General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Constantly referring to President Obama as a "used car salesman" is expected of a RW racist. [View all]nyabingi
(1,145 posts)If you have ever read sites like blackagendareport.com and others from the Black left, you'd see that Obama is called much worse than a "used car salesman". In my humble opinion, Obama deserves much of the criticism he's received from the left/progressive community because his campaign rhetoric (and his pre-Congress days in particular) was always much more progressive and populist than his actual governing style turned out to be.
I am less critical of Obama domestically because I feel he is trying to change things for the better overall, but he is still beholden to powerful corporate interests and can't govern as much to the left as he probably wants to. His foreign policy though should be the object of criticism not just from the progressive base but Democrats as a whole because he has continued many of Bush's policies and expanded US militarism in some respects (drone killings).
People who already support Democrats will do so in November - the left criticizing Obama is not going to hurt his chance of winning over Republicans because they're not going to change their minds because of it. Blindly agreeing with Obama just because he's a Democrat and not holding him to higher standards is silly and infantile, and it seems many here disagreeing with the "used car salesman" tag are more concerned with party solidarity than letting Obama know that his supporters don't agree with positions.