I truly believe that Barack Obama is doing what he thinks is best for America.

[kentuck]

I think he intended to be a President that was post-partisan, beyond politics. However, I think he is beginning to see how idealistic and delusional that idea is and was. Today's politics are Machivellian. It is cut-throat and all about power.

Now in his third year, he is neck-deep in the Big Muddy. Unfortunately, his difficulties are only beginning. There will not be a new surge of jobs to save him. He must become more "political" if he is to save his job.

I don't know if the President has it in him? In his heart, he is not an FDR progressive. He believes more in taxcuts and conservatives solutions to resolve economic problems. Even his "stimulus bill" was primarily to help public employees in different states and taxcuts, not jobs in particular.

I still like this President but he will need to change course if he is going to be successful. He is in charge at a very difficult and historic time. My hope is that he understands the historic nature of these times and governs accordingly.

If he does not, it is a setback for us all.

[kstewart33]

1. Well said.

You present an accurate summary of the current situation.

I think Obama is and always has been a moderate Dem. He's never been the liberal that progressives expected him to be.

[HopeHoops]

2. I think what it ultimately comes down to is he's doing what he thinks is best for the country,

not what is best for his political advantage. The GOP on the other hand...

[indepat]

3. Tax cuts and other conservative solutions have brought us to where we are in our national life

today and it isn't a pretty sight. :patriot:

[DURHAM D]

4. So you are saying -

He had a mistaken idea regarding the job of the Presidency and the state of our nation and he may or may not now see the error of his notions.

[kentuck]

6. More or less...

Yes.

[DURHAM D]

11. The only way he can erase the notion that he doesn't "get it" -

is if he goes big and stops spitting on the middle/lower/working class. The way to go big is the 14th Amendment.

[tishaLA]

18. the 14th amendment solution is unworkable

First, we progressives used to hate the idea of a unitary executive when bush was in power. The only reason we seem to want to embrace it now is that it will allow us to do something that is undoubtedly necessary.

But that's only 1 reason to hate it. The other reason to hate it is that it will allow the republicons to paint obama as a tyrant and a profligate spender. And they will stay on message. And it will harm our chances in all the 2012 elections.

The house dems have to stand united against Cantor's idiocy because passage of the bill out of the house will require Democratic votes. Reid has to be able to say no to stupid deals and to Durbin's gang of six bullshit.

If the president wants to appear bipartisan and grown up, fine. But other democrats don't have to play along.

[DURHAM D]

21. The 14th amendment isn't new so the unitary executive argument does not carry.

The only way Republicans could use it against him is if he does not defend himself. So far he has not done a good job of messaging. But, the messaging problem is a result of his own conflicts and his policies that are anti-middle/lower class. He needs to make a sharp turn and convey it to the public.

[tishaLA]

22. using it this was would be new

Every time the debt ceiling has been raised, Congress has raised it.

[Big Blue Marble]

5. IMO, Obama is the right person at the wrong time.

I dearly hoped that the country which is desperately in need of post partisan solutions to resolve the critical issues of
our time, would welcome Obama's leadership. But as is clearly evident, the country has become more fractured under
his leadership, not less.

Perhaps he was naive or just got blindsided by the recalcitrance of the Republicans. It does not seem he is able to shift
course enough to resist their onslaught thus appears to often negotiate from weakness. The worse part is how well
they have realized this and use it to their advantage.

[dmosh42]

7. I think Obama is doing what is best to get him re-elected!

He knows the wealthy control the media and the message, so rather than be a T. Roosevelt type leader, he'll be a James Buchanan type, and just have a place in history who occupied the White House.

[opihimoimoi]

8. He is doing OK despite the obtuse Ankle biters intent on denigrating him

The Econ will return with the jobs he will bring to the table in the nx years ahead

Way better than McCain n Palin ...he will survive

[Tippy]

12. I fully agree with your statement......

[izquierdista]

26. Both of you are dreaming

The jobs aren't coming back. There will be no textile mills, assembly lines, semiconductor fabs, or steel mills when foreign factories pay a few dollars a day to their workers. There isn't going to be a construction boom for a good while, given the glut from the last real estate boom. So how, pray tell, is he going to bring jobs to the table? Bomb and invade even more countries?

[Tippy]

27. Some of us are dreamers...I dream of better times when we were all happy

and I'll be damed if I let go of my dreams.

[Uben]

9. Some people say what they think you want to hear......

....but true leaders say what you need to hear. Politicians will tell you anything to get your vote, and a lot stay in that mode perpetually. But, there are some, the real leaders, who tell you what really needs to be done. They are easy targets because most people don't want to hear what is necessary to keep our nation great. Knowing the difference is vital to our survival as a country.

[sabrina 1]

37. Then it's time for this president to start saying what needs to be

done, not what he thinks will get Republicans to like him.

To get the support he has lost, all he has to do is make a clear statement of what needs to be done. Taxes have to be raised, that is a fact and let the babies on the right kick and scream all they want, but he needs to go to the people and tell them, 'they want to take away your miserable pittances so they can give more to their billionaire donors and that will not happen on my watch'.

So far, I have not heard anything I want to hear, nor anything that needs to be said. I hear the words 'compromise' and 'bi-partisanship' a lot. And I know what that means and so do most thinking people.

The Republicans are not popular, he would not be risking any votes if he started treating them like the spoiled brats they are.

He has a Party of his own, which he appears to often forget. He needs to start having meetings with THEM, and exclude the obstructionists who are doing nothing but holding everything up. If he gets the people and his party united, the Republicans will lose. Instead he is alienating his own party members and those who supported him, and he has not gained a single supporter on the right.

His strategy has been abysmal. He clearly does not know, or does not want to know, how to deal with bullies. Nor does he understand that bullies are cowards. Catering to them is probably THE worst way to deal with them, and it's pretty upsetting to have to watch a bunch of ignorant bullies hi-jacking this country because no one has the guts to deal with them.

[Cool Logic]

10. I truly believe that Barack Obama is doing what he thinks is best for Barack Obama.

[kentuck]

14. All politicians are political.

Nothing new there.

[Tatiana]

13. His desire for post-partisanship (AKA "Please like me Republicans... PLEASE???") is hurting us all.

He's trying to negotiate with people who are unwilling to negotiate unless you take negotiation to mean "capitulation" to their demands.

I will never forget that press conference when Obama pretty much said the Republicans were hostage takers. Cenk and TYT covered the issue at the time which you can view http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5Cw5A6VjD8">here.

When watching the President respond to Chuck Todd's basically asking why Republican obstructionism is being rewarded, Obama seems genuinely baffled, confused, and utterly clueless as to why his bending over backwards for those hostage takers hasn't satisfied them. He seems to be unable to process the facts that many Republicans will oppose anything he supports because of his skin color and Republicans really don't give a damn about the unconnected non-wealthy citizens of this country.

I honestly don't think he has it in him. Biden, yes. Obama, no. I've hoped that Biden could provide some expertise in dealing with these teanuts, but one thing that has become apparent and that is Obama's I'm-ur-daddy-go-eat-ur-peas arrogant attitude. No one can tell him anything, in my opinion, contrary to what he already believes. He's surrounded himself with yes-men in the White House who don't have the audacity to tell him nope.

I read somewhere that Obama's Presidency is tracking similar to GHW Bush of 1990. I find that I agree with that. If he doesn't watch it, this economy is going to cause him to lose the Presidency. Republicans are going to hang this unemployment rate and horrible economic situation at the President's doorstep. You see more and more Democrats subtly tracking away from the President. Pelosi and now Hoyer are grumbling. The House caucus is quite fractured... there is not the unwavering faith in the President's decision-making. Dems have been burned too many times.

We are in for some hard times, in my opinion. This President is not up to the task of fighting back against such a defiant Republican opponent.

[sendero]

15. Yes and..

.. he's stupid that way.

[BumRushDaShow]

16. He will have to change his race in order to get anything done. n/t

[KoKo]

17. Reading "Obama and the Hamiltonian Democrats" from MadFloridian's link is an eye-opener, though.

Yes...I believe he believes he is doing the "right" thing for the country.

And, this is part of why he thinks he is doing the right thing:

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/7875

A snip:

Transcribed from the pdf version of Senator Obama's speech.

Obama is speaking of Robert Rubin. They were talking about the "losers" in the new free market economy.

Bob and I have had a running debate now for about a year about how do we, in fact, deal with the losers in a globalized economy. There has been a tendency in the past for us to say, well, look, we have got to grow the pie, and we will retrain those who need retraining. But in fact we have never taken that side of the equation as seriously as we need to take it. So hopefully, this is not just going to be a lot of preaching to the choir. Hopefully, part of what we are going to be doing is challenging our own conventional wisdom and pushing boundaries and testing these ideas in a vigorous and aggressive way.

....Just remember, as we move forward, that there are real consequences to the work that is being done here. There are people in places like Decatur, Illinois, or Galesburg,Illinois, who have seen their jobs eliminated. They have lost their health care. They have lost their retirement security. They don't have a clear sense of how their children will succeed in the same way that they succeeded. They believe that this may be the first generation in which their children do worse than they do. Some of that, then, will end up manifesting itself in the sort of nativist sentiment, protectionism, and anti-immigration sentiment that we are debating here in Washington. So there are real consequences to the work that is being done here. This is not a bloodless process.

More at:


http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/7875

[yourout]

19. If we want more jobs the tax code needs to be changed to make it more profitable for big companies..

to hire than to sit on mountains of cash.

In other words tax the shit out of profits and tax credits for hiring.

[INdemo]

20. I think he is a typical Chicago politician. He might have been ok as

a Senator but he is way out of his league as President. He said what was needed to be elected and after he was sworn in he flips us the bird and resorted to his Republican values.He is a corporate puppet just as Bush was.

[treestar]

23. Why does this board do nothing but question the President's personality?

How did Bush do with an opposing congress in his last two years? His side would consider him a sellout for failing to privatize SS with a Democratic Congress?

If we lose, it's because we don't support our candidates enough! We'd rather judge them and find them wanting and undermine them and then blame them when Republicans take advantage of that!

May as well give in and become a Republican. We have no fight in us and project that onto Obama.

Quit pretending that Republicans don't have Congress and that they don't still get elected in this country. You must live in some liberal enclave somewhere. I personally know Republicans and can tell you they will keep voting Republican and cannot be reasoned with. They really believe SS should be privatized. They really believe this. They can win the Presidency and Congress again and they will pass bills like that.

[Tippy]

28. K&R.....You can say that again

"If we lose, it's because we don't support our candidates enough! We'd rather judge them and find them wanting and undermine them and then blame them when Republicans take advantage of that!"

[joeybee12]

24. I disagree...nothing he has done so far has shown me he is only interested

in Barack Obama.

[Doctor_J]

25. That's the worst news I've heard all week

You're basically saying he is truly a Reaganite. I want my money and vote back

[kentuck]

29. I guess a few people disagree with this description of our President...

I tried to be fair.

[Major Hogwash]

30. Where are all the fucking FDR liberals in Congress? All of a sudden, they are mute?

This isn't all of Obama's doing.
They are creating a mountain out of a mole hill over this fucking debt ceiling jazz!

Cut the shit, and start a fucking federal jobs program for crying out loud!!!!

I watched former Senator Bill Bradley the other day on MSNBC and even he said that they should put cuts to Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid on the table "in times like these."
That's what he said, swear to gawd!
And that's why I voted for Al Gore back in 2000, Bradley doesn't have a fucking brain in his fucking head!!!

Cutting federal spending now will spin us into a double-dip recession for sure.
It's classic Keynesian economics, and we know it.

[donheld]

31. He cannot believe his constant caving to the Right Wing is "best for America"

He is not that stupid. He just doesn't have the back-bone to stand up to them. He's not strong enough to govern right now. He needs to be a fighter, but instead he's a push-over.

[upi402]

32. he's kicking the many in the brains

as he kisses the asses of the assholes that pissed in this pool Americana.


effemall

[krispos42]

33. Yeah, well, lots of people have opinions on what is best for America

The problem is that regardless of what he thinks, what he does isn't what's best for America.


We're in a fucking long-term crisis and have been since the moment he took office. The country is on the road to economic dysfunction, or possibly outright collapse, and when we manage to wrest the tiller away from the Repubes for a couple of years people like him put it right in the damn center and call it "turning away from the reef".


We need to go LEFT not "not right".

[MouseFitzgerald]

34. What does post-partisan mean?

Whenever I hear that phrase it always seems to be attached to people with conservative beliefs who aren't crazy. Its like that no-labels group, they pretend that they are above petty partisan politics when in reality they are just a group of moderate conservatives. Anyone who claims to be post-partisan should not be allowed to be an elected representative or any political party because its not a real thing. There is no belief system or ideology behind someone who is post-partisan. Its basically an excuse that people who haven't spent enough time studying various political ideologies give themselves to make it seem like they are so smart that they are above actually developing a legitimate rational belief system.

[AverageJoe90]

35. You deserve a lot more than one rec for this.

[eridani]

36. True. The question is "Whatchu mean "America," Kemosabe?

He apparently thinks that "America" means the top 2% and lot the bottom 98%.

[Raine]

38. I don't. I don't believe he cares to do what is best for this country any more than the rethugs

and they are out to destroy this country. :-(

[PurityOfEssence]

39. Boehner probably is too; the problem is that they BOTH define "America" differently than I do

Obama obviously believes that corporate hegemony isn't just uncontestable, but somewhat necessary and even inherently benign. Boehner and his ilk dismiss the have-nots as somehow defective and not worthy of any succor.

Boehner isn't destroying our party and haranguing the liberal elements into extinction.

With what is the road to hell paved, lest we forget?