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When running against Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan asked the American people if they were better off than they were four years ago. The phrase perfectly summarized in the most basic terms how democracy often winds up working. When things are going well, you don’t break what is working, but when things are going bad, it makes sense to try something new.
If Romney were to ask voters in swing states that same question this year, he would receive a clear no. According to Gallup 56 percent of voters in swing states say they are not better off than they were when Obama took office, while only 40 percent think they are. From Gallup:
This is why despite Romney’s clear weakness as a candidate and the GOP’s brand problems, Obama still has a possibility of losing. To many it appears he failed the most basic test of a leader, making things better.
19 Comments
As much as I dislike Dubya, I have to admit that I did a lot better during his presidency.
It would be interesting to see the responses to a slightly more nuanced question, e.g. better/worse/about the same. For a lot of people I think this election is shaping up to be No Better And No Prospect Of Better vs. Maybe Even Worse.
No EFCA vote, no NAFTA revisit, no perp walk for a single Lord of Finance, money still on the table to write down mortgage principals, but lil Timmy is pouting and saying no, the Surveillance State, etc., etc.
Exactly what substantive positive reason has Obama given me to vote for him?
Sadly, Romney may have just done with the selection of the zombie-eyed granny starver. Unless I select the Bring-on-the-Crazy strategy (if it must get worse before it gets better, then the sooner worse happens, the better), in which case, Romney-Ryan is an E ticket to ride!
Sigh.
I have done better under Obama not that i approve of how he’s done. At least i have a job, wretched as the pay is (thank you reagan for starting the whole off-shoring/union-busting/hostile-takeover-&-bust-up-a-good-company bullshit). Under bush … unemployed. Under Romney-ryan? no job, no retirement, no medical care, definitely worse off.
Obama is pushing through the top secret
Trans Pacific Pact – a.k.a. NAFTA on steroids.
Prepare for more off-shoring nastiness to come…
more on the TPP fyi:
http://systemicdisorder.wordpress.com/2012/08/01/trans-pacific-partnership-trade-pact-more-draconian-than-nafta/
excerpt:
Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact more draconian than NAFTA
Aug1 by Systemic Disorder
By Pete Dolack
Imagine a world in which which labor safeguards, safety rules and environmental regulations will be struck down because a multi-national corporation’s profits might be affected. A world in which measures to reign in financial speculation are illegal. A world in which the task of governments, codified in law, is to maximize corporate profits.
Imagine a world in which corporations can bypass national laws and courts when they are in a dispute with a government, and instead can have their dispute adjudicated by a closed tribunal controlled by their lawyers.
Unfortunately, the above is not dystopian science fiction; it is the reality of the top-secret Trans-Pacific Partnership. If you like NAFTA, you will love the TPP.
Perhaps most of us will learn the lesson that the President is not the only one responsible for the state of the country. Yes, we’re worse off than we were before Obama, but it’s hard to credit him with the majority of the blame which belongs almost solely to elected and appointed Republicans in Congress, the Senate and the Supreme Court.
Obama may be an immoral, murdering turd, but Romney bodes a far greater death total not only abroad but here. I’m faced, again, with a choice between evils, which if made is a vote for evil. Tolstoy may be right; I may have to abstain from supporting this corrupt system by refusing to participate at all. Is it impossible for a decent human being to run for office?
The Reptiles / Repubs. want us to believe that this selection ( I no longer dignify these events as elections) will all be boiled down to the Reagan and Clinton equations. ( “Are you better off then 4 yrs. ago” or “It’s the economy stupid”) I don’t think so. Neither of those two found themselves in the middle of a deep Depression when they said those phrases. Plus, even in both those selections neither one of them got elected in a landslide. Obama certainly hasn’t lived up the extremely high expectations he was saddled with from day 1. On the other hand voters are being asked do they want to return to the Reptilian polices of the BV$H /Reagan eras. Progressives might not like Obama and I one of them, but given the choices is there a choice? We live in a Corporatist duopoly that’s our reality.
Indeed, the corporatist duopoly is our reality.
The legacy parties will be fine whether we enable them,
or whether we just ‘give up’ as you suggest.
What if everyone who is disgusted voted Green instead of
skipping the selection charade?
It might at least ‘represent’ us.
It might show everyone who is disenfranchised by the duopoly
that we have a voice that we can build on.
Obama won in 2008 on the mandate -”don’t be Bush.”
Something he failed miserably at.
Now he is running for re-election on the platform – “not Romney.”
Wonder what his second term will be like…
Plus they’re all sick to death of being called racists.
http://youtu.be/XK9jV8agH0c
But…but…Lilly Ledbetter!
Ha ha :)
I have a gut feeling Romney will win this election despite what the polls are showing. Not that it matters for me who’s voting for Jill regardless.
I’m probably slightly better off now than 4 years ago, but I wouldn’t give Obama any credit.
On the other hand, he’d be perfectly happy to take it from me. “You didn’t do that”.
A multi-pronged strategy is necessary as one is dealing with a system of many elements that have to come together for improvement. Voting is one of those elements and “red” or “blue” isn’t the only choice. Take a look at this ballot access map, read the post “I will vote in November,” and in particular note this comment by Cynthia Kouril.
I guess it’s hard to recall but September, 2008 was the middle of the biggest economic disaster since 1929.
I mean, seriiously, this is more an “Are you a moran?” test than a real opinion one.
And we flunked.
Hard to believe theres anything left to offshore. {{{weeps}}}
(weeping here, too).
This TPP thing is a nightmare.
There are still some union jobs that could be done better and cheaper off-shore