# I'm calling it: Obama is Jimmy Carter, and he is finished!!!!!!!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 12, 2011, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-calling-it-obama-is-jimmy-carter-and-he-is-finished/596022 "2011-09-12T05:33:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-calling-it-obama-is-jimmy-carter-and-he-is-finished/596022/41 "2011-09-12T18:21:40Z")
Also the thing about foreign policy is it can only hurt a President, not help them. It’s interesting because the President has a **ton** of control of U.S. foreign policy, but it is just not an issue most Americans are normally concerned about. If the President has gotten us involved in something disastrous overseas, that can cost him votes. But no manner of overseas success can save an otherwise weak President come election night. George H.W. Bush thought that his building of a global coalition to knock Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait, and the overall masterful conducting of the Persian Gulf War would be enough to get him reelected despite economic woes. He was wrong, the American people didn’t care that he did a good job with the Persian Gulf War. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-calling-it-obama-is-jimmy-carter-and-he-is-finished/596022/42 "2011-09-12T18:35:10Z")
> [@Belowjob2.0](#): > > This should probably give true progressives some pause - they’d hate this in a Republican president, and Obama is for all intents and purposes a moderate Republican. Of course it gives them pause and they already considered him a moderate Republican before he demonstrated it with his foreign policy. I personally think that if politics were completely one-dimensional that Obama would be right around my place, that is, perhaps a few percentage points left of center, even though I disagree with him on certain topics both to the “left” and “right”. But I just don’t see him losing yet. I give him over 50% chance of winning. If the economy gets worse it’s anyone’s game, but unless the GOP can manage to nominate a sane and charasmatic nominee, the election is Obama’s to lose. Even some who consider themselves “true progressives” would be more likely to come out to vote for Obama just so that the likes of Bachmann won’t get into the White House. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-calling-it-obama-is-jimmy-carter-and-he-is-finished/596022/43 "2011-09-12T19:34:59Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > If it’s Romney, Obama is in trouble. Perry or Bachmann will lose the independents and energize the Democrat base. > [@Meatros](#): > > This is what I was thinking. But do you see the Tea Party sitting idly by while a bland RINO gets the nomination? I think if it’s Romney, there’s a good chance that either the energized right wing will be less energized and stay home on election day or else nominate their own candidate. I don’t care what any pollsters say or any partisans say, there is a real, real good chance Obama wins re-election simply because there is so much division in the Republican Party right now. There’s a very destructive battle of Principle vs Winnable and “What’s best for our ideology” vs “What’s best for our country” taking place on the right side of the aisle. On paper, a black man with an Arabic-sounding name shouldn’t have been able to beat a well-known, likeable, centrist war hero. But he did. And on paper, a president with high unemployment and a public that increasingly believes the country is headed in the wrong direction shouldn’t be able to win re-election. But I suspect he will. Never underestimate Barack Obama’s ability to campaign, and don’t overestimate the public’s willingness to try something new. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-calling-it-obama-is-jimmy-carter-and-he-is-finished/596022/44 "2011-09-12T21:07:28Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > …Unlike [IMHO] the Clintons or the Obamas he didn’t hate America… You may not realize this, but writing stuff like this completely undermines your credibility as a rational person. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-calling-it-obama-is-jimmy-carter-and-he-is-finished/596022/45 "2011-09-12T21:13:30Z")
Yeah! I mean, isn’t it obvious that Carter hated America too! Chrissakes, that’s what being a Democrat is all about … am I right? ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-calling-it-obama-is-jimmy-carter-and-he-is-finished/596022/46 "2011-09-12T21:15:55Z")
> [@B.Serum](#): > > You may not realize this, but writing stuff like this completely undermines your credibility as a rational person. Well to be fair, it’s not as though the rest of the OP enhanced his credibility as a rational person. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-calling-it-obama-is-jimmy-carter-and-he-is-finished/596022/47 "2011-09-12T21:55:48Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > Well to be fair, it’s not as though the rest of the OP enhanced his credibility as a rational person. As a test, I tried reading his posts without the colored fonts and smileys. It didn’t help that much. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-calling-it-obama-is-jimmy-carter-and-he-is-finished/596022/48 "2011-09-12T23:12:45Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Yeah! I mean, isn’t it obvious that Carter hated America too! Chrissakes, that’s what being a Democrat is all about … am I right? Well, of course Carter hates America. He’s all about giving people houses for free instead of letting the free market do its work. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-calling-it-obama-is-jimmy-carter-and-he-is-finished/596022/49 "2011-09-13T00:40:10Z")
Am I the only one that read the OP and thought it must have been written by **gonzo** ’s evil twin? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-calling-it-obama-is-jimmy-carter-and-he-is-finished/596022/50 "2011-09-13T01:02:16Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > The “official” unemployment rate was about 6%, but realistically that’s because a lot of folks unemployment benefits had run out. The unemployment rate is not calculated based on the number of people collecting unemployment benefits. The unemployment rate is not calculated based on the number of people collecting unemployment benefits. The unemployment rate is not calculated based on the number of people collecting unemployment benefits. I mean, it’s been said on the SDMB maybe FIVE HUNDRED TIMES, but I figured we apparently needed to say it a few times more. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-calling-it-obama-is-jimmy-carter-and-he-is-finished/596022/51 "2011-09-13T01:16:03Z")
Thanks, **RickJay**. But the unemployment rate is still calculated based on the number of people collecting unemployment benefits, right? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-calling-it-obama-is-jimmy-carter-and-he-is-finished/596022/52 "2011-09-13T01:43:18Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > I V[COLOR=“BLUE”]I[/COLOR]VI[COLOR=“Magenta”][COLOR=“Magenta”][COLOR=“Magenta”]D[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR]LY remember that crisp autumn day in November 1980. I was 20 years old. The “official” unemployment rate was about 6%, but realistically that’s because a lot of folks unemployment benefits had run out. The actual rate was about 12%. The local Dairy Queen would have a part-time position open and 300 adults 40+ years old would show up to apply. Inflation was over 14% and a gallon of gas was more than double what it had been 4 years prior. I was one of the first people in line at the polling place to vote him out of office that day. > > Jimmy Carter was/is a good man. I mean that. He truly wanted what was best for The United States. Unlike [IMHO] the Clintons or the Obamas he didn’t hate America. > > But, like Obama, Carter inherited a bad economy, and then made it worse. > > Why? > > Because he didn’t know WTF he was doing, that’s why. He failed because his ideas and policies sucked ass. They didn’t work, and they would have never worked at any other time in history, past, present, or future. . > > What I also recall is how the otherwise liberal/Democratic leaning media turned against him. Political cartoons in the daily paper from late 1978 onward made him out to be a little boy. Sitting small in a big chair. A miserable failure. > > In the last 2 months I’ve notice this happening to Obama. > > Why does a rat jump off a ship? Because the rat knows the ship is going down, that’s why!!! > > The policies, programs, ideas, laws and etc. endorsed by President Obama\*\* DO NOT WORK!\*\* And they are not going to work…EVER! > > He’s done. Regardless of who the Republicans put up against him, he will not win reelection in 2012. OMG!!!111!!!1!!1 Some guy without a clue starts a thread about something he knows little or nothing about and draws erroneous conclusions from a false premise!!!111!!! The exclamation points make it completely believable, of course! ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-calling-it-obama-is-jimmy-carter-and-he-is-finished/596022/53 "2011-09-13T02:26:02Z")
I would greatly appreciate further explanation from the OP of any or all of the following points: By what measure do you determine that persons such as President Obama, and Bill and Hillary Clinton, who have based their careeers on public service within the current system, “hate America”? In what way, just in general, no detail needed at this time, did Obama personally “make the economy worse”? Which specific policies of the current administration “suck ass”, in your view? All of them? Is it possible for the current administration, maybe by accident, to come up with a policy that doesn’t suck ass, or would you say it is inherent in the system? Lastly and most importantly, I’d greatly appreciate it if the OP could explain what he thinks ten exclamation points at the end of a single sentence do, that one does not. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-calling-it-obama-is-jimmy-carter-and-he-is-finished/596022/54 "2011-09-13T05:41:54Z")
I’d like it if the OP explained why he wrote, “Jimmy Carter was/is a good man.” Has the former President been locked in a box by Erwin Schrodinger? ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-calling-it-obama-is-jimmy-carter-and-he-is-finished/596022/55 "2011-09-13T06:08:16Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’d like it if the OP explained why he wrote, “Jimmy Carter was/is a good man.” Has the former President been locked in a box by Erwin Schrodinger? Damn it, you made me laugh way past my bedtime. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-calling-it-obama-is-jimmy-carter-and-he-is-finished/596022/56 "2011-09-13T12:29:54Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I mean, it’s been said on the SDMB maybe FIVE HUNDRED TIMES, but I figured we apparently needed to say it a few times more. Look, hippie, don’t tell a conservative about the economy! That’s their strength! Obviously he knows it better than you do! -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-calling-it-obama-is-jimmy-carter-and-he-is-finished/596022/57 "2011-09-13T12:32:27Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > If it’s Romney, Obama is in trouble. Perry or Bachmann will lose the independents and energize the Democrat base. I tend to agree with this analysis. But, one thing I’m wondering is if it’s Romney, who the tea party guys are not a big fan of, will someone like Bachmann run as a third party candidate and take the right wing votes away from him? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-calling-it-obama-is-jimmy-carter-and-he-is-finished/596022/58 "2011-09-13T12:52:41Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > I tend to agree with this analysis. But, one thing I’m wondering is if it’s Romney, who the tea party guys are not a big fan of, will someone like Bachmann run as a third party candidate and take the right wing votes away from him? We can always hope… ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-calling-it-obama-is-jimmy-carter-and-he-is-finished/596022/59 "2011-09-13T12:56:15Z")
That would be pretty awesome. Mostly for the outcome, but the interim hilarity would be pretty good too. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2011, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-calling-it-obama-is-jimmy-carter-and-he-is-finished/596022/60 "2011-09-13T13:07:25Z")
It sort of makes me wonder if Romney, presuming he were the candidate, would have to take on a running mate with tea party cred to keep that from happening. Maybe even taking Bachmann, but probably someone with less baggage. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-calling-it-obama-is-jimmy-carter-and-he-is-finished/596022.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-calling-it-obama-is-jimmy-carter-and-he-is-finished/596022.md?page=4)