Center-Right...

[dajoki]

MY ASS!! I am sick of these Repub talking heads trying to tell us that the country voted that way. During the campaign they "warned" that Obama was the most liberal Senator and tried to "scare" people by claiming if they elect a Pelosi, Reid, Obama run government, the world would explode.

Now that nobody listened to them and we gave Obama a mandate to "share the wealth" all they can come up with is to try to convince everybody that he should govern from the center-right. I say BULLSHIT!! We voted for women's rights, worker's rights, equal rights and every other issue that a compassionate left leaning country cares about including "sharing the wealth". Its about time that those on the bottom of the ladder get a little boost, its time we build housing for the homeless, its time we give the poor some help, and its also time to get out of Iraq.

This is nowhere near a center-right agenda that we voted for, we voted overwhelmingly for a progressive government and I hope those we elected realize that!!

[Wabbajack_]

1. Well a lot of DINOs were elected to the house

[dajoki]

4. Obama's coattails...

they can come along or get out of the way!!

[Wabbajack_]

7. The house ticket ran ahead of Obama

Districts he lost in Alabama and Maryland elected new DINOs.

[malaise]

2. They called him most liberal, socialist

and communist.
Obama was the first Democratic nominee to win an absolute majority (>50%) of the popular vote since Jimmy Carter in 1976, and won a larger proportion of the national popular vote than any Democrat since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. Obama is also the first U.S. President to be born in the 1960s, and will finish with more total votes then any presidential candidate in U.S. history.

Electoral vote 365 (projected) 162 (projected)
States carried 28+DC+NE-02 21
Popular vote 66,760,924 58,279,894
Percentage 52.7% 46.0%

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election,_2008

That was a landslide for change. Fugg everyone who disagrees.

[dajoki]

3. Exactly, "a landslide for change" n/t

[nevergiveup]

5. I totally disagree

with those here who consider Obama center-right. The man is a pragmatic liberal who will deftly use those in the center and on the right to win his agenda. There will be some give and take but there always is when big things are accomplished.

[dajoki]

6. Yes...

and that combined with all the congressional seats won by the Dems tells me that this country is leaning left.

[LWolf]

8. And I am sick of people trying to spin

Obama as something other than centrist leaning center-right.

He's not. "Progressive" doesn't mean "liberal," or "left-of-center."

If it did, the DLC's think tank wouldn't be the "Progressive Policy Institute." Obama's not a member, but his positions fit them like a custom-made glove.

Technically, ANY group who is active in moving their agenda forward is "progressive," as long as their agenda is to bring change, regardless of whether that change is positive or negative, left or right.

As someone on the political left in the United States, I've never seen Obama as anything but a centrist, a centrist leaning right of center on many issues. Progressive? Hell, yes. He's aggressive about moving a centrist agenda forward.

I really don't give a FUCK what "Repub talking heads" have to say about that. Or those stupid enough to think it was true. Of course they painted him as "liberal."

All those people who voted for a confirmed centrist, thinking he would allow the left a place at the table, or further a "liberal" agenda, weren't paying attention.

[dajoki]

9. Obama is a centrist...

who leans a little left, he is no DLCer. With the clear victory won by the Dems it seems to me that the country is ready to endorse a "progressive" or "liberal" agenda. We tried it the other way for eight years and look where we are.

Progressivism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressivism

Progressivism is a term that has varying meanings in different countries.

In some countries, the word refers to left-wing politics. For instance, in the United States, the term progressive emerged in the late 19th century in reference to a more general response to the vast changes wrought by industrialization: an alternative to both the traditional conservative response to social and economic issues and to the various more radical streams of socialism and anarchism which opposed them. Political parties, such as the Progressive Party, organized at the start of the 20th century, and progressivism made great strides under American presidents Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

[LWolf]

10. Progressivism is a term that has different meanings within the U.S.,

making it an easy propaganda tool.

The think tank for the DLC is the "Progressive Policy Institute." And while Obama is not an official member of the DLC, he fits their policies like a glove.

You can call him "not DLC" all day, and it won't separate him from them on the issues.

I'm sure it was coincidental that his first official appointment as President-Elect was DLCer Rahm Emmanuel.

[Cerridwen]

11. Aren't these the same people who called PE Obama a

Marxist/Socialist/the most liberal member of the senate, etc.?

So if we elected the Marxist/Socialist/the most liberal member of the senate by a comfortable margin, how does that translate to anywhere near right on the political spectrum much less, center-right.

Either PE Obama isn't Marxist/Socialist/the most liberal member of the senate or we just voted in the Marxist/Socialist/liberal.

Wouldn't it be nice if someone actually called them on the BS for a change? Loudly and publicly.

[KharmaTrain]

12. What A Stupid Term...

This country is neither center right or center left, but it goes with the moment. I know of plenty of Democrats who call themselves socially liberal yet fiscally conservative. They want less government in both their social and business life. Or if they do want government action...fixing roads, schools or healthcare, many of us look at the social impact before the fiscal side...thus are we center right or center left?

The GOOP and its corporate enablers just can't get out of their Cold War mindset. I laugh when these shits throw the word "socialism" around, yet dare to ask them to give up their SOCIAL Security or waive any government benefits, and watch them squeal how they've been cheated out what was their due. Hypocrites.

Did the country vote for a "Progressive" agenda. While I wish that were the case, we're not quite there yet. For many, their votes were AGAINST the right wing...the "conservative" model the GOOPers have rammed down our throats for 20 years. However, our side still hasn't made the case. We have a great oppotunity and if President Obama is successful in helping turn the country around, THEN we can start discussing where we're at and where we're headed.

Cheers...