No Wit and the seven dummies

[Gaspar]

Cool.  So it's President Bachmann, then?

PS.  I think Huntsman is going to be a stronger contender than anyone expects at this point.

You may be right.  The candidate/incumbent that will win this election will have the following as part of their position statement, and will have to have some track record of achievement:

1. Private sector job growth.
2. Reduce government spending.
3. An end to now 4 and soon to be 5 wars that are expenditures we do not need.
4. Healthcare reform that represents a reduction in government healthcare spending and lower healthcare costs.
5. Energy independence that focuses on developing existing resources and exploring new technologies.  
6. Immigration reform that respects those who want to come here, and rewards legal immigration with an expedited path to citizenship.

There are a thousand other issues, but these are the balls in play for the majority of voters.  

[TulsaMoon]

These are not the perfect candidates.  Each has various flaws and blunders.  None of these people may actually be THE candidate.

. . .But all of these people would be vastly better than President Obama!

They come to the table with ideas focused on the economy and private sector growth, not a social agenda at the expense of the economy.

I was critical of the "Anyone but Bush" campaign, because it produced president Obama.  I am now convinced that almost anyone willing to work with the private sector and reduce the size of government is a necessary choice for president.

Gaspar, you can't be critical of the " Anyone but Bush " campaign and then yourself say " Anyone of these right leaning people would be better than Obama". You then make yourself no better than the uneducated that voted for Obama because of a slogan.

[Gaspar]

I am curious as to whether President Obama will be able to hold on to much of his voting base. 

While the overall unemployment rate has risen by 1.5% since Obama took office, the rate of unemployment for African-Americans is 3.6% higher.  Seen another way, the gap between the African-American unemployment rate versus that of the entire population has widened from 5.0% when Obama took office to 7.1% as of May 2011.

African-Americans were a very passionate sector of his 2008 support base, voting 96% for the candidate, but it seems they were forced to bear the brunt of his change.

. . .and today, according to CNBC The housing crisis that began in 2006 and has recently entered a double dip is now worse than the Great Depression.  I can't find numbers on this but I would assume it has probably had a profound effect on his base as well.

It seems that President Obama came out of the gate like a thoroughbred pushing his social agenda and stimulus policies but then took a two year vacation.  Except for the occasional military authorization phoned in from the back nine, or the beach, he gave up on the economy.

Now the very people who supported him suffer the most.  Will they double down?

[Gaspar]

Gaspar, you can't be critical of the " Anyone but Bush " campaign and then yourself say " Anyone of these right leaning people would be better than Obama". You then make yourself no better than the uneducated that voted for Obama because of a slogan.

That's my point.  That's what I was saying. . . The "Anyone but Bush" folks had little care for issues or experience, they literally wanted "Anyone but Bush."   We have that now, and the issues still remain.

Now we have a stable of candidates all with stated platforms on issues, and most with significant political and business experience.  It's the diabolical opposite of the coin, and YES based on that it can be established that any of these people would represent a far more competent opportunity for this country.

[RecycleMichael]

You don't know anything about these people who support Obama. Why do you constantly post what they are thinking or doing?

It is a little disturbing that you are always talking about what others think. You seem to constantly want to convince them to agree with you.

When unemployment rates go up, African American unemployment goes up at a higher rate. It doesn't matter that the President is black, white, or brown.  

[Townsend]

You don't know anything about these people who support Obama. Why do you constantly post what they are thinking or doing?

It is a little disturbing that you are always talking about what others think. You seem to constantly want to convince them to agree with you.

When unemployment rates go up, African American unemployment goes up at a higher rate. It doesn't matter that the President is black, white, or brown.  

It won't matter RM.  Every post he makes other than smoker/grilling is so messed up.

He responds to anyone pointing out his foibles or asinine assumptions with "EXACTLY" and then babbles something incoherently.

Just ignore him and hopefully everyone else will as well.

[RecycleMichael]

good idea

[Conan71]

You don't know anything about these people who support Obama. Why do you constantly post what they are thinking or doing?

It is a little disturbing that you are always talking about what others think. You seem to constantly want to convince them to agree with you.

When unemployment rates go up, African American unemployment goes up at a higher rate. It doesn't matter that the President is black, white, or brown.  

You pretend to know what conservatives think so why can't we engage in some pretend as well? 

You miss his point.  He's simply pointing out that the base which resoundingly supported his candidacy seems to be hardest hit by his policies or lack thereof.  It's not a racial issue, he's simply pointing out that was as significant portion of his base and wondering how they will vote.

[RecycleMichael]

No he is not. He is trying to do all he can to attack Obama and now he wants to put words in other people's mouths to do his bidding.

President Obama has done many fine things for his "base". If gaspar and you really think that the majority of black Americans are going to vote for Michelle Bachman or Mitt Romney over Barack Obama, you have lost it as well.

[Gaspar]

No he is not. He is trying to do all he can to attack Obama and now he wants to put words in other people's mouths to do his bidding.

President Obama has done many fine things for his "base". If gaspar and you really think that the majority of black Americans are going to vote for Michelle Bachman or Mitt Romney over Barack Obama, you have lost it as well.

RM, I'm not and I don't.

The post was poised as a question, nothing more.  You seem to be increasingly disturbed by my posts, and I am sorry for that. 

I was hoping to get opinions and analytic discussion on this point.  I invite criticism, and I appreciate when you supply it.  As for Mr. Townsend, please mitigate the need for personal attack.  The idea is to debate the issue, or point of view, not attack the poster on a personal level.  I'm not against the occasional comic jibe, but you seem to be continuously personal with your vitriol.

[Conan71]

No he is not. He is trying to do all he can to attack Obama and now he wants to put words in other people's mouths to do his bidding.

President Obama has done many fine things for his "base". If gaspar and you really think that the majority of black Americans are going to vote for Michelle Bachman or Mitt Romney over Barack Obama, you have lost it as well.

Why is that?  Are you saying they have a racial bias?  

Honestly, all one has to do is look at Detroit to see how little the Obama administration has done to advance black America since he came into power.  More unemployment benefits, more food stamps, more welfare, more Medicaid.  Another generation of slaves to the ruling class of America.  President Obama has no more idea what the average unemployed black family is going through than I have an idea of what the men's locker room looks like at Pebble Beach.  What's become of programs which were supposed to help give minorities better access to capital?  Do you see a clutch of new minority-owned businesses springing up all over as a result of this?  We have a new national museum dedicated to them opening and more monuments and parks, but how's that translating to bettering the day-to-day life of average black Americans?

[Gaspar]

It seems to be that the groups that supported President Obama in general are the ones to suffer the most from his policies or lack thereof.

President Obama received 66% of 18-29 year-old demographic vote, and the unemployment rate for those young people is a little above18%.

70% of voters who earned less than $15,000 per year punched their card for President Obama, and as Ben Bernanke said they have been hit the hardest by continuing unemployment.

So, race aside, it seems that nearly all of the groups that threw their support behind the candidate of Hope & Change seem to be the most damaged.

I wonder if this will make much of a difference in how they vote this time around?

The stagnation of this recession presents many of the same challenges that President Carter faced in his re-election bid in 1980.  The steps necessary to end the recession are painfully obvious to most, yet to take those steps would require admission of failure and opposition of the administration's established philosophical stance.  I may be wrong, but I doubt this president would ever admit a misstep.

[we vs us]

There's nowhere else for African Americans to go for political representation.  Just as there's nowhere else for environmentalists to go.  Just as there's nowhere for unions to go.  If you think the Republican party is somehow offering a competitive vision of the future for these groups I've got a bridge to sell you.  There's  no way that the GOP will steal these people away, no matter how "freedom-oriented" their agenda may be.

You actually make a good point, Gaspar, about how poorly the Hope-n-Change constituency has fared.  While no one's primarying Obama, there's a lot of talk on the left about how responsive -- or not -- the Dem leadership has been, and overall there is a level of dissatisfaction with Obama.  The Hope-n-Change group voted him in in part because he was supposed to be a better communicator and seemed to promise that he would be able to articulate what 21st century American liberalism is.  IMO he was hired to be an idea man as much as a policy wonk.  Also IMO, he hasn't lived up to that billing.  He has NOT articulated that vision thing, and even though he makes stupendous speeches, they aren't connected together into a cohesive whole.  If he could do just that, he would be able to marshall a lot more support than he has.  

But again, there's nowhere to go for the Hope-n-Changers.  The GOP is nearly feral at this point, and is gleefully cutting funds to every little string of the social net it can, while championing the superrich top 1%. They have this interesting election message which they somehow think will be compelling:  times are tough and you deserve all you're getting and more.  Even a lukewarm message from Dems would be preferable.

[Conan71]

Excerpt from an interview with Matt Lauer a few weeks into his presidency.  The clock is ticking.  He saw the writing on the wall from the start.  And then there was the promise to his liberal base on closing Gitmo.  Reality gets in the way of campaign promises sometimes.  Now all that remains to be seen is how genuinely pissed off the people are who voted for him.

"MATT LAUER: At some point will you say, "Wait a minute, we've spent this amount of money. We're not seeing the results. We've got to change course dramatically?"

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Look, I'm at the start of my administration. One nice thing about — the situation I find myself in is that I will be held accountable. You know, I've got four years. And —

MATT LAUER: You're gonna know quickly how people feel —

PRESIDENT OBAMA: — and — and —

MATT LAUER: — about what —

PRESIDENT OBAMA: that's exactly right. And — and, you know, a year from now I think people — are gonna see that — we're starting to make some progress. But there's still gonna be some pain out there. If I don't have this done in three years, then there's gonna be a one-term proposition."

MATT LAUER: Let me go on quickly, if I can, to some other subjects. You signed an executive order in your first week that says you'll close the military detention --

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Right.

MATT LAUER: — center at Guantanamo within a year. So the clock is ticking. And already you've heard the criticism that you don't know what you're gonna do with the 245 prisoners being held there.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: It's the right thing to do. It ultimately will make us safer. You've already seen in the reaction around the world — a different sense of America by us taking this action.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/28975726/ns/today-today_people/t/obama-were-suffering-massive-hangover/

[Conan71]

There's nowhere else for African Americans to go for political representation.  Just as there's nowhere else for environmentalists to go.  

This is 21st century America.  This isn't the 1950's old south.

It takes a lot of hubris to believe that.  What favors have the Democrat party done for them?  They keep them on social programs because they only represent a vote to them.  If they truly cared about the human condition of African Americans, there would be more job opportunities and skills programs, not handouts and incentives to have more children out of wedlock.  Dependence on the government is why so many blacks have little hope of rising into the middle class.

As far as unions, how many jobs have they helped create versus the jobs which go to Mexico or overseas to avoid the high price of union labor?