# Will the left wing destroy Obama? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 23, 2011, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-left-wing-destroy-obama/575730 "2011-03-23T16:40:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-left-wing-destroy-obama/575730/41 "2011-03-23T21:25:22Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Obama would compromise on health care, give in to republican demands and then they’d still give him the finger and not vote for it. He got the Republican support he needed. The bigger issue was the support from conservative Democrats. ---
**Author:** ![Fotheringay-Phipps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/d9b06d/32.png) [@Fotheringay-Phipps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fotheringay-Phipps)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-left-wing-destroy-obama/575730/42 "2011-03-23T21:28:37Z")
IMHO, left-wing attacks on Obama are very helpful to him. The left has nowhere else to go anyway, and the attacks help him appear as a moderate to middle-of-the-road voters, who dislike either extreme. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-left-wing-destroy-obama/575730/43 "2011-03-23T21:39:02Z")
I read plenty of lefty political blogs. Since 2000 there’s been a consistent drumbeat of “voting your conscience = slitting your own throat”. I’d be hugely surprised if a significant number of lefties voted for a third party candidate over Obama. There will be a lot of noise in the primary about policies that have angered the left, but come November the left wing will come home. ---
**Author:** ![New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9d8465/32.png) [@New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Deal_Democrat)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-left-wing-destroy-obama/575730/44 "2011-03-23T22:00:48Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > I read plenty of lefty political blogs. Since 2000 there’s been a consistent drumbeat of “voting your conscience = slitting your own throat”. I’d be hugely surprised if a significant number of lefties voted for a third party candidate over Obama. There will be a lot of noise in the primary about policies that have angered the left, but come November the left wing will come home. My hope is that since 2000 what little there is of a “left” in this country has learned that “the lesser of two evils,” should be voted for, because the greater of the two evils is very evil indeed, and becoming more so, even as I type. The left has no choice but to vote Democrat. The Democrat Party is the only show in town. It would only make sense to vote for something to the left of the Democrat party if the Democrats dominated the country. Then one could demonstrate that there is support for policies to the left of what the Democrats are doing. That has not been true since 1964. The United States is a center right country. The Great Recession seems to be pushing the United States even more to the right. ---
**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 23, 2011, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-left-wing-destroy-obama/575730/45 "2011-03-23T22:17:22Z")
> [@The\_Hamster\_King](#): > > There will be a lot of noise in the primary about policies that have angered the left, but come November the left wing will come home. Or simply stay home. It’s hard to justify voting for a Republican in all but name like Obama. Voting for him is signing off on his spinelessness, his willingness to cover for and continue the evils of the Bush Administration. The difference between Obama and some Republican being in office is fairly small. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-left-wing-destroy-obama/575730/46 "2011-03-23T22:17:30Z")
Of course we’re going to vote for Obama. What other choice have we? Should we sit at home on our hands and let one of the living anachronisms in the Republican party win? No, we’re not as enamored with Obama as we were. Heck, some of us are downright pissed. However, sitting here today, I can confidently say that any alternative to Obama will be worse with, perhaps, the exception of Romney, who I predict will not make it past the Tea Party/birther conservative litmus test. Oh, and **Shodan** , you are absolutely wrong about how liberals felt about McCain, at least in my case. I probably lean a little more liberal than many on this board and I would have voted for McCain in 2000. He was my guy. I was totally bought into the Straight Talk Express, supported McCain-Feingold, and even argued in opposition to the Keating 5 allegations. Republican party dirty tricks sunk McCain’s campaign, and I’ll never forget it, even though he seems to have. Also, as others have stated, the John McCain of 1999-2000 is not the same McCain of 2007-2008, not by a long shot. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-left-wing-destroy-obama/575730/47 "2011-03-23T22:33:21Z")
Who the Republicans choose is key. An ultra-Right wing/Tea Party Crackpot/Religious Righter will alienate the Center. Completely. This will hand the White House to Obama. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-left-wing-destroy-obama/575730/48 "2011-03-23T22:58:13Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > That’s exactly why you won’t see a lot of people voting for a liberal third-party candidate. I voted for John Anderson in 1980, and for Ralph Nader in 2000. I’m not scheduled to help deprive a Democrat of victory until 2020, but you never know. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-left-wing-destroy-obama/575730/49 "2011-03-23T23:01:38Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > Of course we’re going to vote for Obama. What other choice have we? We didn’t all vote for Gore in 2000 now, did we? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-left-wing-destroy-obama/575730/50 "2011-03-23T23:51:19Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > “Hard left”. Who are they, exactly? Revolutionary proletarian porn is a fascinating subgenre. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-left-wing-destroy-obama/575730/51 "2011-03-23T23:53:21Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > We didn’t all vote for Gore in 2000 now, did we? No, but we all voted for Clinton in '96, which is more analogous to the current situation than Gore in 2000. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-left-wing-destroy-obama/575730/52 "2011-03-23T23:55:19Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > That’s not true at all, **Shodan**. > > Scott Brown is a moderate Republican. Mitt Romney used to be one. Dick Lugar would probably count as one. Murkowski as well, possibly. I think most of the liberals on this board would agree on those (emphasis on most). > > The problem isn’t that there are no moderate Republicans, it’s that they are pariahs in their own party, and none of them have a chance in hell of being nominated for President. And if one of them does get the nom, the Tea Party will likely as not run a third-party challenge. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-left-wing-destroy-obama/575730/53 "2011-03-24T00:32:05Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > “Hard left”. Who are they, exactly? > [@Shodan](#): > > For the purposes of this discussion, much of the SDMB. For these boards, there are no moderate Republicans. Ah, you hard nuts of the ideological Right, you just love that frontier seige mindset replete with Bowie knife, flintlock and raccon skin cap protecting the American way of life from any shadow that moves. Never mind us, keep up the good work. Please to just remember that the US Hard Left is actually Centre Right. ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-left-wing-destroy-obama/575730/54 "2011-03-24T00:52:38Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > That’s not true at all, **Shodan**. > > Scott Brown is a moderate Republican. Mitt Romney used to be one. Dick Lugar would probably count as one. Murkowski as well, possibly. I think most of the liberals on this board would agree on those (emphasis on most). > > The problem isn’t that there are no moderate Republicans, it’s that they are pariahs in their own party, and none of them have a chance in hell of being nominated for President. No chance for what you call a moderate Republican. Today’s conservatives view them as RINOs and are fed up with the likes of Brown, Bush Sr & JR, Newt, etc. I would not look for the nomination to be won by any of the same of tired bunch of re-runs. I also don’t give Ron Paul a chance in Hell. I think you need to watch for more of the like of Chris Christie or Mitch Daniels ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-left-wing-destroy-obama/575730/55 "2011-03-24T00:53:33Z")
Although Obama is very unpopular with this liberal, most liberals are quite pleased with him. I’m done with him. If he wants to be a right winger, he can jolly well get help from right wingers to raise funds and get out the vote. ---
**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 24, 2011, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-left-wing-destroy-obama/575730/56 "2011-03-24T00:57:59Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Although Obama is very unpopular with this liberal, most liberals are quite pleased with him. Not that I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-left-wing-destroy-obama/575730/57 "2011-03-24T01:04:46Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > OK. So how would **John Mace** destroy Obama? And why would he want to do so? Damn!! My secret plan has be foiled. ---
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-left-wing-destroy-obama/575730/58 "2011-03-24T01:37:50Z")
After Gore lost the “THANKS RALPH!” meme was born. Who will be the scapegoat this time around? You know, for sowing “disunity” and all that good soap opera stuff. Will it be “THANKS GREENWALD”? The trolling opportunities on Dem blogs will be sky high. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-left-wing-destroy-obama/575730/59 "2011-03-24T01:40:55Z")
> [@penultima\_thule](#): > > Ah, you hard nuts of the ideological Right, you just love that frontier seige mindset replete with Bowie knife, flintlock and raccon skin cap protecting the American way of life from any shadow that moves. > > Never mind us, keep up the good work. Don’t call other posters nuts - save that for the Pit if you have to post it. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2011, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-left-wing-destroy-obama/575730/60 "2011-03-24T01:48:46Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > If Mr. Obama moves further to the centre he will disappear into the void. > > The Leon Trotsky of our times. Well XT you and SHODAN have a new member to your club. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-left-wing-destroy-obama/575730.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-the-left-wing-destroy-obama/575730.md?page=4)