Posted on 10/02/2011 10:57:13 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
They voted for him in 2008 for a variety of reasons. They thought he had good ideas. He was a persuasive speaker. They wanted "change." They didn't like George W. Bush.
Now, the nation is still fighting two wars, owes $14.7 trillion and has a 9 percent unemployment rate - not the change many of them said they had been hoping for from President Obama. But about a dozen people who voted for him interviewed yesterday at the Deerfield Fair said they don't exclusively hold Obama responsible for the country's plight, and only a few said they would definitely vote for someone else.
"I think he's starting to recognize it is a little tougher than he thought," Greg Abbott, a 25-year-old high school athletic trainer said as he watched horses canter and gallop around a ring.
Abbott said he voted for Obama because he liked the message of change and wanted to see an African American become president. He hasn't been paying much attention to the current election but will start to soon.
"It doesn't affect us," he said of the generally bad economy and the upcoming elections. "It's more affecting him," he said, pointing to his son playing at his feet in the bleachers.
About 20 rows down, Kim Harkins, an interior designer from Bow, was sitting with her daughter. In 2008, Harkins wasn't entirely sold on Obama's message of hope, but that's pretty typical for her - she can't remember the last time she was enthusiastic about a particular candidate.
"In the last several years, I've found myself voting more against a candidate than for a candidate," the registered independent said. Since one person doesn't have all the power, it's not practical to blame one person for all the nation's problems, she said. So she holds just about all the elected officials in Washington responsible for the lousy state of affairs.
"I hate all the rhetoric and the bickering and the mudslinging," she said as she kept an eye on the competition ring.
But Rachel and Donald Millette, a retired couple in Barrington, blame Congress - Republicans in Congress, to be exact.
"The Republicans don't just want to let him win on anything," Donald Millette said.
"They have to come to a common ground," said Rachel Millette, who said she blames the media for some of the president's problems.
"They browbeat him to death," she said of news organizations. "They're taking things out of context," she said.
Both said they will likely vote for Obama again, and supported him early on through his knock-down, drag-out series of primary and caucus battles with then-Sen. Hillary Clinton.
But Angela Toplak, a 49-year-old disabled Certified Nursing Assistant who lives in Raymond, did prefer Clinton early on. She voted for Obama in the general election and is disappointed.
"They want to get rid of Social Security, but I think that's stupid," she said as a slight drizzle began to fall. "That's people's own money."
Her boyfriend, Mark Salucco, was similarly disappointed. He doesn't like much of the foreign aid the United States gives to other countries and doesn't like how much the country borrows from China. He didn't like the Troubled Asset Relief Program, commonly referred to as TARP, or the bailout of the nation's largest banks.
"Instead of giving the money to the banks, they should have given it to the people," Salucco, 47, said. He said he is not likely to vote for Obama in the next election.
But Leila Thompson, 41, of Deerfield, is. She's a manager at a local bank and even though she's disappointed Obama hasn't been able to accomplish all the reforms she'd like, she said she thinks he is a "fall guy."
"He hasn't been able to get the support to build a cohesive government," she said. She's a registered independent but said she won't vote for a Republican - she sides strongly with Democrats on safety net and social service issues.
On the other side of a John Deere display, Larry Cashdollar, 36, said he and his wife voted for Obama because they "wanted something completely different." He's disappointed.
"To me, I feel he has bitten off more than he can chew," the Manchester resident said of the president. Cashdollar, whose wife was walking around with their toddler, said he has grown increasingly frustrated with the lack of economic growth.
"I'm watching my family members suffer and it's just depressing to me," the computer engineer said.
Despite his disappointments, Cashdollar said he'd likely vote for Obama again, but is willing to listen to what the Republican candidates have to say.
"Right now, it's mostly the economy that's bothering me, like most people," he said.
It's certainly bothering Annette Hollenbach, 50. She voted for Obama because she thought he had a lot of good ideas. She said she works in manufacturing and wants him to stop more jobs from going overseas. He was handed a mess, she said, and she still generally supports him - you can't point the finger at just one person, she said.
Hollenbach said she bought her own home last year - a two-bedroom ranch in Wilton. She said she was afraid if she didn't take advantage of the low interest rates, she'd never have the opportunity to again.
Since then, she said her work in manufacturing has been cut from five days to four and she's picked up extra work at McDonald's.
"I'm worried," she said.
The main premise of 0bama being denied reelection is that voters who voted for him will now change their votes to the Republican candidate. Those voters will come mostly from the independent group, not from much from the Democrats. Surely not from the Blacks (unless the R candidate is Cain). So, it's important to hear from the independents, not from the Dhims.
There’s a t-shirt graphic of Bush going around lib circles which basically blames Bush and says that people are blaming Obama because he’s black.
Here's what keeps the ‘Rats up nights:
“A few” (Three? Four? Five? You know it's at least three or they would have said it differently) out of “about a dozen” “would definitely vote for someone else”.
That's a loss of 25% or more of his support -- and you *know* they picked that "about a dozen" from his *base*. Barky is hemorrhaging voters, and spin pieces like this won't close the wound.
The Kenyan is toast.
Poor little Barry tried. It’s not his fault that real jobs are much harder than being a community organizer.
It’s not that hard, if you have a lapdog propaganda media supporting your agenda.
See my tagline.
Would you, as a conservative, talk with the MSM? I wouldn't. I would figure they would just drop my quote if it didn't fit their agenda.
Amazed his experience as a cupcake salesman didn’t properly prepare him.
That IS a tough job - especially for the stupid.
I was at a local VFW and there were three retired union guys that had voted for the obummer in '08 and now it is only one out of the three says he will still vote that way.
I know it's only a small sample but more and more I'm hearing that folks that voted for him are disappointed with the one, and I've NEVER heard a voter that voted against him say that they will switch and vote for him in 2012.
For a state that prides (and promotes) itself as being politically informed and ‘plugged in’ - these residents display a remarkable ignorance about the overall political scene. The blame Republicans in Congress for blocking everything, yet the Democrats had overwhelming control of the Congress for 4 of the last 5 years - based on what I hear, see and read around here for the last 20 years - ‘NH Yankees’ including prominent, the Republican ‘emeritus elite’ are remarkably comfortable with siding with the left-leaning Democrat partiers. The level of political debate and awareness has been on a downward run that is accelerating every year.
Presidenting Is Hard.
It had the whole variety of viewpoints - from people who voted for Obama before and probably will again, to people who voted for Obama before and definitely will again.
Who says the media is not balanced?
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