....the vast majority of us "PoC" like Obama...and support HRC. nt

[TM99]

11. And a significant portion of us PoC

do not like the political philosophy that they espouse. It has not helped our communities and in fact done incredible harm to them.

I respect Obama infinitely more. He is at least blissfully free from the scandals and lies that surround Clinton.

[Empowerer]

43. Not just attacking him, but demeaning him as a clueless tool who was "groomed" for the presidency

[randome]

3. You have not been paying attention.

There. I can say that's the difference between you and me because...well, because.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Don't ever underestimate the long-term effects of a good night's sleep.[/center][/font][hr]

[AZ Progressive]

5. How conveniently vague

[randome]

6. Like your OP. I'm betting Warren Buffet supported Obama, too.

A billionaire but one with something of a conscience, too. Your trying to conflate the support of one rich person with Obama being a turncoat doesn't make sense.

Besides which, Obama is not running for re-election so I assume this is an indirect diss on Clinton.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Don't ever underestimate the long-term effects of a good night's sleep.[/center][/font][hr]

[NCTraveler]

8. And Obama has/had depth. Big difference there as well. nt.

[BlueMTexpat]

10. Posintg OPs like this is hardly the way to

attract any current Clinton supporters to jump into Bernie's corner instead. It's definitely not the way to attract those Dems who may be undecided but who are also proud of President Obama.

And that's exactly what must happen for Bernie to win the Democratic nomination.

[Maedhros]

13. Yet those who value truth above hero worship can appreciate it. [n/t]

[randys1]

26. Hero worship? I am white and that infuriates me to no end, I cant imagine

if I was Black and someone said that about my support of Obama

It would drive me right out of my fucking mind.

Especially given the history of BLACK and white in this country...

[uponit7771]

29. Sanders was never the leader during Obamas 8yrs that he expected Obama to be, that's no

... hero that's a rock thrower.

That call for Obama to be primaried in 2011 started way before 2011

[AZ Progressive]

16. You really think that Hillary people on this forum will defect to Bernie?

Don't be naive.

[ms liberty]

37. Unless you just got here last week,

You should have realized by now that not many here can be convinced to change their candidate. Very few here are actually undecided enough to make this a venue for picking up support for a candidate, IMO. DU'ers are a bunch of committed political junkies who are opinionated and knowledgeable. Many think this is the room for an argument (I had to work in a Python reference somewhere ). A lot of us are here to gather news and information, and to discuss the issues. I've been here since 03, and I have never believed this was the place to convince someone to change candidates in a primary. Read what people post here about their own and other's primary candidates, go back in the archives and see what was posted in 04 and 08. It's kind of obvious to me that despite the occasional caveats, most of us know we're not here for that. DU is where we commiserate with each other, strengthen our arguments, and share and gather information to take and use IRL. I've seen this kind of comment before, and it always puzzles me.

[JoePhilly]

14. Bernie should defintely run against Obama.

[uponit7771]

30. He damn near was the first three months, then he switched his tune here in the last month

... because Obama's popularty outside of the that bubble is steady

[mahina]

15. He was not pretending.

[AZ Progressive]

17. BTW, I'll post this based on inspiration from some here

[rbrnmw]

18. Now we have Obama bashing

keep it classy

[AZ Progressive]

20. Hillary will continue to be like Obama except to the right in foreign policy if she's elected

I think talking about Obama's flaws is relevant. Obama is still a lot better than a Republican.

[Hekate]

22. That's been ongoing since before he was sworn in. I have not forgotten. Now there's a newer target..

Last edited Mon Jan 4, 2016, 11:01 PM - Edit history (1)

...but Obama will always be handy to those who demand miracles and are ready with the pitchforks when miracles fail to occur on time.

Very classy indeed.

[rbrnmw]

24. I know I am talking about GDP

It's been a POTUS Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton bashing kinda day

[Motown_Johnny]

21. Which is why many of us like Sanders even more.

There is an anti-establishment movement within this country and Hillary is the antithesis of it.

[MeNMyVolt]

23. Which is why you and I will never be compadres.

I happen to think PBO was the best fucking president in my lifetime, and I'm 55. I simply cannot state what you can do with your supposed from the "left" smears.

[rbrnmw]

25. ......

My favorite President too followed by Bill Clinton

[uponit7771]

31. +1, relative to the situations they stepped into they did a damn good job... not perfect but

... damn good.

[rbrnmw]

32. they sure did

[randys1]

27. Actually, given the obstruction, the unprecedented obstruction, a case can be made that

he is one of the top 3 of all time as to effectiveness.


http://pleasecutthecrap.com/obama-accomplishments/


319 accomplishments

[MeNMyVolt]

28. +1

[rbrnmw]

33. I think he will go down in history as one of the best

[uponit7771]

36. Now you then up and done it... Posting factual information and shit with a full perspective...

... people get hides for that kind of stuff around here.

[AZ Progressive]

34. You must be in the minority here, many DUers are well aware of things like Obama's murderous drone program

[MeNMyVolt]

38. Of which Sanders will continue.

You do know that, right?

You need to try harder. Try to find that inner deepness, that spiritual nirvana that only a true Democrat can attain. Not seeing it yet.

[AZ Progressive]

35. You will believe what is convenient for you

Many on DU share my level of disappointment with Obama.

[joshcryer]

40. Obama did not pretend to be anything.

But it's true that Sanders is the real deal.

[MeNMyVolt]

41. Agree. n/t

[brush]

45. We really won't know that until he gets elected . . .

and runs into the same obstructionism that Obama has faced.

Campaign promises dim and even fade to compromise (which will make the sniping from the left at Obama seem tame) when confronted with the reality of repugs doing everything they can to stop you and having the votes to do just that, and when Middle East/Israeli/Netanyahu sabotague problems flare up and the generals tell you you have to leave this program in operation or this debacle will happen and so on and so on and so on, and when single-payer bills never get out of committee and to the floor, and when the banksters tell McConnell and Ryan to shut down the government yet again if they gon't get favorable treatment.

All this of course happens after the first major but unofficial briefing where the corporate billionaires and the generals and CIA etc. tell you to don't rock the boat too much, stick with your pet domestic issues where there will be some leeway allowed but don't stop the flow of dollars into the MIC or there could be some JFK or MLK issues (yeah, you better believe that stuff happpens).

If he does as well as Obama, the best president in most of our lifetimes, I'll be happy.

[joshcryer]

46. Oh man, Sanders wouldn't fill his cabinet with center-right picks.

He wouldn't make center-right appointments. Obama campaigned on reaching out to Republicans, Obama campaigned, quite seriously, on putting republicans in his inner circle. It was terrible and was going to backfire. Obama had less than three months to do anything.

If Sanders had three months of Congress? Holy fucking shit.

[brush]

47. I hope he gets that time, and actually it wasn't quite two months . . .

and learns from Obama's early mistakes of trying to work with the repugs (not knowing they had secretly, on his inaugural day in 2009, vowed to vote against everything he tried and make him a one term president), and moves swiftly to get whatever can be done in that short a time.

Our only hope is that Sanders has long enough coat tails that can sweep the many dems needed to win the House and Senate into office with him and not have to worry about trying to accomplish his whole agenda in a two-month window like Obama had, because the 2010 tricked-up, Tom Delay-gerrymandering of Congressional districts is still in effect.

In reality, there's not much chance of that happening so he'll have to figure out another way to get things done, much like Obama had to.

We can all go on and on and expound here about not wanting more tepid politics or another establishment candidate but we really have to face reality that until the 2020 Census and redistricting happens, there isn't much that can be done about the gerrymandering of Congressional districts that favor repugs. We all know that in 2014 dems got hundreds of thousands more total votes than repugs but because of certain manipulated districts stacked with enough repug voters, the republicans ended up in control of the House.

The Senate may be in play with Sanders' coat tails. Let's keep our fingers crossed but without both houses of Congress he'll be obstructed just as Obama has been, so again, I say if he accomplishes as much as Obama I'll be happy.

He's got my vote but I know what we're facing so I'm not thinking he's going bring about an immediate political revolution.

[WillyT]

42. K & R !!! - And They Want Another Term Or Two Of Tepid Politics... Not Me...

[wildeyed]

44. He never pretended anything.

Some people lack comprehension skills, I guess, because Obama was absolutely clear about being a centrist Democrat when he ran. And he was the keynote speech at the 2008 Democratic Convention, so yes, OF COURSE he had the backing of the establishment. Here, history lesson, watch it. It was AMAZING.

[AZ Progressive]

48. Reagan adviser Bruce Bartlett: Face it, Obama is a conservative

Bartlett, an economic policy expert who left the Republican Party amid disgust with President George W. Bush’s fiscal policies and backed Obama in 2008, contends that a look at Obama’s track record reveals a president who’s basically a liberal Republican of yore. From the beginning of his administration, Bartlett argues, Obama has charted a center-right course on both foreign and domestic policy issues.

Populating his administration with hawks like Hillary Rodham Clinton, Obama has presided over new military engagements abroad while overseeing a draconian crackdown on national security leaks at home, Bartlett notes.

Meanwhile, Obama has pursued “very conservative” fiscal policies, Bartlett writes, signing a stimulus package that was far smaller than what experts and advisers like Christina Romer found would be necessary to really prime the nation’s economic pump. Moreover, Obama has conducted himself like a deficit hawk, “proposing much deeper cuts in spending and the deficit than did the Republicans during the 2011 budget negotiations,” when a deal eluded the two parties. And don’t buy into the the GOP “harping” that Obama hates business, Bartlett cautions. The president, he says, “has bent over backward to protect corporate profits.”

- http://www.salon.com/2014/10/21/reagan_adviser_bruce_bartlett_face_it_obama_is_a_conservative/