How effed up ARE we when we can't appreciate Obama? Well according to Canadians....

[Stevepol]

114. I have to take issue.

I don't believe that either Warren or Bernie has lambasted Obama. In fact, every time I've heard Bernie speak he has taken great pains to applaud what Obama has done under the most extraordinary opposition faced perhaps by any Dem president in history. And I don't believe Elizabeth Warren has been highly critical of Obama either. That's not to say that they haven't made clear their own policy preferences.

I don't know all of what each of these people has said, but I know there are things that I wish Obama had done and not done. I am one of those who has criticized Obama's elevation of Timothy Geitner, for example. To my mind, that is deserved criticism. Geitner was one of those responsible for the financial crisis and to give him more power in dealing with the crisis was unbelievable to me. And like any human being I'm sure there are a myriad of other things that Obama could be criticized for.

But overall, who in the country could have done a better job than Obama has done?? I think he's one of the best presidents of the last 40 years. But that doesn't mean I have to hold blinders over my eyes where I see places where I feel he has failed to address a problem or has been short-sighted or whatnot.

And I also believe that the failure of Democratic candidates to state the facts of Obama's many successes is one of the biggest reasons the candidates lost. As much as I admired Grimes in KY, I have to say I'm glad she's hopefully not going to running for anything else. If she had kicked out the consultants giving her bad advice, I really think she would have beaten McConnell. When the young and the poor and the weak vote, they have to be inspired by somebody who will work to address their needs and who will not run away from facts highly favorable to the Democratic Party. These candidates who hung their heads and tried to avoid praising Obama or his (highly successful) policies should have their heads examined.

But please don't make the progressives out to be the enemy. If the Dems win in 2016, it will be because of the values espoused AND LOUDLY PRAISED (not ignored and damned by faint praise) by the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.