# A lot of people like what Obama does until they are told that Obama is doing it. Then they hate it. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 13, 2015, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-people-like-what-obama-does-until-they-are-told-that-obama-is-doing-it-then-they-hate-it/712548 "2015-02-13T06:43:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-people-like-what-obama-does-until-they-are-told-that-obama-is-doing-it-then-they-hate-it/712548/101 "2015-02-17T22:39:23Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > It’s also telling that when Democrats are asked about something and also told that Obama is involved, the favorability of whatever was mentioned does NOT go up suddenly, which would be the case if those who desperately want Democrats to be as partisan were actually as partisan as their counterparts. > > One doesn’t need to see a Bush poll (which is good because nobody has managed to dig one up), one only needs to see how the Democrats did in relationship to their Republican and independent counterparts. I wish it were quite that simple, but the way we (as humans) view and deal with things we like isn’t necessarily the mirror image of the way we view and deal with things we dislike. The energy with which a sports fan boos a team they hate won’t necessarily equal the energy with which they cheer a team they like. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-people-like-what-obama-does-until-they-are-told-that-obama-is-doing-it-then-they-hate-it/712548/102 "2015-02-17T22:45:29Z")
All I’m saying is that whatever evidence we have been able to unearth is decidedly one-sided in what it shows. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-people-like-what-obama-does-until-they-are-told-that-obama-is-doing-it-then-they-hate-it/712548/103 "2015-02-17T22:51:25Z")
> [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](#): > > All I’m saying is that whatever evidence we have been able to unearth is decidedly one-sided in what it shows. I agree. I think the poll mentioned in the OP is _evidence_ that Republicans are quite partisan, but it alone doesn’t mean all THAT much without a meaningful comparison. A more interesting poll might be one which had questions like “do you support X” and “do you support the congressional Republicans plan to do X”, and then swapping in Democrats for Republicans. Since I’m sure that both sides are partisan, I’d expect that for each side, they’d agree more with something associated with “their side”, and less with something associated with the other side. Would the effect be stronger among Republicans than Democrats? It would be fascinating to see, and if it wasn’t, that would be strong evidence that my position is incorrect. (Although it’s still not a perfect comparison… I mean, if Democrats dislike congressional Republicans with a dislike factor of 7.3, and Republicans dislike congressional Democrats with a dislike factor of 7.3, but Republicans dislike Obama with a dislike factor of 9.99997 does that mean that they’re equally partisan or not?) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_stamos_left_ear/32/3198_2.png) [@John\_Stamos\_Left\_Ear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Stamos_Left_Ear)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-people-like-what-obama-does-until-they-are-told-that-obama-is-doing-it-then-they-hate-it/712548/104 "2015-02-17T23:08:30Z")
In my opinion, I don’t think it’s Democrats vs Republican. I think that Obama detractors are in a league of their own. There’s a reason the Obama Derangement Syndrome is a thing. Once you demonize a person as much as Obama the black Muslim Kenyan Marxist has been, how can you possibly say “but his immigration ideas are on the mark?” ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2015, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-people-like-what-obama-does-until-they-are-told-that-obama-is-doing-it-then-they-hate-it/712548/105 "2015-02-17T23:09:02Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > I’ve argued that (3) is extremely unlikely. So if it’s either (1) or (2), in either case ONE of the sides is going to be right and other is going to be wrong. I’d say _your opinion_ is that 3 is unlikely. You’ve given no reason. Rush Limbaugh’s opinion is that liberals are stupid. > [@MaxTheVool](#): > > If you’re truly an independent observer, you’re free to observe the level of partisanship in the US right now and come to your own conclusion. And if your conclusion disagrees with mine, hey, fine, we can disagree. But it’s both ridiculous and condescending for you to reject instantly and out of hand any opinion about partisanship that is ever proffered by anyone who has the slightest bit of “skin in the game”. I’d say it’s ridiculous to offer an opinion, with nothing to back it up, and expect others to accept it at face value, especially when the one offering the opinion has something to gain. If you show me some evidence or at least give a well-grounded rationale behind your opinion then I’ll give it more credence. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2015, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-people-like-what-obama-does-until-they-are-told-that-obama-is-doing-it-then-they-hate-it/712548/106 "2015-02-18T01:02:18Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > I’d say _your opinion_ is that 3 is unlikely. You’ve given no reason. Rush Limbaugh’s opinion is that liberals are stupid. I have made an argument in this thread as to why I think (3) is unlikely… Democrats and Republicans vary in all sorts of fairly fundamental and cultural ways, as demonstrated by a bunch of things which ARE objectively quantifiable (level of education, rural vs urban, religiosity, etc.). Therefore it would be a surprising coincidence if they ended up at exactly the same level of of partisanness, just as it would be a surprising coincidence if lions and tigers end up having exactly the same top running speed. > [@](#): > > I’d say it’s ridiculous to offer an opinion, with nothing to back it up, and expect others to accept it at face value, especially when the one offering the opinion has something to gain. If you show me some evidence or at least give a well-grounded rationale behind your opinion then I’ll give it more credence. Sure, and I have not particularly tried to make that argument in this thread. I don’t expect to have convinced anyone, because I wasn’t actually attempting to convince anyone, although I mentioned a few random individual pieces of something-like-evidence. But by that same token, you can’t just say “Republicans and Democrats are equally partisan” and expect everyone else to accept that at face value. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lot-of-people-like-what-obama-does-until-they-are-told-that-obama-is-doing-it-then-they-hate-it/712548.md?page=5)