Opinion of Barack Obama

[heatcharger]

Well?

[インターネット掲示板ユーザー Punxsutawney Phil]

FF

[Progressive Pessimist]

Definitely a freedom fighter, but I think he ran too early. We need his type of personality more now today than we did in 2008.

Our timeline would be much different, possibly for the better, if he just let Clinton have the 2008 nomination.

[OSR stands with Israel]

HP, his legacy gets worse by the day

[DaleCooper]

Feeding desperate Americans all those false promises back in 2008 was an incredibly cruel thing to do. We live in a more nihilistic time than ever and a lot of that can be blamed on Obama's platform being a complete scam.

[Sumner 1868]

F- It seems to me that Obama was a disaster. As a far lefty (by American standards) who wants less corporatism, a less corrupt government, more respect for basic rights, less foreign intervention, and a stronger social safety net, Obama was a sellout and an enabler of everything I don't want the government doing, and did little I do want to see happen.

Weak on global warming and green energy. Socially liberal mostly when he was pushed into it. Missed a clear opportunity to revitalize our national infrastructure. His signature piece of legislation was Cato Institute health care plan. He aided and abetted the Bush Administration's regime of torture and illegal spying, giving the criminals a free pass and setting a terrible precedent. He did the same for the  crooks profiting from the 2007 economic crash. He didn't even try to fix our most pervasive and dangerous problems.  He trashed Libya and continued all of the Bush administration's worst offenses. He belongs in jail, in a cell between Bush and Trump.

But even if you don't agree with me, if you want a strong and globally active America, he was a failure. He oversaw the continuing decay of our military, while squandering it's capability to little effect. He failed to counter Russian or Chinese expansionism, and left the nation ill-prepared to do so in the future. Sure, he left our economy better than he found it, but you can say the same about Putin, and I'm not going to sing his praises either.

The most you can really say for him is that the creaky, corrupt, decaying machine that is the American establishment didn't completely break on his watch. He even shined it up really nice. But he certainly didn't do anything revolutionary, or even to change where the US is headed.  And he did set the stage for Trump. He seems good to us now only because anyone would look good in comparison to Trump.

I've written before about the metaphor of the nation as a bus, with Trump as the crazed, intoxicated passenger who seized control, waves around his gun (and appears to be wearing a bomb) and is drunkenly accelerating towards a cliff.

Obama, by contrast, was a nice, clear spoken and polite man. He explained that he'd recently gotten his commercial license, and if he could please drive, he'd take us where we want to go. But once in the chair, he was a pleasant driver, but he kept us on the road to the same place Trump is going, just at a slower and more sedate pace.

[Alben Barkley]

Feeding desperate Americans all those false promises back in 2008 was an incredibly cruel thing to do. We live in a more nihilistic time than ever and a lot of that can be blamed on Obama's platform being a complete scam.

I wouldn’t go that far. I think he genuinely was optimistic back then, perhaps even a but naive as far as politicians go. He seemed to truly think he could get the GOP to cooperate given the mess the country was in. Big mistake of course, and in hindsight Hillary was definitely the way to go. She had enough experience to not make the same mistakes. Better foreign policy too. The world will never know what a Clinton/Obama ticket might have led to. We could well be on year 16 of Democratic control of the White House after both of their administrations.

[DaleCooper]

Feeding desperate Americans all those false promises back in 2008 was an incredibly cruel thing to do. We live in a more nihilistic time than ever and a lot of that can be blamed on Obama's platform being a complete scam.

Dont forget that although everyone blames Lieberman for "killing," the public option, Obama never had any intention of actually passing it.

Senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) insists that the White House did not pressure him to get in line behind either a public health insurance option or a Medicare buy-in compromise during the health care debate this year.

"Well, no. I think I got pressure from the president to be for health care reform," Lieberman said when asked by HuffPost about any pressure from the administration to support either the public option or the Medicare buy-in. "I'd have to think about this, but I didn't really have direct input from the White House on this."
....
On Sunday, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.), blamed the administration's decision not to push for the public option for its eventual demise. "Unfortunately, the lack of support from the administration made keeping the public option in the bill an uphill struggle," he said.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/lieberman-obama-never-pre_n_399355

Obama campaigned on the public option with no actual intention of ever passing it then Lieberman pointlessly came out against it and the White House was like "okay....thanks for being our scapegoat John."

And he also used the public option to monopolize his trifecta in that first term, which prevented him from addressing many of his other promises. To be fair, obviously Ted Kennedy's death was out of his control, but he couldn't even use his celebrity status to prevent a Republican from winning that seat, which was incredibly pathetic.

The biggest betrayal in my opinion was his complete 180 on the surveillance state. Unlike the public option, he absolutely did have the power to put a stop to a lot of that and he chose not to pretty much from day one.

[Don't Tread on Me]

He failed to hold those responsible for the financial crisis accountable and he didn't listen to the concerns of those who needed his help the most especially during his 2nd term when he incorrectly assumed that his re-election win was a sign that the economy was improving and he began to focus on social issues.  As a result, Trump was able to further radicalize these people who were already feeling alienated and bitter to begin with. While it's true that he couldn't do much for much of his term, the failure to nominate Bernie Sanders as a viable alternative cemented the Democrats as an out of touch elitist party.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Feeding desperate Americans all those false promises back in 2008 was an incredibly cruel thing to do. We live in a more nihilistic time than ever and a lot of that can be blamed on Obama's platform being a complete scam.

I wouldn’t go that far. I think he genuinely was optimistic back then, perhaps even a but naive as far as politicians go. He seemed to truly think he could get the GOP to cooperate given the mess the country was in. Big mistake of course, and in hindsight Hillary was definitely the way to go. She had enough experience to not make the same mistakes. Better foreign policy too. The world will never know what a Clinton/Obama ticket might have led to. We could well be on year 16 of Democratic control of the White House after both of their administrations.

I mean conservative politicians never were gonna support stuff like the public option which Obama spent 6 months pushing, tax increases, pro union policies and financial reform that effected median sized banks . Keep in mind many blue dog democrats opposed much of the Obama 2009-10 agenda as well and not just republicans

Obama really didn’t have to get the votes of republican leadership as well to pass stuff as he just needed the vote of Snowe or Lugar but they opposed all this stuff too

[LBJer]

Feeding desperate Americans all those false promises back in 2008 was an incredibly cruel thing to do. We live in a more nihilistic time than ever and a lot of that can be blamed on Obama's platform being a complete scam.

I wouldn’t go that far. I think he genuinely was optimistic back then, perhaps even a but naive as far as politicians go. He seemed to truly think he could get the GOP to cooperate given the mess the country was in. Big mistake of course, and in hindsight Hillary was definitely the way to go. She had enough experience to not make the same mistakes. Better foreign policy too. The world will never know what a Clinton/Obama ticket might have led to. We could well be on year 16 of Democratic control of the White House after both of their administrations.

Clinton also became well respected by both Democratic and Republican colleagues during her time in the Senate. 

I voted for her in the Pennsylvania primary in 2008.  There was a time when I would have changed my vote to Obama if I could have revoted, but now I think I made the right decision.

[K.W.R.A.E. 8647]

FF and the best president of my lifetime.

I don't blame him for Citizens United and the Tea Party nuking American political discourse and hanging him in effigy.

[TML]

He was good on the campaign trail, but not so much once he got into office. He was clearly influenced by special interest donations, and he could clearly have done more than what he actually did during his first two years in office (even if he couldn't do every single thing he promised on the campaign trail, what he actually did was just a fraction of what he theoretically could have done). Of course, the party suffered great losses downballot during his tenure as president, and people have argued that him not going far enough during his tenure was a contributing factor to the rise of Trump and hastened the radicalization of the political right.

[dw93]

Overrated FF. He wasn't a bad President by any means but he wasn't a good President either, far too many Democrats treat him as the Democratic Reagan.

[TheTide]

Was he actually running to win in 2008? I'm talking about the primaries, obviously. I think the assumption until after the 2006 midterm elections was that 2012 or 2016 would be his time. He of course ending up running in 2008, but I think the main goal might have been to put a marker down for a future run and/or a VP selection. If so, it worked too well.

[Meclazine for Israel]

The evidence of his success is obvious.

His wife, who does not want the Presidency, is currently 2nd favourite in the 2024 Presidential Election from the mere thought of having him back in the White House.

The only thing i noticed about him which stood out was his eloquence as a speaker.

[TDAS04]

Best President to serve between Carter and Biden, I guess.

Still FF, but fell way short of living up to the high hopes of his youthful supporters. (But to be fair to Obama, said hopes were a bit too unrealistically high for pretty much any leader to satisfy). 44 should have been Hillary Clinton.

[#LANK]

Enter Obama.

He signed the HAMP program into being as one of his first acts as president. My dad swears to this day the relief is the only reason we stayed in a great school district. His opponents didn’t.
He extended unemployment benefits giving, my family the support they needed to pay the bills while my mom was laid off, still fighting over child support in the legal system. His opponents didn’t.
He enabled me to stay covered by my dad’s cushy Federal Employee Program insurance plan for another few years as opposed to purchasing the standard package from my current employer at a market-based premium. His opponents didn’t.
He ordered the hit delivering justice for the thousands of Americans murdered on 9/11. His opponents didn’t.
He ensured via supporting SNAP I ate lunch every school-day. His opponents didn’t.

Idgaf how many weddings he drone-striked I will never not go to bat for that man

[President Johnson]

Massive FF

Not as a good as Biden though. Second best president after him since Lyndon.

[CumbrianLefty]

Was he actually running to win in 2008? I'm talking about the primaries, obviously. I think the assumption until after the 2006 midterm elections was that 2012 or 2016 would be his time. He of course ending up running in 2008, but I think the main goal might have been to put a marker down for a future run and/or a VP selection. If so, it worked too well.

It can be argued that HRC lost that contest, more than him winning it.

The "Hillary's Downfall" Hitler parody remains the best one ever IMO

[nicholas.slaydon]

FF as an individual, Mediocre as a President.

[Clintonopia]

Since ya'll voted HP on Clinton, I gotta vote HP here. Sorry.

[Clintonopia]

Feeding desperate Americans all those false promises back in 2008 was an incredibly cruel thing to do. We live in a more nihilistic time than ever and a lot of that can be blamed on Obama's platform being a complete scam.

I mean I voted HP out of principle for Clinton being voted such, BUT, The ACA did a lot of good.

Was Obama's platform a scam or was he stopped at every single cross of the road by a GOP determined to make him into Jimmy Carter?

[dw93]

Feeding desperate Americans all those false promises back in 2008 was an incredibly cruel thing to do. We live in a more nihilistic time than ever and a lot of that can be blamed on Obama's platform being a complete scam.

I mean I voted HP out of principle for Clinton being voted such, BUT, The ACA did a lot of good.

Was Obama's platform a scam or was he stopped at every single cross of the road by a GOP determined to make him into Jimmy Carter?

A combination of both. The later was certainly true post 2010, but in 2009-10 he had majorities his recent predecessors and both of his successors would've killed for, and he had little to show for it.

[Sir Mohamed]

FF

But lately seems like his legacy is about to fade. That trend will almost certainly continue regardless, and more so in case Biden gets reelected. I feel like more and more Dems believe he squandered his presidency to a degree and was an ineffective party leader. Latter for sure is true and despite some signature accomplishments, there are weak spots like his Middle East policy and lack of determination to fight back against the GOP.