If you’re a supporter, tell us what would make you lose confidence in him to the extent that you’d sign a “Hilary, Resign Now & Start Campaigning Against Him!” petition in February of this year.
If you’re in the opposition, tell us what would make you say,“Damn, I need to write my congressman and tell him to support the new prez or I’m supporting somebody else for his seat next election.”
Please note that I’m talking about things he could do, not things you could learn about him; in other words, learning that he did coke in college doesn’t count.
Lower tax burdens for all Americans, reduce the size of government, reduce taxes on corporations so they can afford to expand/hire, cut foreign aid, invest in the military, and reduce government spending.
The Rick Warren thing is oogy. I remember when he first started to get some steam I wondered just how Christian he really was and what that might mean for his presidency. Frankly, it’s not a good start.
As a fiscalcon type, I’d say: oppose all and any bailouts.
The bailouts, totaling over 7 trillion so far, dwarfs the national budget and by extension all my other small government, economic conservative positions. It’s also continuing the lesson to banks and Wall Street that it is OK to gamble assets and risk bankruptcy every 20 years; the government will be there to save them. That’s not a free market.
He can be a stink-o liberal if he wants after that and still have my support; he’ll have saved me more than he’s spent.
Springing to mind immediately would be a provable involvement in a major scandal (such as being on tape selling or buying Senate seats, cabinet positions, etc) or another Iraq-style full-on invasion and nation-building of another country.
Whoah, really? Not that I doubt you, but I’d like to read a breakdown of that number–do you have a cite?
Oh, and if his inauguration speech consists of gazing out slowly over the crowd, and then erupting with a booming evil overlord laugh and shaking his fists triumphantly to the heavens while dark saucers descend from the skies to frame the Washington Monument behind him, that will be a bad beginning to his presidency.
Nominating Kenneth Starr for the Supreme Court would do it. But you probably are looking for more likely scenarios.
I guess taking the “changing the tone” in Washington thing too far. Working with republicans and looking for bi-partisan solutions is great, I’m all for it. Abandoning basic democratic principles would be taking it too far (for example, lowering the minimum wage.)
I see him as a self-serving politician, not an ideologue. So maybe if he’d act against his own interests in a big way.
For instance:
“I’ve been thinking about it and I decided I’m not really qualified to be POTUS. This whole thing about collecting ideas for how to fix the economy, that was just a smoke screen, hoping no one would catch on that I have no special knowledge of economics. I just read that book about how FDR prolonged the depression, and you know what? They may be right! Damned if I know which side is right. This idea that there’s something special about me and I should be POTUS just because I’m me…I’m embarrassed to even say that now. What a bunch of narcissistic drivel. So anyway, I’m not going to serve as POTUS. I’m not going back to the Senate. I’m going to take a year off and figure out who I am and what my values are and how I can put my skills to work.”
