14 days in, Grade Obama's Performance

[charlie and algernon]

[MNDemNY]

1. "I",Incomplete.

[charlie and algernon]

5. that's the "Need to wait longer before grading" button

I guess I can change it to Incomplete

[Uzybone]

15. Well we all should wait longer to grade him

but whats the fun in that?

[derby378]

2. I know there's a temptation to grade him higher...

...but you shouldn't get brownie points for "banning" something that is already illegal, but should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Anyone know what I'm getting at?

[pnwmom]

20. If you're grading him on a curve, which is only fair, then he's an A+++.

[phantom power]

3. He gets an A for a good strong start out of the gate...

I docked him the '+' for his mistaken pursuit of "bipartisanship."

[Dawgs]

7. +1 - All of my complaints are related to bipartisanship and "friendships" (Warren, Daschle, Gregg).

:hi:

[phantom power]

9. I'm watching with great interest to see what he does from here...

He said he was going to try bipartisanship thing. Very well, he tried it. The result was predictable -- the GOP shook his hand and put a knife in his back, and Obama did not win any points with the public for his trouble.

The real question becomes, what will he learn from this experience.

[mvd]

14. Yeah, it's really too early to grade

I'm being cautious based on the fact we don't know how that will turn out. I'm impressed by the number of Bush policies he reversed already.

[Occam Bandage]

4. A. I think he's done more good work in the first 14 days than any recent President has. nt

[mod mom]

6. As an ardent Obam supporter I am disappointed with some of his corporate interest appointees.

These are the same people he campaigned against and rightfully so-they are the major problem with our economy. For this reason I say B+

[Auggie]

8. Too early for me

[Uzybone]

10. Solid A, the tax/ethics issues of 4 of his early picks are souring me

If not it would have been A+. This is what happens when you have honest govt, the sleazies that would have rolled on right through during the last 8 years are being stopped at the door (apart from Geithner). Daschle should withdraw himself.

[DevonRex]

11. He gets an A from me. nt

[mvd]

12. B, which is a LOT better than the F----- Bush got for his two terms

It' very early, though, and I suspect Obama will raise his grade.

[John Q. Citizen]

13. I am neither qualified nor predisposed to spend the effort to attempt to accurately grade

Obama's performance right now. But you go right ahead.

[blueclown]

16. C.

He started off great, but the last few days have been ruined by Obama going out of his way to roll out the carpet for the pukes.

[IndianaGreen]

17. A B minus (I had to vote B)

The Gregg appointment and deal for GOP replacement smacks of Neville Chamberlain appeasement.

[mvd]

18. The Gregg thing made me lower my grade a bit

THREE Repukes in the cabinet IMO is just too much. I hope Hilda Solis gets confirmed soon.

[Robeson]

19. Same here...

...I wasn't particularly thrilled with keeping Gates on, either.

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

21. great until he started appointing tax dodgers

that hurts the democratic party.

Appointing people who believe they are above the law just
gives the opposition a ton of ammunition.

It also gives the administration the appearance of corruption.

I support the President but strongly oppose his two tax dodger appointments.

[vaberella]

22. I voted incomplete although I was leaning towards A- more...

But incomplete is good.

[high density]

23. A

But I hope he doesn't waste any more time on Daschle. The guy isn't worth it.

[AtomicKitten]

24. Considering the flaming pile 'o shit he was handed, overall he's doing great. n/t

[demokatgurrl]

25. He started with a bang

but his appointments of late are a big disappointment.

[karynnj]

26. Way too early for a grade - Be patient

In the past the 100 days period was used - now Obama has had 2 weeks.

To this point, he has done a very good job getting his key people in place and confirmed. Though they don't lack importance, Commerce and HHS are fortunately two that aren't critical immediately. Kennedy and the HELP committee and Baucus and the Finance committee have already been working on bills. Obama has been praised for getting so many in so quickly will very little trouble.

He has lost some part of his image as wanting to push ethics - but that can be regained by telling Daschle to drop out and picking someone who has few problems. (If he were interested Bill Bradley might be a possibility - assuming he had little baggage. Like Daschle he knows all the senior Senators well and he worked on health care in the 1990s. He was more liberal than Daschle.) His people need to be cautious in picking replacements for Daschle and the woman who just dropped out to avoid being hit with the reputation that Clinton had after 2 people stepped down because of nannies and Lani Granier withdrew after Clinton did not have her back. (This is the only real negative I have seen.)

He made some points going to the House caucus, but I think where he will really gain is in these TV appearances lobbying for the Stimulus package. If he can help the Democrats remove some of the spending that doesn't really fit IF and only IF that will bring some Republicans on board that would be great. When that package supports - even with only minimal Republican support - it will be a major accomplishment.

As it is, he has already signed the Lilly Ledbetter legislation and will soon sign the S-CHIP renewal. He has said that Git-mo will be closed and said that CIA has to follow the military code - no more torture. He also issued the toughest ethics rules - now he just has to make them real rather than written. The lobbyists hired, the fact that he didn't push the Clintons to disclose things in a timely fashion as Lugar suggested - rather than once a year, then Geitner, Daschle and the performance officer having tax problems (and Daschle's lobbying - even if not technically that - for healthcare companies) all question whether the policy is stronger than its actual implementation. The only other negative was that he still seems to favor using the drones in Pakistan, even though they have not been that good at just hitting terrorists.

But, so far it has to be at least B. They have done a lot in 2 weeks.