For All The Obama Bashing That Goes On Here...

The fact remains that the only reason we lost the House in 2010 was that Obama wasn't at the top of the ticket.


UnRec away!

to point out that we can't ALWAYS have a president at the top of the ticket

so the president has to actually DO some things to get the electorate excited

about his programs and his party....

I think Obama basically failed there, and that's

why we lost the house.

They should have been out there helping.

The MSM isn't a megaphone for Dems, it's the protector/enabler of the RW.

The President has been doing a lot, but anyone who relies on CNN or MSNBC to figure out what's going on will be in the dark.

ffs

for those who need to put everything in extremse.

And "ffs" back at ya, whatever that means.:eyes:

that "ffs" is there in place of the :sarcasm: tag.

Maybe you're right.:hi:

whenever it is at all possible. :hi: back atcha!

But, what do I know?



:shrug:

The additional reason we lost the House in 2010 is that the Obama Administration, and the Dems in Congress, had been too timid in enacting needed reforms and too solicitous of "bipartisanship." It's time for Dems to stop negotiating with terrorists and to denounce them for what they are -- Repuke terrorists.

It was a problem of Liberal Dems having to negotiate with Blue Dog Dems. The Republicans only matters because they only needed 1 conserva-dem in the Senate (or Lieberman) in order to put the brakes on whatever they wanted. Dems had to negotiate with themselves.

As far as the house itself goes, it passed a lot of good stuff that got watered down in the Senate.

Franklin was not seated for even two months before Kennedy died. President Obama had a filibuster-proof majority for less than two months.

people figured out that the banks and Wall Street were his priorities. The insurance finance reform bill was a giveaway to insurance companies. That's just my opinion.

For instance in Virginia in 2008, Obama actually ended up caring the state fairly comfortably.

Then in 2010 the GOP dominated state wide. However when you look at exit poll data from 2008 and 2010, you find that in 2008, African American voters were 22% of the electorate. In the 2010 election, they were just 11%. That was the entire difference in 2008 vs 2010 in the state of Virginia.

Young people and minorities don't vote in off year elections. Only old, grey people do.


The truth is nothing in Virginia has changed since 2008, its just a matter of who is going to the polls on election day.

The only thing we know about 2010 is that a lot more people didn't vote for Democrats this time around. It's IMPOSSIBLE to know why.

Nothing you said in your post that can be proven.

I guess the proof is in the pudding.

Only shows that in 2008 President Obama was popular. Doesn't prove anything about 2010.

was that the tsunami of anti-Obama hatred from the right (neatly packaged as the "Tea Party) was just too large for us to withstand and Democrats simply got "washed out". Republican overreach, particularly in states like Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida, Michigan, etc., plus the weak GOP field (at the moment), and the strong re-election prospects of Barack Obama should help reverse the tide. The most important thing IMHO is that we keep organizing at all times-during midterm elections AND Presidential election years.

Yes, I think that you are partly right. But, also those who voted for Obama in 2008, just didn't come out in 2010. A lot of people who voted for Obama, wanted to only because he was historic, and they wanted to be part of history.

Then came the way the following years played out. The dems, even thought they had majorities, didn't really do much for the common man. The dems couldn't point to anything 'big' that they did. If they could have pointed to some accomplishments that would have made a big difference. It would have created some excitement.

And, as it is, Obama has been seen as lackluster. He has commented on more than one occasion about being a one-term President. If anything that should be worrying.

zalinda

aside from 2006 (anti-Bushism/Republicanism reached a critical mass). That's one of the bigger problems our party/constituencies has IMHO. Our party and its activists just don't seemed to be as active nor as engaged in the political process during non-Presidential election years as the right wing seems to be.

I'm not sure that people stayed home from voting in 2010 because they weren't happy with Obama (is there actually any polling available to indicate this?). If people DID stay home in 2010 en masse simply because they weren't "satisfied" with Obama and the Democrats then they were stupid IMHO and/or did not have the capacity to realize that the right-wing anti-Obama backlash was in full swing and that a major Republican Tea Party victory (which is what we got) would be bad for most working-class/poor people. The extent of the awfulness of newly elected Republican Governors (along with strong Republican majorities in statehouses) has been worse than even I had imagined in terms of what they've been proposing and even getting signed into law.

I don't agree with you that Obama has been "lackluster". I don't have "the list" handy but the past two years were pretty productive and I didn't even imagine that he'd be willing to go to the mat for health care reform during his first two years let alone be able to accomplish it. It might not have been perfect but it eventually got done despite incredible odds.
As for him commenting on being a one-term President, so what? It's clear that he wants a second term (otherwise he wouldn't have already announced and started preparing). I think that he is just saying that he wants to do what he feels is the right thing for America and is willing to accept the negative judgement of the voters if it comes down to that. :shrug:

and the indies don't feel that any thing has changed, they always throw the bums out.

While you may feel that Obama did things, it has not translated to the streets. Our lives have not changed one bit for the better, it has gotten worse. EVERY change that is supposed to be for the better, is all in the future. How does that help?

The dems screwed up big time. The didn't want to seem like bullies, and it got them no where. Obama negotiates from the middle, not the left, so we get something that is to the right of repub, getting close to tea party.

You want voters to turn out, give them something to be excited about, not 'we are not as bad as'.

zalinda

is important IMHO when one of the two major parties is composed of lunatics and people whom want to destroy the country and block any and all progress. People don't have a long attention span. They want quick fixes and when it doesn't happen as fast as (or in the way that they think it should happen), they get discouraged and give up. Few people are in it for the "long game". Expecting President Obama and the Democrats to fix everything in two years was WAAAAAY too much to expect, particularly when you're dealing with a democracy such as ours. Most people don't seem to understand and/or appreciate the fact that long-term, long-lasting change takes more than 2 years. Unfortunately, like Clinton, Obama was given a Democratic Congress and 2 years flat to get everything done and, while he got some things done, he can't get anything done right now. A more progressive agenda was blocked for 6 out of 8 years under Clinton and I hope that President Obama gets to work with a Democratic Congress again to try to continue some reforms. Progress is hard work, can take a long time, and it isn't always sexy but continuing to place (or allow to be put in place) people whom believe in blocking- if not reversing- progress is going to guarantee that nothing substantive gets done. Hopefully, the country finally gets tired and gives up on the Republicans en masse but until that happens, the Democrats are the only sane alternative. "We're not as bad as" is good enough for me if it means that we'll get more progress. And if you don't like the quality of the Dems that are elected, then support progressive challengers whenever and wherever possible but for crissakes let's not make it easier for Republicans to keep getting elected.

out of their homes. People see bankers get billions of dollars, and CEO's get millions of dollars plus bonuses, and they can't make enough money to keep a roof over their heads, food in their bellies or, heaven forbid, a medical emergency.

People aren't as stupid as you think they are. They thought Obama was going to bring change into THEIR life, but he didn't. What he did do was give billions to bankers and extend tax cuts for millionaires. Obama has made it very clear to those hopeful masses that all politicians are the same, they are only interested in lining their own pockets.

If you go into the poorer neighborhoods, and ask anyone what Obama has done, they'll tell you all the things he has given to the rich. I don't think any of them could name anything that he has done that helps them, despite the 'list' that keeps getting posted. And now, there's talk of Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security getting cut, you don't really think that they plays well in the poor neighborhoods do you?

I saw a lot of hope in the eyes of my neighbors when Obama got elected, it's all gone now. Now they don't even look any one in the eye. It is miserable out here, and Obama doesn't seem like he cares one little bit.

zalinda

He couldn't have been expected to fix all of the country's problems left by Bushcho in 2 years. I don't get how you think he doesn't care but perhaps you're seeing something I don't/can't.

more for rich people, than poor people. I give up. I live in poverty and when I see my $8500 a year Social Security being 'tweaked' by the 'the great negotiator' I panic. If you don't know what it's like to wonder where your next meal is coming from or if you can pay the next utility bill, well good for you. You got yours.

zalinda

that Obama can't do anything without the cooperation of Congress, they realize Bush couldn't also.

happening and all. Flag pins,and pledges of allegiance and all that stuff.

There's simply no comparison.

:kick:

This is what the 2008 electorate looked like. (2008 Exit Poll data/Who voted)

Whites 74%
Blacks 13%
Hispanics 9%
Asians 3%


This is what the 2010 electorate looked like. (2010 Exit Poll data/Who voted)

Whites 78%
Blacks 10%
Hispanics 8%
Asians 1%


In the 2010 Election…
Blacks voted for Democratic candidates 91%-9%. but they were 3% less of the pool.
Hispanics voted for Democratic candidates 66%-34% but where 1% less of the pool
Asians voted for Democratic candidates 59%-41% but where 2% less of the pool.

Whites jumped from 74% to 78% of the total voting pool………. A 4% increase.


This means in regard to raw numbers, the minority share of the electorate was 6% smaller than it was in 2008. And that extra 6% (based on how they voted in the midterm) would have supported Democrats 77%-23%. With numbers this large, that is HUGE DIFFERENCE. In fact in most generic congressional races outside of the south, that margin would have been enough to save MOST OF THE BATTLE GROUND SEATS in the House (outside of the south). If we had had minority turnout at 2008 levels, Nancy Pelosi would probably still be speaker of the House.

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that using the term "only" was a little overkill.

Or do you really think that there were no other issues and reasons involved?

:sarcasm:

And actually I think it's more due to the fact that the other party doesn't have a face of opposition. Opposition parties usually poll better when it's "generic R" or "generic D" versus the incumbent of another party rather than when it's actually their candidate versus the incumbent. When the opposition has no face, it's merely a referendum on the incumbent, and usually the incumbent always fails to live up to the absurd expectations they have placed on them when they are inaugurated.

Which is why Dems work on GOTV while Repubs work on suppressing the vote. ACORN, anyone? There is always lower voter turnout in non-Presidential years. But if we really want to to make a difference, we need to GOTV even more for 2012. Not just for the National Elections, but for local elections as well.

In case anyone hasn't heard, State and Local governments have laid off a lot of employees recently which only adds to unemployment and turns our recovery into a double-dip recession. This has to STOP!

better off if a Repug. was in office? REALLY? I am so f'in sick of the President Obama bashing here I could throw up. Come on.... let's remember who got us into this place in the first place. IT WAS BUSH/CHENY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! God I get so sick of this.......

messaging by Obama/Dems....

the GOP had an absurd message on it, but the dems had nothing to counter it. They still don't, imo.

"the fact remains" that, as usual, fewer voters showed up to vote in the off year, especially fewer new voters.