Thread: Obama Leans further Left. Democratic leaders begin to panic!

Honestly, my friends, in the very beginning I too was for hope and change.

But since Obama has been president, I have lost hope.

Now all I look forward to is change!

"The way Bush has done it over the last eight years is to take out a credit card from the Bank of China in the name of our children, driving up our national debt from $5 trillion when he assumed office to over $9 trillion of debt that we are going to have to pay back -- $30,000 for every man, woman and child. That’s irresponsible. It’s unpatriotic.”

Barack Obama said that in 2008. Three years later, the debt is $14 trillion and jobs are shrinking. Now, thanks to Obama, we are going to have to pay back -- $50,000 for every man, woman and child. … Pound away, America."

One of the enduring mysteries of the Obama presidency is why he keeps leaning far left when independent voters make it clear they want a centrist in the White House. It is not an academic point -- independents swung the 2008 election his way, and without them, Obama probably can’t win a second term.

Well, consider the mystery solved. The reason Obama keeps tilting left is that so many independents have dumped him and he has almost no chance of getting them back. So energizing libs for a massive turnout is his next-best hope.

The bad news for the president is pronounced in a Bloomberg news poll. Only 29 percent of independents approve of his performance on the economy, while 66 percent disapprove.

On reducing deficits, a prime issue for independents, 25 percent like what he’s doing, while 67 percent don’t. Only 30 percent support his job-creation ideas and 34 percent his health-care plans.

Here’s the killer: 46 percent of independents say they definitely won’t vote for him again, while only 21 percent say they will. By comparison, in 2008 he got 52 percent of independent voters.

The numbers explain what, on the surface, doesn’t make any sense. Against the backdrop of high unemployment and sluggish growth, and with a large majority of Americans wanting smaller government and deficit reduction, the president keeps going in the opposite direction. He’s pushing more spending, big tax hikes and more regulation -- measures that would almost certainly make the economy worse just as voters are going to the polls.
While his record shows Obama believes in those ideas, the political calculation is even more obvious.

Without independents, he must turn out very high percentages of the party’s base -- young people, blacks, Latinos, unions and white liberals. He panders again and again on tax-and-spend because that’s what those voters worship.
It’s a “me first” strategy that puts his job hopes over those of the 25 million Americans wanting full-time work. But even that desperate effort is not going well.

The Bloomberg poll finds that, of those who supported Obama before, 37 percent say their support has waned and 19 percent say they no longer support him.

The upshot is that Obama is in a box of his own making. The jobs speech didn’t give him a bounce and, in addition to Republican opposition to the proposals, key Democrats in the Senate are openly balking. As a package, his proposals are dead.

There is one hope left for Obama: the GOP. If the Republican nominee also turns off independents, the president will be back in the hunt.

He will employ -- we’ve seen shades already -- a scorched-earth negative campaign. He’ll fear-monger about “extreme”GOP agendas, especially toward the elderly and the poor.

And surrogates will play the race card. Indeed, that, too, has already started, with the claim that critics are not giving Obama the “respect” other presidents enjoyed. In this case, “respect” is a code word for race.

That could work -- if millions of Americans come down with amnesia and forget the brutal “pounding” President George W. Bush took. A favorite charge against Bush was that his policies were un-American. Here’s an example:

“The way Bush has done it over the last eight years is to take out a credit card from the Bank of China in the name of our children, driving up our national debt from $5 trillion when he assumed office to over $9 trillion of debt that we are going to have to pay back -- $30,000 for every man, woman and child. That’s irresponsible. It’s unpatriotic.”

Barack Obama said that in 2008. Three years later, the debt is $14 trillion and jobs are shrinking. Now, thanks to Obama, we are going to have to pay back -- $50,000 for every man, woman and child. … Pound away, America.

Obama leans farther left - NYPOST.com

Originally Posted by James Cessna

Honestly, my friends, in the very beginning I too was for hope and change.

But since Obama has been president, I have lost hope.

Now all I look forward to is change!

"The way Bush has done it over the last eight years is to take out a credit card from the Bank of China in the name of our children, driving up our national debt from $5 trillion when he assumed office to over $9 trillion of debt that we are going to have to pay back -- $30,000 for every man, woman and child. That’s irresponsible. It’s unpatriotic.”

Barack Obama said that in 2008. Three years later, the debt is $14 trillion and jobs are shrinking. Now, thanks to Obama, we are going to have to pay back -- $50,000 for every man, woman and child. … Pound away, America."

ahoy James Cessna,

the way ye phrased yer OP title suggests that we have a left leanin' President who is now in danger 'o becomin' an even more radical zealot...a crusadin' liberal, no less.

that, however, is somethin' i disagree with.

Liberals hoped that Obama would overturn conservative policies and launch a new era of government activism. Although Republicans routinely accuse him of being a socialist, an honest examination of his presidency must conclude that he has in fact been moderately conservative to exactly the same degree that Nixon was moderately liberal.

Here are a few examples of Obama's effective conservatism:

-His stimulus bill was half the size that his advisers thought necessary;

-He continued Bush’s war and national security policies without change and even retained Bush’s defense secretary;

-He put forward a health plan almost identical to those that had been supported by Republicans such as Mitt Romney in the recent past, pointedly rejecting the single-payer option favored by liberals;

-He caved to conservative demands that the Bush tax cuts be extended without getting any quid pro quo whatsoever;

-And in the past few weeks he has supported deficit reductions that go far beyond those offered by Republicans.

Barack Obama: The Democrats? Richard Nixon?

imma unclear how the OP be "breakin' news", but Mr. Obama be a conservative, albiet a moderate one.

- MeadHallPirate

If he had any brains he would withdraw from the race and start his speeches and books deals.

He cannot win in 2012.. its simple math...

Originally Posted by MeadHallPirate

ahoy James Cessna,

the way ye phrased yer OP title suggests that we have a left leanin' President who is now in danger 'o becomin' an even more radical zealot...a crusadin' liberal, no less.

that, however, is somethin' i disagree with.

Barack Obama: The Democrats? Richard Nixon?

imma unclear how the OP be "breakin' news", but Mr. Obama be a conservative, albiet a moderate one.

- MeadHallPirate

lol.. you are insane, sorry but Obama is not even close to being a conservative at all.. not one little bit...

Originally Posted by CSA

lol.. you are insane, sorry but Obama is not even close to being a conservative at all.. not one little bit...

ahoy CSA,

well, i'd agree that his rhetoric hath populist/liberal strains.

when i say he be a conservative, imma just lookin' at the way he hath governed.

- MeadHallPirate

Originally Posted by James Cessna

Uh, what is causing folks to have to resort to food stamps? Could it be that under prior Con rule they were so pro business they let manufacturing move to communist labor, as those dirt poor coolies will work for 40 cents an hour and be happy to get it? That they were so pro banking that they deregulated a sound banking system so that the bankers could make more profits in riskier investments? That the deregs allowed for the too big to fail institutions to flower? That this fucked up deregulated banking system caused the U.S. and Europe to crash? Just how much do you want to lay at Obama's feet?

I don't think Obama has a chance to win again. The economy is way too bad, for average Americans. Their jobs have been allowed to go to real cheap ass labor so that a few could maximize their profits and wealth. A self destructive capitalism, driven by age old human greed.

So, he is appealing to the Left, but IMO, just not enough numbers there, or the motivation to get out and vote for the man again. But for me, this is good to go. Because we really do need the Pubs to take the Presidency, retain the House and take the Senate. THEN, America can bottom out, under repub rule, as it will inevitably do. They can give the rich tax breaks, lower rates until the cows come home, and it will not create jobs here. The economic model has been changed, and this one does not build or substain middle classes. In fact, it only creates greater disparity in income and wealth, creates more poor, and stagnates and shrinks the middle class. But when your economic model is damn near 180 from the post ww2 model, this was to be expected. The previous model created a large middle class. This model destroys that and sends more income to the top. As they knew it would, both business and Cons.

Originally Posted by CSA

If he had any brains he would withdraw from the race and start his speeches and books deals.

He cannot win in 2012.. its simple math...

And yet he has approval ratings above Regan and Clinton at this stage during his presidentency...

The two Bushs had higher ratings than him.

Originally Posted by MeadHallPirate

ahoy James Cessna,

the way ye phrased yer OP title suggests that we have a left leanin' President who is now in danger 'o becomin' an even more radical zealot...a crusadin' liberal, no less.

that, however, is somethin' i disagree with.

Barack Obama: The Democrats? Richard Nixon?

imma unclear how the OP be "breakin' news", but Mr. Obama be a conservative, albiet a moderate one.

- MeadHallPirate

How anyone can think that Obama is left of center is beyond me. Like you said, he has governed like a moderate conservative.

Originally Posted by CowboyTed

And yet he has approval ratings above Regan and Clinton at this stage during his presidentency...

The two Bushs had higher ratings than him.

and about the trajectory ?