Renew Deal

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Thu Nov-04-10 11:25 AM
Original message

The election outcome is mostly Obama's fault.

Edited on Thu Nov-04-10 12:18 PM by Renew Deal

Obama made some significant mistakes in his first two years.

1. He did not focus on jobs. He should have been talking about jobs day and night. Talk jobs, pass health care. Talk jobs, pass the fair pay act. Spend every moment talking about jobs. Obama did not do this, so health care and other issues overshadowed jobs.

2. His people miscalculated the economy. Here's a quote from Biden: "The truth is, we and everyone else misread the economy," Biden said. "The figures we worked off of in January were the consensus figures in most of the blue chip indexes out there. ... And so the truth is, there was a misreading of just how bad an economy we inherited. Now, that doesn't — I'm not laying — it's now our responsibility. So the second question becomes, did the economic package we put in place, including the Recovery Act, is it the right package given the circumstances we're in? And we believe it is the right package given the circumstances we're in."

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2009/jul/09/eric-cantor/Cantor-and-other-republicans-say-obama-promised-s

That makes no sense. We were wrong about the problem, but the solution is still correct. That's BS. Obama figured out we needed a second stimulus, but congress people weren't on board for that.

And unfortunately he miscalculated the economy in a very big way. "Back in early January, when Barack Obama was still President-elect, two of his chief economic advisers — leading proponents of a stimulus bill — predicted that the passage of a large economic-aid package would boost the economy and keep the unemployment rate below 8%. It hasn't quite worked out that way. Last month, the jobless rate in the U.S. hit 9.5%, the highest level it has reached since 1983."

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1910208,00.html

3. He brought people on board that were antithetical to his campaign. Summers is, was, and always will be bad news. But Rahm is the real kicker. There are good things about Rahm like his heavy handedness and understanding of the job. But he was a Clintonite that we just spent months arguing was part of the problem.

4. He set himself up for failure with the "bipartisanship" bullshit. It was easy for the republicans to beat him there. All they had to do was not play ball. This was their first real victory. Obama promised to "change the tone." It was a promise he really couldn't control. And the republicans made it a promise that wasn't kept.

5. He did almost nothing to sell his accomplishments. Obama should have spent all of September and October on the campaign trail working for Democrats. Instead he spent it at home. This is HUGE MISCALCULATION! He had people running around all over the country talking about how terrible he is and he didn't defend himself. Now compare that with JFK:

"As the 1962 election campaign started, early indications were that the year would be a good one for Republicans. Although Democrats held a strong majority in both houses, the Kennedy administration could not count on a working majority on many of the major domestic legislative issues it sought, ranging from Medicare to a farm bill and Civil Rights legislation. Southern Conservative Democrats--especially influential committee chairs in the House--could not be counted on to share and support the administration's agenda. Seeking a more reliable majority, Kennedy urged voters to give the Democrats just a few more seats, arguing that it could make the difference for passage of controversial legislation on social issues like Medicare, public works, and mass transit. Echoing arguments he had made forcefully during his own election campaign two years previously, at a July 23 press conference, Kennedy painted Congressional Republicans as negative and unimaginative on domestic issues. But as the campaign progressed, prospects for the Democrats were widely seen as improving, raising the prospect of bucking the traditional midterm Congressional losses for the party that held the White House."

http://whitehousetapes.net/exhibit/jfk-lbj-midterm-elections-1962-and-1966

I cannot overstate how much of a mistake it was for Obama not to follow the same path. Obama chose a more distanced, apathetic, strategy. Obama has gotten too comfortable in the WH. He doesn't want to be on the campaign trail and I understand that, but it was at the cost of his Democratic majorities.

6. Jobs! Jobs! Jobs! Jobs! Jobs! Jobs! Jobs! Jobs! Obama and his people should have spent every moment talking about jobs. EVERY FUCKING MOMENT! Am I repeating myself? Yes. Get it now?

There's more blame to go around. The republicans also deserve credit for taking advantage of the power vacuum that Obama left.

So what is Obama going to do now? Based on yesterdays press conference it sounds like Obama is going to spend the next year getting punched in the face until he pulls a Harry Reid and fights back for HIMSELF. The republicans are not his friend. He should concentrate on jobs and smashing them. People don't care about "bi-partisanship" and filibusters. They care about winning. It's time to figure that out! :argh:

The election outcome is mostly Obama's fault.

THE JOBS ARE GONE! THERE. ARE. NO. JOBS!