Pres­i­den­tial re­elec­tions are ref­er­en­dums on the in­cum­bent no mat­ter how much you may wish oth­er­wise. They are cer­tainly not choices be­tween the the pres­i­den­tial can­di­date of one party and the gov­er­nor of another.

I sure as hell chose between the Presidential candidate of one party and the GOVERNOR of another in 2008.

Health care reform is wildly popular and always has been. Stop pretending it isn’t. Almost every serious difficulty involved in passing it came from the absolute Republican refusal to play ball and active Republican attempts to smear the concept.

Bart,

I thought 2010 was about a low-turnout midterm and a far-right Republican base energized to incredible levels by the GOP’s absolute opposition to the Administration. I’m sure Shiloh can provide relevant statistics.

By your standard George W. Bush was in the wrong to order the Surge. What was that idea polling in 2006, like 30%? A democracy is a popularity contest on election day — I quite fail to see why you’re backing Bill Clinton’s practice of looking at the polling for everything before taking any action.

Like I said, good leaders often need to take that hard right over the popular wrong… and I’m channeling George W. Bush here.

Why should I believe you now as your predictions are iffy at best …

Unless the economy undergoes a Reagan 1984 level recovery, the answers to your questions are yes, yes, yes and maybe.

Presidential reelections are referendums on the incumbent no matter how much you may wish otherwise. They are certainly not choices between the the presidential candidate of one party and the governor of another.

Is Obama gonna lose FL in 2012?

Rick Scott job approval 29%!

Is Obama gonna lose OH in 2012?

Kasich job approval 38%!

Is Obama gonna lose WI in 2012?

Scott Walker’s job approval 43%!

Is Obama gonna lose MI in 2012?

Rick Snyder job approval 33%!

etc. etc.

btw, in the 2010 mid-term wave election for Reps Rick Scott got 49% in FL and Kasich got 49% in OH.

Also, in that Rep wave election, Reid won in NV and Bennet won in CO, so Obama should do well in those purple to blue states …

One May poll by PPP found that in a hypothetical rematch between former Governor Strickland and Governor Kasich, Kasich would lose by 25 points.

>

Oh yea, there was a recent referendum special election in NY-26 heavily conservative district about Reps wanting to eliminate Medicare. The Dem won!

Did I mention elections come down to choices and the recent elections of several Rep governors appears to be good news for Obama …

take care, blessings

Armchair Warlord:

Bart,
Your con­tention that the President’s poli­cies are un­pop­u­lar is non-​​factual.

See 2010.

Fur­ther­more lead­er­ship is not a pop­u­lar­ity con­test. As a for­mer of­fi­cer you should know this as well as I do. The Ex­ec­u­tive is of­ten called upon to make the tough de­ci­sions that the Leg­is­la­ture, by de­sign, lacks the spine to.

My friend, we thankfully do not live under a military junta. A democracy by definition is a popularity contest.

A leader is supposed to convince people their ideas are worth following.…not sit around and expect people to follow them out of sheer “bipartisanship”. If you make your case for HC reform over many months.….yet no Republican comes to follow you and public opinion lessens for your ideas.….at some point either your ideas or your leadership are to blame and not that people won’t follow.

Your contention that the President’s policies are unpopular is non-factual.

Furthermore leadership is not a popularity contest. As a former officer you should know this as well as I do. The Executive is often called upon to make the tough decisions that the Legislature, by design, lacks the spine to.

Armchair Warlord:

Obama’s prob­lem is not that he’s a bad leader. Quite the con­trary. It’s that Re­pub­li­cans in gov­ern­ment refuse to fol­low him.

We are supposed to be a representative democracy with a government implementing the will of the people.

Presidential leadership is first and foremost persuading the American people to support your policies. If a President accomplishes that, a bipartisan majority of Congress will follow.

Obama’s problem was that he failed to convince the American people to support his policies and instead the voters increasing opposed his policies and the GOP as well as many Dems followed their constituents.

And your deflection is duly noted as fili was talking about “your” words and not Rev. Wright’s.

Did I mention you’re full of poppycock!