"Why won’t Obama voters `break up’ with him?" by Greg Sargent at WP

[johnlucas]

22. In time I have come to see that your point of view is correct

In 2010, I was so angry at Obama I didn't vote in the 2010 elections.
I gave up on politics altogether.
I tuned out of anything Obama or political.
I barely posted in DU from then to 2011.

I said if you want a job done right, do it yourself.
And I just planned to save my money & figure out a way to change the course of discussion in this country.
I knew media was the key. I knew that even before I fell out with Obama.

Then news came that Osama Bin Laden was killed.
I'm like whoa wait a minute. That means these wars will finally end & the money can come back to the domestic plane.
Osama's death woke me up.

And from that time to now I have muted my anger at Obama for punting on certain political fights & extending what Bush has done.
I'm still not happy about it but he keeps showing me signs that his 2nd term might be different than his 1st.

I'm 36 & I have lived under this Reaganomics crap for all of my life.
Ever since I was a little boy I wanted that political philosophy dead & buried.
I knew it was bad way back then.
So I wanted so bad for it to be gone that I lost patience with the Democrats who seem to roll over for that crap time & time again.
I had hope that Obama would begin the change in that party to make them fight for what is right.
And when he played those halfway games too I was like there's nobody in politics who will get this done.
Why won't they kill Reaganomics? It's been too long! Destroy this nonsense & let's get back to FDR/JFK.

But subtly Obama HAS been changing the Democrats.
They Rope-A-Doped the Republicans into embarrassing themselves with the Tea Party crap, with the Birther crap, with that insane Paul Ryan "kill the New Deal" policy, with the mindless obstructionist crap.
Now I'm looking at a Republican Party that is going extreme trying to hang on to that fading Southern Strategy.
The Democrats are no longer seen as weak on defense.
I see independents looking more favorably to Obama.
That coalition is finally crumbling!!!

Obama didn't have to bark & bite. He used the soft touch.
In time those bad policies can be reversed or revised.
The whole time you see a cool-headed President asking to work with the other side to solve problems for the country.
They don't see bitter partisanship from him. He's putting country ahead of party.

I will NEVER AGAIN fail to vote. EVEN if I don't fully believe in the candidates.
My cynicism will only go as far as saying voting is like a lotto ticket. Just play it & you might win. If not well, that's the odds.

I still believe in Barack Obama to be a Strong Progressive President. His background shows me that it is within him.
I KNEW he would do right by the Gays. I KNEW it. I never bought into that "my views are evolving" crap.
He was doing the same thing Lincoln did when it came to the slavery issue.
Buying time with political cover & then pushing forward with he righteous agenda.

You gotta work with what you got.
Change HAS come & more Change is coming if we keep marching Forward.
I don't like his capitulation but I believe ultimately he will do what's right for this country in the long run.

In time I have come to see that your point of view is correct, Drunken Irishman.
John Lucas