African American
In reply to the discussion: I had an interesting discussion the other day ... [View all]JonLP24
(29,929 posts)your sample was too small to trust.
Look at exit polls and see the over '50 and who they voted for and the under '50 and who they voted for to get a better idea of "idealism of youth", "urgency of now", and "conservatism that comes with age." From my understanding those that are over '50 have the more positive view of Obama when overall that clearly isn't the case.
As far as your question, I can't answer. To know if Obama is doing what is doing or laying a foundation for what is possible later I couldn't the answer the question with any certainty without guessing his motivations. I rate him based on an issue-by-issue basis, there are issues where he clearly is doing what he only can do(roadblocks by blue dogs and Republicans), issues where he can do more, and issues where he made the wrong decision. As far as ACA, it could lead to better legislation down the road and is better than nothing but wasn't a fan(not because it wasn't single-payer, the requirement to purchase from private insurance firms). I classify ACA as "doing what he can only do" though I felt he could have negotiated it better.
Overall I think he is doing a good job. There are others I'd rather have but from the Big 3 from '08, (Obama, Clinton, and Edwards). I would vote for Obama again.
I noticed a post mentioning DU and generational divide I found interesting. I've noticed a lot of posts saying DU is not representative of the real world which I agree but not for reasons some here might not think. Look at stories that are not political, you'll see wide ranges of opinions that I've found elsewhere. The biggest stories here are often the biggest stories discussed other places online or on network news. How DUers generally feel about the stories are similar to those in the real world. Obviously stories w/ a political bent will get an overall different reaction here than the real world.
I think the major areas DU is not representative of is primarily the younger crowd & non-whites based on non-scientific polls conducted here. When it comes to how DU compares to the real world referencing younger people, you won't find many posts here that deal w/ hobbies & interests that today's youth are currently interested in. Such as video games, current musical artists, & shows targeted for the demographic.
If you're curious, I'm under 30, some college, & dirt poor.