Re: Obama XX: Maybe We'll Even Talk About Obama
Bingo...there is no compromise at this point. The loony side of both parties has taken foothold.
And Bob...not one liberal would agree with you on whether Obama has been a "good little liberal". He may be left of you and the people you support but he is nowhere near as to the left as Clinton was...he isnt even as far to the left as HE was in '08. If expanding government is all it takes to be a lefty then there hasnt been a true Righty since before Reagan. (and your mention of the gays is hilarious since they have been attacking him almost since day one about gay marraige and DADT and his promises he has yet to keep there)
My take on Obama's leftiness is that he had every intention of being very left, his initial efforts were left...he got a lot of pushback, the economy has not repaired, he used up a lot of capital to get healthcare approved, we weren't able to get out of Irate-istan quickly etc. and he had to swerve back to the center. Maybe 'had' is too strong of a word, but the mid-term election was not the affirmation of his efforts he probably expected when he embarked.
It is pretty easy to always bet the 'middle' when it comes to presidential performance in ther first term...no rightie is as right as those people want him to be and no lefty is as left as those people want him to be. Re-election, especially if the original election had some emotion to it (be it war, recession, the last guy was sleeping with an intern etc.)could generate the appearance of a MANDATE. That tends to fade into a far less decisive advantage as events conspire against the original blueprint for the revolution.
So, Obama is getting some experience in re-election, something he has never had to do before...I think that tends to bring out the middle in most presidents...if he wins re-election he will spend that second term trying to 'cement his legacy', or whatever stupid term the media uses, by returning to his left roots...as long as that effort doesn't completely guarantee the opponents crush his party in the next election. (see Bush, G W)
It is far more predictable than most admit.
So, if Obama wins two terms and by the end of his second things aren't going well then the righties will win, declare a mandate, declare that the people have spoken, declare that elections have consequences etc. Righties will declare the left party irrelevant...they will make a bunch of stupid decisions to act on the mandate, they will lose traction, move to the middle for fear of losing the white house, win 4 more years, run us onto a different shoal than the last guys did, lose the next election, the lefties will declare it was a mandate...you get the idea.
If nothing else it keeps the message boards busy.
