# Obama: "...by the end of my first term..." **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 25, 2009, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-by-the-end-of-my-first-term/490668 "2009-03-25T00:10:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-by-the-end-of-my-first-term/490668/1 "2009-03-25T00:10:14Z")
I’m watching the prime-time speech, and I just heard the president promise to slash the deficit “by the end of my first term.” Okay, clearly trend is for two-term presidents, especially with such popularity at the start of the first term. But is it appropriate to talk about your current term being your “first”? Is it okay to admit reality here? Are the conservative pundits going to freak out over this, or is it no big deal? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-by-the-end-of-my-first-term/490668/2 "2009-03-25T00:12:40Z")
Even if it’s his only term, it’s still also his first term. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-by-the-end-of-my-first-term/490668/3 "2009-03-25T00:13:06Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > Are the conservative pundits going to freak out over this, or is it no big deal? I’d say yes to both; yes they’ll freak out, and yes it’s no big deal. The conservatives at this point are pretty much in permanent freak out mode. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-by-the-end-of-my-first-term/490668/4 "2009-03-25T00:40:04Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Even if it’s his only term, it’s still also his first term. ^^^^^^ What he said. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-by-the-end-of-my-first-term/490668/5 "2009-03-25T00:47:02Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > Are the conservative pundits going to freak out over this, or is it no big deal? Wait 'till he tells them what he intends to accomplish by the end of his _third_ term. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-by-the-end-of-my-first-term/490668/6 "2009-03-25T00:50:56Z")
If he said “by the end of my term of office” he would be accused of being ambiguous. Calling it his “first term” only limits him. ---
**Author:** ![Dahnlor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahnlor/32/533_2.png) [@Dahnlor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahnlor)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-by-the-end-of-my-first-term/490668/7 "2009-03-25T00:56:37Z")
If I’m not mistaken, he’s used the phrase “by the end of my first term” many times before, including when he was still running for President. I don’t recall anyone in the media, conservative pundits or otherwise, to make anything of it. Besides, I’m sure it makes more sense than to say “by the end of my term” and less clumsy than to say “within four years of being inaugurated as President”. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-by-the-end-of-my-first-term/490668/8 "2009-03-25T01:01:03Z")
I think just about every modern president has used the phrase during their first term. It’s pretty standard practice. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-by-the-end-of-my-first-term/490668/9 "2009-03-25T01:49:23Z")
Right. Presidents always do that, because of course they all figure they’re popular and expect to be reelected. It’s sort of the kind of arrogance that comes with being president. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-by-the-end-of-my-first-term/490668/10 "2009-03-25T02:17:46Z")
Interesting. I’ve never noticed another president use the phrase before. So the consensus is that W and Clinton used it in their respective first terms? If so, I may not caught it because during a significant part of that time period, I was nine years old. And to those who are suggesting that “my first term” does not have any connotations of a second term: please. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-by-the-end-of-my-first-term/490668/11 "2009-03-25T02:58:10Z")
Well, here’s a transcript of Bill Clinton’s first press conference as President: [http://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/24/us/transcript-of-clinton-s-first-news-conference-at-white-house.html?sec=health&spon=&pagewanted=3](http://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/24/us/transcript-of-clinton-s-first-news-conference-at-white-house.html?sec=health&spon=&pagewanted=3) > [@](#): > > Q. Mr. President, Americans are eagerly awaiting May 1st to find out what you have in mind for health care reform. Are you ready to stand here now and make a pledge that by the end of your first term, all Americans will have health insurance, and how much latitude do you think you have politically to raise taxes to be sure that that happens before the end of your first term? And I have a follow-up. > > A. Well, I’m ready to tell you that I will present a plan which would provide the American people the opportunity to have the security of health care coverage by the end of my first term. . . So, in that case, it was the reporter who started the “your first term” thing, but the President accepted the phrasing. There’s McCain, from the campaign: [http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/07/29/obama\_blames\_bush\_wall\_street/](http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/07/29/obama_blames_bush_wall_street/) > [@](#): > > “As president, I have committed to balancing the budget by the end of my first term,” said McCain, who also warned that Obama would strangle the economy by raising taxes. Bush, from the 1988 Bush-Dukakis debate: [http://www.debates.org/pages/trans88b.html](http://www.debates.org/pages/trans88b.html) > [@](#): > > And we have now achieved an historic arms control agreement. I want to build on that. I’d love to be able to say to my grandchildren, four years after my first term, I’d like to say, your grandfather, working with the leaders of the Soviet Union, working with the leaders of Europe, was able to ban chemical and biological weapons from the face of the earth. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-by-the-end-of-my-first-term/490668/12 "2009-03-25T03:08:43Z")
> [@](#): > > Are the conservative pundits going to freak out over this, or is it no big deal? Why would Obama give a flying frak about what conservative pundits think? ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-by-the-end-of-my-first-term/490668/13 "2009-03-25T03:33:05Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > Interesting. I’ve never noticed another president use the phrase before. So the consensus is that W and Clinton used it in their respective first terms? If so, I may not caught it because during a significant part of that time period, I was nine years old. Man that’s talent. Most people can only manage to be nine years old for a year, tops. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-by-the-end-of-my-first-term/490668/14 "2009-03-25T03:38:42Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > Man that’s talent. Most people can only manage to be nine years old for a year, tops. 😉 Well, you know how it is. Nobody wants to admit they’ve turned _ten_, so they just keep having “ninth birthdays”. Although I understand the trend in Hollywood these days is to say “Ten–it’s the new seven”. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-by-the-end-of-my-first-term/490668/15 "2009-03-25T03:40:41Z")
Why would anyone be upset by using the phrase “by the end of my first term”? I think everyone knows it’s a Democracy. No one is expecting him to declare himself king. But every president hopes to win a second term, with rare exceptions, and why wouldn’t you want to be positive about it? Now, I could take exception to the statement that he will ‘slash’ the deficit. In his original budget, he claimed that he would ‘slash’ the budget to 533 billlion - a ‘slash’ that is only a reduction because he started with a deficit quadruple the size of the last one. But his math is also fuzzy. His deficit numbers are a joke. Even the Congressional Budget Office thinks the White House’s numbers are way off, and they are predicting a total of 9.3 trillion dollars in debt racked up by 2019 - almost a trillion dollars a year on average. That’s way, way off what Obama is trying to claim - 2.3 trillion dollars higher. And in my opinion, even those estimates are rosy. Looked at another way - after two terms of Obama, he will have doubled the U.S. total debt. And he’ll be increasing it at over twice the rate Bush did. Slash the deficit my ass. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-by-the-end-of-my-first-term/490668/16 "2009-03-25T03:48:06Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Looked at another way - after two terms of Obama, he will have doubled the U.S. total debt. And he’ll be increasing it at over twice the rate Bush did. > > Slash the deficit my ass. _bookmarks this thread_ ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-by-the-end-of-my-first-term/490668/17 "2009-03-25T04:32:31Z")
Wow, **Capitan Amazing** , that’s some nice sleuthing. However, and I know this sounds like no-true-Scotsman-ism here, but none of them seems quite analogous. All campaigning politicians speak like they’re about to be elected for life (“Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome the next President of the United States … Barry Goldwater!!”), but they usually adjust their rhetoric once they’ve been elected to reflect more humility. I can’t remember ever hearing a non-campaigning, first-term president speak with the presumption he’d be reelected. Of course, I’m only 26, so I have had very little experience listening to first-term presidents speak. I was 12-ish when Clinton started his reelection campaign, and W seemed to avoid speaking as much as possible. So if older folk remember first-term presidents using the phrase, I don’t really have any reason to doubt y’all. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-by-the-end-of-my-first-term/490668/18 "2009-03-25T04:57:03Z")
BTW, ‘slashing the deficit by the end of my first term’ is misleading anyway, because he neglects to tell you that it starts to go [right back up again](http://blog.heritage.org/2009/03/24/bush-deficit-vs-obama-deficit-in-pictures/). Have a look at that graph, people. Compare the Bush deficits to Obama’s. Remember Bush, the guy the liberals said was going to bankrupt the country with his profiglate spending? Well, look at the graph. Compare and contrast. Where’s the party of fiscal responsibility now? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-by-the-end-of-my-first-term/490668/19 "2009-03-25T04:57:21Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > I can’t remember ever hearing a non-campaigning, first-term president speak with the presumption he’d be reelected. Well, my first quote was Clinton after he had been elected, just so you know. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2009, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-by-the-end-of-my-first-term/490668/20 "2009-03-25T06:30:48Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Well, my first quote was Clinton after he had been elected, just so you know. I guess you’re right. I’m trying to put my finger on the reason Obama’s comment seemed so odd to me while Clinton’s doesn’t. And I think it’s that Obama’s comment was from his prepared speech, read from the teleprompter, while Clinton’s was off the cuff. Clinton’s could be chalked up to a gaffe, while Obama’s couldn’t. I mean, if you have time to think about what you’re going to say and write it beforehand, why not participate in the traditional polite fiction that your second term will be contested? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-by-the-end-of-my-first-term/490668.md?page=2)