*(Via NY Times) – Americans are usually forgiving when they vote a man into the White House and he wants a second term. Of the last eight elected presidents, all but two – George H. W. Bush and Jimmy Carter – got their four more years.
Which is why the conventional wisdom long held that Barack Obama would most likely weather his mid-presidency slump to win another term.
Then came the debt-ceiling debates of July and August, which seemed to crystallize Obama’s vulnerabilities in a way that even the Democrats’ midterm disaster of 2010 did not.
It’s probably because he handled the situation so poorly, simultaneously managing to annoy his base, frustrate swing voters, concede a major policy victory to Republicans and – through the fear imported into the market by the brinksmanship in Congress and the credit-rating downgrade that followed – further imperil the economic recovery.
On Aug. 12, a week and a half after the debate ended in Congress, Obama’s stock on Intrade, a popular political betting market, dipped below 50 percent for the first time. It has hovered just below the 50 percent threshold, usually at about 48 percent, ever since.
Read/learn more of this story by Nate Silver at NY Times.com.
I don’t think he’s toast but he surely has an uphill battle ahead of him next year. Key will be making sure the public really understands that it has been the RepubliKKKans stiffing the american people without coming across as finger pointing or whining!
In normal political times, he would be “toast,” given his striking lack of leadership, but these are not normal political times, and the reality is the only Republican running who could actually handily beat Obama–Jon Huntsman–is d.o.a. in the primaries, so signs point to Obama as continuing his streak as one of the luckiest politicians ever…the same politician who got to run against the idiot loon Alan Keyes in Illinois, then the fossil and the fluke McCain and Palin, and now the slick slimeball Romney or the Bush sound-a-like Perry (no way cowboy wanna Cain is still standing come next year).
The only other possiblity–what would ideally happen–is an independent dark horse emerges, who blows the election up, and gives people the alternative they are currently seeking instead of being forced to vote for evil and evil-er like they seemingly have to do right now. The chances of an independent gaining traction, of course, is almost nil. So um yeah, in conclusion, Obama is not “toast,” no matter how much he deserves to be.
Yeah, Obama’s fate will be left up to the Republicans.
With the present Republican pack of Romney, Perry, Cain, Gingrich … Obama’s re-election is almost certain.
But there is still time for a game changer. Say a Jeb Bush.
And with so much Republicans back in control of the country by virtue of the last mid-term, that would almost be certain victory. They now got the ID laws going, and they still have all those other schemes used to steal votes in 2004. They also cutting back drastically on early voting, a feature utilized mainly by Democrats.
They can also thank Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi for sleeping on anti-fraud legislation when they had the chance to do something.
Yeah, them Republicans get someone they love like Jeb Bush, along with all those schemes at their disposal, and Obama is definitely toast.
I agree Pres Obama does have a bit of a uphill battle to win re-election with all of the problems in our country and some neither side is willing to find common ground as to help find solutions. We will just have to wait and see what happens. Looking at the candidates on the GOP side I see our country still in bad shape regardles of who the GOP nominee is and if they should succeed to the WH. None of them have any ideas/plans that will be fair to every american and not just the chose few ( wealthy). IMO..
Wow!
Banks made more money the first two and a half years under Obama than the entire eight years under Bush.
“New government data shows profits for America’s largest financial firms are once again reaching record highs not seen sense before the financial crisis of 2008.
In fact, Wall Street firms have earned more in the first two and a half years of the Obama presidency than all 8 years of the Bush presidency. Over 85 billion dollars in profits compared to 77 billion.”
So how will occupy Wall Street react?
Does this mean Obama is toast.
So elect someone else and start the free fall all over again with them do people really think that because you change one person in the goverment that the whole thing will come together and we will all hold hands ikn 2013 and everyday the sun will shine because President Obama is not in office? OK. Then don’t give him another term elect one of those idiots that are trying to run against him and then LIVE WITH THE CONSEQUENCES that’s all we can do right????? Whats the solution?
President Obama absolutely has my vote for next year’s election. Brothers and sisters, it is simple. Can President Obama expect your vote next year? If not, just whom will you vote for? If you choose not to vote in next year’s election at all, why would you comment at all or complain? Be proactive people.