The Next Two Years: Predicting an Obama Future
The next two years, more than the last two even, depend on President Barack Obama. While conservatives and fiscal hawks pin their hopes on the newly elected House members to trim the Federal government, nothing will happen if President Obama vetoes.
Hopefully, the House will put forth bold legislation that the corpulent Democratic Senators will be forced to eat because they face re-election and thus put the pressure on President Obama. But more likely, the Senators will start screaming about how children will be harmed and how Republicans hate babies and puppies. This will give President Obama space to preen and dither.
Preen and dither–that’s been President Obama m.o. for the last two years and it has worked remarkably well. For all the failure that has been a mark of his presidency thus far, he’s still has 48% approval according to Rasmussen.
Rusty Weiss has a good piece on President Obama’s failures but I disagree with his conclusion [please go read the whole thing]:
And unlike former President Bill Clinton’s shift to the center during his tenure, Obama’s backroom successes and polarizing failures will only result in a perpetual downturn in his approval rating. His recent ceding of the podium to Clinton seems to indicate an acceptance of this fate.
How does this explain 48% of the country still approving of the president? A good percentage will never leave his side, so probably 25% of his approval is solid no matter. But what about the other half?
Remember Bill Clinton?
Bill Clinton was the cheating, authority-abusing, intern-molesting miscreant who occupied the Oval Office before George W. Bush cleaned the place up. Bill Clinton destroyed the women’s movement in one stroke of the cigar by revealing that special interest group as an empty leftist cause. But no matter, he retained approval ratings that a squeaky-clean GW could envy.
Why should Barack Obama be any different? People still like him, and more importantly, want to like him.
Sure, he’ll be clumsier than Bill Clinton. But then, he won’t be humping the staff, either. He will just bumble around the White House being the same old President Obama–seeking to offend no one, seeking to keep everyone happy, and irritating everyone but not being so repugnant that he’ll tip everyone to his apathy and emptiness.
President Obama excels at obfuscation. It’s how he’s succeeded and will continue to succeed. How?
1. He’ll look good.
2. He’ll sound smart.
3. He’ll smile broadly.
4. He’ll dither and people will believe he’s thinking things over.
In short, he’ll do what he’s done so far. People elected President Obama because of these traits. Just like American voters knew what they were getting with President Clinton, people know what they’re getting with President Obama. And they like him. Enough. For now.
The most disconcerting and difficult thing about President Obama is that he’s all over the road. It’s challenging to predict where he’s going. It’s tough to know what he believes. This uncertainty makes it very challenging for people to make decisions.
The new Congress will, hopefully, force the President to choose. Although, more likely, the Obama Administration’s many agencies will continue to usurp power and force Congress to put out all the many petty, vindictive, and industry-killing forest fires.
President Obama manages to make it seem like he’s not responsible for all the flakiness. People who pay attention, even those on the left, are somewhat aghast at the president’s indifference, but people who don’t pay attention, notice it less.
The next two years, will be much like the last two years. There will be blaming and hating the game and shameless demonization and self-promotion.
The best thing a patriotic American can do for these next two years? Work hard to unseat the current crop of evil Senators on both sides of the aisle. The biggest hope for change America has today doesn’t reside in the Oval Office, but in the smelly halls of Congress.
I’ll write more on that in another post. But for today, I wouldn’t pin my hopes on President Obama changing or on his ouster in 2012. It could happen, but history and human psychology are in his favor. People don’t like change. And they don’t like believing they made a huge mistake when it comes to their presidential choice.
For better or worse, we’re married to President Obama. The relationship will be frustrating, enigmatic and unsure. Just like him.
UPDATED:
All I have to say to Ace is this: 48%.
Every word Rusty and then Ace wrote was 100% true. And STILL the President has 48% of the electorate in his hip pocket. How can this be?
It can be because the people want to like the President. They want him to be good. Most of all, they want to be right.
They don’t want the ultimate truth, that President Obama is actually a lazy moron, to be true. And so, they’ll play a giant game of “let’s pretend” just like they did with Bill Clinton.
I want to be wrong. I like Ace’s optimism. But it’s Ace’s own words that make me worry. Liberalism is the default position.
If the economy perks up a bit. If the Republicans don’t make every right move. If the press succeeds in selling the Rebound Kid narrative about Barack Obama…
If. If. If. President Obama wins. Handily. Mark my words.*
*I want to be wrong.
- Melissa Clouthier's blog
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Comments
People don't want to face the truth
Submitted by jon_torlin on Tue, 12/28/2010 - 7:35pm.
That 48% is full of people who do not want to face the truth. Not all of them, but a lot of them. All this nonsense about "wanting to like him, wanting him to succeed," etc etc is what it is, NON-SENSE! He has not changed one iota since usurping the office. If anything, he's just getting started and since this is predicting the next two years, try this:
He's going to tighten his clutches on the country any way he can.
Many of us on here have known from DAY ONE of finding out about him, some sooner than others, that he's got the mindset of a dictator but with the help of his compatriots, it's made to look somewhat like an incompetent. It's all right there for anyone to see. It's also in history for anyone to see.
But people apparently have not learned it from what we see in that 48%.
So here's my message:
STOP KIDDING YOURSELVES AND WAKE THE HELL UP!!!
This country is in grave danger and I don't say this lightly. This bogus administration is doing whatever the hell it wants, Congress and Court Justices be damned! Look at what DHS is doing, look at what FCC is doing, look at what EPA is doing, on and on and on. It's right out of Hitler's playbook. CobraMan says here what everyone should be asking as an example but should be applied to all those other things.(H/T CobraMan!) As I said, Congress and Court Justices be damned.
Where does the line get drawn?
-Jon
Obama has his 48% because
Submitted by MidAmerica on Tue, 12/28/2010 - 8:10pm.
Obama has his 48% because besides his core True Believers there is a large per centage of the population that just doesn't think, they feel.
It's these people the media and the democrats manipulate all the time with what seems to us as silly (or stupid) arguments or statements.
Ever watch daytime TV and not get a little scared by the responses and reactions of audience members? Do you think the viewers of The View are skilled in critical thinking? There is a large mass of sheeple out there who form their opinions based on what their chosen group or the groups icon is choosing. Oprah can deliver a lot of people to obama because she has a large flock of sheeple.
What?
Submitted by tampamom25 on Tue, 12/28/2010 - 8:23pm.
None of that 48% live anywhere near me, I can tell you that much. You can stop people you don't even know in the aisles of WalMart and ask it they like Obama and the glare you get will just about knock you over. They're scraping those Obama/Biden bumper stickers off for fear someone will bump their car in the rear at a stoplight! Sadly, there are those who form their opinions by watching The View and those are the ones who still support this sad, pathetic administration that continues to bobble-head its way through the White House, doing nothing worthwhile, saying nothing noteworthy, golfing and vacationing. Who knew we were signing on for four years of Barack and Michelle's Great Adventure? Or maybe it's National Lampoon present Barack and Michelle: On the Road Again. Whatever it is, if 48% of the people really support it, it's a really bad indictment of the mentality of 48% of our country.......
Perhaps its SKYNET like in
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Wed, 12/29/2010 - 5:11am.
Perhaps its SKYNET like in teh terminator?
The wild card Melissa...
Submitted by bkeyser on Tue, 12/28/2010 - 8:53pm.
is the economy.
The difference between the 08' election and the '12 election will be Obama himself. He will have a record. It will be verifiable and memorable. And all the hopey-changey, happy-days-are-here-again rhetoric won't change the fact that we'll still be looking at 8.5% unemployment and consumer confidence at stagnant lows. People will vote their pocketbook.
We'll also be two years closer to the full implementation of ObamaCare, and folks will be feeling the effects. Some of those waivers for unions will have to be pulled and those cadillac plans either dumped or cost spiked. Gitmo will still be open and in business. We may have suffered another terrorist attack that cost lives. Gas may be $4.50/gal. Home prices will still be 30% or more below their peak. We'll still be in Afghanistan. And Obama will have had two years of total control followed by another two years maintaining the Senate.
Four years of utter failure. No president survives that. Bill Clinton wouldn't have. Ronald Reagan wouldn't have. And Barack Obama won't.
Screw Obama
Submitted by GregE on Tue, 12/28/2010 - 10:05pm.
Did ya'll know this is in the healthscare law?
http://www.heartland.org/full/29036/PhysicianOwned_Hospitals_Fire_Back_a...
Now all libs please explain to me why this would be any issue whatsoever, except for the fact (that so many people do not know, or are in favor of) that it is just one more thing that gets in the way of a full blown government run healthcare system.
Obama's vision of America
Submitted by HelenS on Tue, 12/28/2010 - 10:17pm.
There is a delightful website called "Dark Roasted Blend" and there is a very disturbing series of pictures there called "Siberian Ghost Cities Scare".
I can't help but wonder why he wants this for us!?
Me - "The libs/dems of today are the Quislings of former years - the cowards who would vote a fraud into office in exchange for handouts from the devil."
Amazing
Submitted by GregE on Tue, 12/28/2010 - 10:43pm.
and yes very disturbing pictures.
EXCELLENT!
Submitted by GregE on Tue, 12/28/2010 - 10:53pm.
Check out this article.......
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/12/the_missing_link_in_the_evolut.html
Agree
Submitted by HelenS on Wed, 12/29/2010 - 10:48am.
This is indeed a brilliant article. One I am moved to share broad and wide with people I know.
The "Manchurian Candidate" title particularly resonates.
Me - "The libs/dems of today are the Quislings of former years - the cowards who would vote a fraud into office in exchange for handouts from the devil."
Obama's (and Our) Future
Submitted by Chris Norman on Wed, 12/29/2010 - 1:42am.
I think the fluctuating approval ratings of between 40% and 50% is the result of the spin the media is giving him - the dishonest "comeback kid" crap, etc. It's not enough to make him popular with such a horrible economic climate, but enough to nudge him up slightly with the easily influenced. Will it be enough in the future to get him re-elected? That depends as Mr. Keyser says, on the economy. If unemployment starts edging down, despite the heavy drag his policies have put on the economy, the media spin for him might just be enough to do the dirty job of making it look like his plans worked. If the economy stays stale and stagnant and with gas prices creeping up and staying there, I don't think all the media spin in the world will help him - he'll be like Jimmy Carter on steroids. It also depends on who the Republicans nominate. If the nominee turns out to be Reaganesque - Obama will be Jimmy Carter. If the nominee is another Bob Dole, then Obama will be Bill Clinton. Please, let the GOP nominee be Reaganesque for all our sakes.
I think what the Republicans
Submitted by Ruths husband Ben on Wed, 12/29/2010 - 8:28am.
I think what the Republicans do is more important than what Obama does. He cannot change who he is, but the new blood in the Republican camp (tea-partiers, libertarians, real conservatives) can change the party. The old guard has to allow it to happen (they won't) or the new blood has to force it to happen (remains to be seen). But if the Republican party can stand for limited constituional government which is fiscally conservative and speaks to the morals of the flyover states (like mine, Missouri) they can take the whole shooting match in 2012. In order to demonstrate this to the American people, they need to bring forward legislation which does exactly that regardless of what the Senate or Obama does (i.e., veto). If they don't or won't, if they continue with "the art of the possible" definition of politics rather than doing what is right, they don't deserve it.
Dear Melissa
Submitted by NewHampshire on Wed, 08/17/2011 - 10:52pm.
When you describe Bill Clinton it sounds just like Rick Perry.