Congrats!
Posted on 06/17/2010 5:54:16 PM PDT by rickmichaels
Watching Barack Obama speak from the Oval Office Tuesday evening, I was reminded of a remark he made back in January: “I’d rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president.” At the moment, he is on track to be neither, but I have often wondered just what he meant.
Does Obama believe he has been really good thus far? If so, in what area? Certainly not the Gulf Coast oil spill, which occasioned his Tuesday speech (if Obama wants that second term, it’s a good thing pelicans don’t vote).
Health care? He forced a trillion-dollar overhaul through Congress, which 63% of the American people want to see repealed.
The economy? He is adding more to America’s national debt than all 43 previous presidents combined.
Foreign policy? He laid down fewer conditions for meeting with the president of Iran than with the CEO of British Petroleum, and both oil-rich entities remain troublesome.
After taking office, Obama’s approval rating fell faster than any first-year president in the history of modern polling. When they voted for him in 2008, Americans wanted to believe they were electing a moderate, outcome-oriented problem-solver.
Instead, Obama has turned out to be what those knuckle-dragging, book-burning, typical white people who opposed him warned: a garden-variety leftist. Like it or lump it, America is a centre-right country, and Obama’s prescription of stern lectures and statism is incompatible with the public mood.
But those are just facts and opinions. Truth be told, I think Obama does feel he’s been successful. The oil spill is not his fault and, unpopular as the new health care law and enormous debt may be, I expect Obama genuinely believes his policies are in America’s best interests. To give the man his due, he is loyal to his convictions.
Fundamentally, though, Obama does not seem to be enjoying his job. Like many liberals, he sees government as central to all human endeavours, which makes the American presidency the grand prize in the game of life. Now that he has the pressures and problems of that portfolio, however, he appears nonplussed.
Which leads us back to that one-term business. If I had to guess, I’d say Obama will not run for re-election in 2012.
The last two presidents who were eligible to run for re-election and chose not to do so, Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson, were also Democrats who had grown unpopular with the American people. Johnson, in particular, faced opposition from within his own party, as senators Eugene McCarthy and Robert Kennedy mounted primary challenges. How does this history apply to Obama?
Does anyone remember Hillary Clinton? There were, and are, about a zillion excellent reasons why she should not be president, but not in Newt Gingrich’s wildest dreams could she have done worse than Obama. She may run for the Democratic nomination again, perhaps under the slogan, “Told ya so.”
Who will run for the Republicans? Gingrich? Mitt Romney? Mitch Daniels? We don’t know, and at the moment, it doesn’t much matter. As the adage goes, elections are referenda on the party in power and, although Obama may not be on the ticket, the Democrats will be holding the White House.
In 2008, Americans wanted fresh ideas and a new start. In 2012, they may actually get it.
rose-colored glasses will do that to you
Condradualtions on the 100th thread!
lol I’ve been here for nearly 6 years, and I’ve only posted 98 threads. I DO have 17,342 replies though. :p
Congrats!
Wow... I just butchered the word “Congratulations” in the most terrible way. (typing too fast and not reading lol)
The grammar police are going to put me UNDER the jail for that one!!
100th post?
Wow. This is big.
I’m Verklempt.
Now we need someone to make up a sign:
OBAMA:
ONE TERM
With the “O” in Obama and One being his stupid-ass logo.
Obama, the one-term wounder?
Just askin'...
Good post! Congrats on the 100th post. I’ve only posted once and it went over poorly, so I leave the posting to other Freepers who are smarter than me. If you have any doubt, they will tell you.
I don't think any such thing is due. It's not America's best interests he's looking out for.
Truth be told, I think Obama does feel he’s been successful. Sure, successful at making us a mediocre European socialist stateThe oil spill is not his fault While the spill isn't his fault, the Three stooges like response is. and, unpopular as the new health care law Wow talk about understatement and enormous debt may be, We're in a hole bam bam is asking for a bigger shovel I expect Obama genuinely believes his policies are in America’s best interests. Amazing how deluded one man can be. To give the man his due, he is loyal to his convictions. Loyal to the Maoist cause, that's for sure.
As long as it’s no more than one term.
God save us all.
Obama, the one-term wonder wanker
Dang, beat me to it. Although I think WONDER is not the right word.
I think you may be correct. Makes me think of “one hit wonder.” Maybe someone like The Buoy and the song Timothy. The song was pretty cool, even if obscure. The O hasn’t done anything I’d want to listen to a second time, nor even remember.
He should be ousted long before his first term expires. He may not be, but he SHOULD be.
How does a Communist dictator measure his reign? How about Lenin or Stalin? By the welfare of his people? Hardly. They killed 20 million plus of their own people. The only measure a good Communist dictator uses is whether the dominion of Communism was advanced and strengthened domestically and around the world.
I believe these are Obama's goals and measurements and I think he couldn’t care less about what other people think about it.
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