2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Obama Campus Fervor Losing to Apathy as Students Sour on 2012 [View all]freud101
(4 posts)Like you, my views have changed somewhat as time has passed. I was a strong Reagan supporter, especially in his first election against Carter. A lot of what Reagan did needed doing...back then. He said that government was the problem. It certainly can be when it gets oppressive. But he didn't really hate the government It's a question of balance. There is a limited range during which the Laffler curve works. If taxes are oppressively high, they kill off business. But they can also be too low. There is a point beyond which you get very little stimulus by further cutting taxes. Private enterprise does many things better than government, but certainly not everything. The right wingers are saying that everyone who supports any other government function aside from the military is a socialist. That's ridiculous. I've been called a socialist by right wingers for supporting positions that almost certainly would have been supported by Reagan. I've been a free enterprise supporter all my life. If Reagan came back they would probably call him a socialist.
I think that Barack Obama is, in many ways, a conservative...at least by your definition. He tries to find a win-win solution that preserves the good parts of both sides of a debate without causing destruction. But this works best when the other side actually is interested in negotiating with you rather than in destroying you. Initially he gave his opponents far too much credit and they took advantage of his generosity. But I think he has made a strong comeback and he is doing pretty well now.
I am hoping and praying that Obama wins a second term. If we also can give him a Democratic majority in both Houses, I believe he will use it more effectively this time.