I think you’re right to see some dissatisfaction with Obama around here simply because he’s governed further right than this board would like to see, and because he’s been unable to stand up to the Republicans effectively. However, I think that when push comes to shove, most of the liberals on this board back the President, and vastly prefer him to anyone the Republicans are putting forward.
You also addressed this thread to “SDMB liberals”-- is it possible that the people who object here identify as moderates and are not posting in this thread?
Obama was an important factor in the gutting of the Whisleprotection Act. He promised not to do that. That is another disappointment.
He is still better than anything the Repubs offer.
If it comes down to Obama vs. Romney, it’s basically a choice between a centrist, corporate-loving enabler of the ruling class and a centrist, corporate-loving enabler of the ruling class who has a pack of rabid, insane, far-right-wing, insane, woman-hating, gay-hating, Christian Dominionist, did I say insane already?, idiots who wouldn’t recognize reality if it slapped them in the face backing him.
I consider myself centrist rather than liberal, but I think many right-wingers would happily lump me with the “libtards.”
To reject Obama in the primaries would be for the Democrats to suggest something is wrong, and thus would increase the chance of Republican victory. How could a sensible person want that?
I’ll be flamed for saying this but, even though I think Obama is supremely qualified to be President, and the 2008 election brought a huge sense of exhilaration and pride to many Americans, we’d have been better off running a white male in 2008. I am not a racist or sexist but many Americans are and I do not believe politics could have reached recent idiotic levels if the hypocrites didn’t have the hidden race card on their side. (There are millions of stupid Americans who couldn’t spell “debt ceiling” if their lives depended on it, but they know what color Obama’s skin is.)
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You also addressed this thread to “SDMB liberals”-- is it possible that the people who object here identify as moderates and are not posting in this thread?
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Actually, I’d be more inclined to the converse, since a lot of posters in this thread have prefaced their comments with something to the effect that they aren’t really liberals, but…
My guess is that the more moderate SDMB ‘liberals’ are the ones mainly posting in this thread, and perhaps the more radical ‘liberals’ aren’t, so perhaps the answers are skewing more towards a reality based answer as opposed to one based on passion and partisanship. Or, I might have just been mis-reading comments in other threads that seemed to indicate that ‘liberal’ dissatisfaction was a lot higher (to the point of not wanting to vote for the Democratic incumbent) than it might actually be.
Although this is not a debate thread, I must disagree with you 100 percent on this. Someone had to be first, and whoever that first someone was, the reaction would have been the same.
You’re correct that many Americans are racist, but do you honestly believe that 10 years from now, or 20, or 50 would have made a significant enough difference to warrant the wait? If all we did was wait for those in power’s inner magnanimity to effect changes on others’ behalf, I contend blacks and women still wouldn’t have the vote, and all the other advantages that came from suffrage and equal rights initiatives wouldn’t be in effect today. Heck, my parents wouldn’t have been able to legally marry each other in many states had it not been for the Loving case.
If the election of Barack Obama has done one positive thing, it is that it has ripped the band-aid off the festering sore of racism that was just below the surface and brought its ugliness into the light of day. So yes, 2008 was the perfect time for an Obama, not just because he’s black, but because he’s black, has the temperament of an adult; something the Republicans are sorely lacking at this time, and continues to believe it is his job is to be the president of all Americans, liberals, moderates, and conservatives alike, despite the rabid, irrational, and yes racist hatred from the right.
I’d go with Obama without a second thought. He’s not at 100% with me but he’s in the 90’s as far as I’m concerned. I’m a little more hawkish than your stock “far left” sort though and never expected (thought it’d be nice) a full public health care system.
I did not vote for Obama, and as a matter of fact, prior to the 2010 mid-terms had never voted Democratic, at all for any office. I would choose Obama for President over anyone the republicans have as options. Every election it seems as though I just need to take the most palatable option of the crap that is being served. However, in the past, I had never paid attention to politics at all, just pulled the handle with the baseline of “republicans want smaller gov’t - yeah - that sounds like what I want”. I never actually looked at the facts of whether they actually governed to match their rhetoric. Now that I actually pay attention, I don’t see any republicans that I’d be willing to support.
ETA: I don’t know of any other Dems I would support over Obama. There are a few Dem congresspersons whose speeches I enjoy.
I’m one of those who is disillusioned. It’s possible I will vote for him again; it’s possible I won’t. There’s still over a year to go, and still a lot that Obama can do or fail to do (or fail to fight for) that would help me make up my mind.
It’s possible I’m not a true liberal. I got a lot of flak from the left in my disillusion Pit thread.
Which fights in particular do you wish Obama would fight? In my opinion, he’s just the right mix of “compromise” and “stick to your guns”. Figuratively, of course.
Well, he did state an intention, but the Congressional Republicans immediately set their hair on fire and started screaming “TERRORISTS IN OUR BACKYARD!!!111!!” and that was that.
*ETA: Considering the kind of crappy Blue Dogs in both the Senate and the House the Democrats had at the time, there were probably a few of those also screaming stupid shit.
Indeed, he certainly tried to close Guantanamo. Even though he failed at that, he has gone out of his way to make sure that no one new has been placed there.