I have always been free to write my stories and share them at will. This is one of the things that make me happy in my life. I love being with my wife and going about my life and am thankful for every day. I’m just an average American. But then things start to creep in. On the wall at work, I still have the original double page newspaper printing (picture) of Obama being sworn in. It’s yellow and starting to fray at the edges. For me, it had nothing to do with politics. It just felt good to have a change, a different color. I was happy for the man. The picture isn’t something I really notice anymore. But I’m seeing how it is once again catching people’s attention. In the earlier days, people would have moderate statements. Some were enthusiastic, some were pessimistic. But for the most part, it was a wait and see approach. For the last two years, it has been awfully quiet. But Friday, December 9, a customer came in and made the comment: “I would draw a mustache on him…Actually, I would tear it down.” He went on to say bad things about Obama and expressed his disproval. He then asked me, “Or do you like him?” I shrugged. “I heard those same things about George Bush.” He then mentioned something about “Yeah, but look at the economy.” I didn’t say it, but I was thinking, “Yes. 1 trillion 3 hundred billion dollars is a lot for war. It freezes government lending and impacts the economy. But what does that have to do with Obama?” Our views may have differed, but it leaves me wondering: Is that the feeling of everybody? Yes, things creep into my life. Pretty soon, it will be coffee talk. I have a feeling that picture is going to get a lot more stares as the election nears. Just for giggles, what do you think? Does Obama stand a chance?
Yes, he stands a chance. In fact I think he will win. Barring any unforeseen surprises, I don’t see the Republicans putting anyone forward who will be able to beat him. I have to be careful how I talk about Obama since I post under my real name and am a military officer. I am not an Obama fanboy and have not agreed with everything he has done. But he will likely still get my vote. Part of me would like to vote third party but the way our system is currently set up I think it would be throwing my vote away. At least at the national level. I rarely hold Presidents all that accountable for the economy, regardless of their party affiliation. There are just too many variables to attribute the blame or credit to one person, though I may disagree with specific financial decisions.
Yeah, I also think he will win re-election. He may well lose the Senate in the process, and will be severely hampered if that happens. Romney probably has the best chance of beating him in a general election, but the GOP is trying to nominate anyone else they can.
It is not all about him though is it. He is just a face, something to look at whilst other things are going on behind close doors.
The republican race has been a joke so far, and Obama's made movements of late that have justified the FDR comparisons that have been happening in a few places. So yeah, I think he will probably get re-elected. I feel bad for him, he's inherited a situation that's resulted in a shift to the right (or at least an un-directed call for change) in virtually every country...even if he was the greatest president in history, he'd still get blamed for things far beyond his control and end up in the situation he's in now.
Aaaaand, a politics thread. The trifecta is complete. You've all seen the warning by now: This is one of those controversial thread topics which we will take a very firm line on. Basically, it's been tried before and ended badly. I'm happy to give it a chance, but I'm placing a warning, right here at the beginning. Anything other than civil conversation on the topic WILL NOT be tolerated. If you can't say it in a respectful way, don't say it at all. If this thread starts down the road towards fighting and flaming, it will be closed and those whose behaviour is deemed unacceptable will be infracted. You have all been warned.
And I agree with Steerpike and Aaron. From my vantage point here, on the other side of the Atlantic, the Republican candidacy race is a joke. Mitt Romney is the only one who looks halfway intelligent (and his policies and ideas still disgust me) and most Republicans just don't seem interested. With the comedic delight that was Herman Cain having bowed out, I think it'll end up being either Rick Perry or Newt Gingrich who wins it, depending on who manages to ride out the rest of the process looking the least stupid. And both have already made errors which would hole a presidency campaign below the waterline. All the Obama campaign really needs to do is show clips from the nomination debates. Yeah, I think Obama will win, thank God.
I personally really don't know much about american votes etc. but i think that obama has a very good chance as far as presidency is concerned. I think that all the others are strictly opened to something specific which makes people take two sides, a lot of people who like them and those who don't. I think that obama is kinda in the middle? I am not sure i am just making conversation, but thats my opinion, cause there have been a few adds on youtube.. Some of 'em are just idiots, and we can all agree on that, others claim to release this country of gays, and seeing how there are quite a few gays in the US, or at least enough of them to vote for someone else i doubt that one is going to work either. I think they are all forgetting that you are suppose to be FOR something not AGAINST, i mean lets be honest, would you get more people to vote for you if you dissed the gay people or if you said how they should have equal rights... Now if he is the best choice or not that is a completely different thing, but i think that he has quite a high chance of becoming a president again...
After that 'Rick Perry Strong' thing I lost all the faith I once had in humanity. I mean: I hope Obama wins. Big Time.
That was ridiculous. I thought the Herman Cain singing ones were terrible, but at least they weren't usually so moronic and offensive. The best part was the jacket Perry was wearing.
I just looked up the video... I don't even know what to say. I really don't want him as President now. That ad was just so wrong that I... Actually if I say any more I'd most likely rant on and say things I'd probably regret.
Obama had it right during his election. "If unemployment is still__(double digits) I will be a one term president." If the economy isn't headed in the right direction, he will lose. There is no "stay the course" without improvement. The people may love him, but they won't do 4 more years of 0 improvement. Obama's team will have plenty of negitive on who ever the republicans offer. Its hard not going negitive when there is so little positive to offer.(again, if the economy is not improving) If the economy shows good signs of improvement, he will probably be re-elected without worry. In times of economic turmoil, all other issues are small in comparison. Basically, the one question determining this election will be "are we better off after 4 yrs of Obama?" Yes he wins, no he loses. Heck, in this economy we might just elect a freshman congressman with no leadership experience. oh wait...
There were enough naive people to vote him in once, it could happen again. The media turned a blind eye, and still does to anything negative about him and people simply didn't question his utter lack of experience or socialist views. In my opinion, the worse thing that has happened to this country.
Obama is as corrupt as the next politician, and his bad approach to governing was in part responsible for one of the biggest gains by the opposing party in Congress in something like sixty years. The loss helped him in terms of re-election, however, as it forced him to change his approach. He will probably win, but won't have Congress and so won't be able to force through legislation he wants.
^ What Socialist views? I've heard that said before, but I honestly don't know that much about him. Sides. Is Socialism really THAT bad? It could be Marxist, or Communist, which would really be terrible.
You say communist - the world has never seen a real communist state. I'll be honest, calling what the Soviets had and the Chinese have 'communism' really annoys me. It was/is totalitarianism by any other name, and being perfectly honest modern China is as capitalist any country (including the US). It's communism in name only. Sorry, but it's something in politics which really annoys me.
I think the "socialist" accusation generally refers to his planned healthcare reforms, which from my perspective were incredibly modest. It certainly wasn't a socialised healthcare system (a la our own beautiful NHS). Personally, I tend to think that the "socialist" is just something which is (wrongly) considered a dirty word in the US, and thus something that the right-wingers can throw at him. I wouldn't have even said he was left wing, really. He's centrist. Centre-right, really. I'd have to agree with this. Sadly, I think both are demonstrations that a proper communist state cannot exist in the world at present.
Going to be interesting in that we may get a ruling on his health care law shorty before the elections. Put in the context of U.S. politics he is definitely left of center.
Lemex, I know. I just think that the conventional use of communist or communism along with the traditional links to socialism have clouded how some people see socialism, and that's what's happened in the States. Socialism has nothing to do with that kind of totalitarian dictatorship and is about helping to raise standards or living, starting at the bottom with those who need the most help. In these days we need a bit of applied socialism to get us out of the mess we're in, in my opinion, not Cameron arseing about failing to do his job with the EU and claiming 'we're all in this together'. Banzai, I've been of that opinion for some time. Communism is an ideal that looks superb on paper, but when applied to real life there are too many practical shortcomings that make it unrealistic.
This is the key, I think. US politics is a world entirely of its own, and is vastly different to the rest of the world. I wonder what most Americans would make of the view from the ground in the UK. Socialised healthcare is such an evil concept over the pond, but if they saw the NHS here then I expect they'd acquire a very different opinion.
