Obama Failure Thread Part IV

Not a failure per se ... I'm pondering Obama's strategy of co-opting Republican heroes. Today's Republicans wouldn't have voted for Lincoln. Today's Republicans would have called Ronald Reagan a socialist. Today's Republicans wouldn't have voted for Teddy Roosevelt.

I don't quite know what to make of that strategy, I can't remember the like. It must infuriate the Republican base. But while I'm sure Obama does enjoy pissing them off, that can't be the reason for the strategy.

 

Gotta be aimed at "Reagan Democrats."

There are probably a lot of moderates from both parties and some true independents who look at the current republican party and can't figure out how they got here. Obama's telling them that it is okay to dump the party since the party moved so far to the right

 

Yeah you're right, that's it. He's saying I'm the true heir of Reagan, he was a compromising centrist just as I am. Come to me baby. Come to me.

 

Mix with the narrative that Obama caved in to everything the GOP wanted on spending cuts last summer but was rebuffed on $800 billion in tax increases, or spent six months trying to get their approval on the health care law, and you've got a President who has basically tried it their way and is now saying they are too far to the right to get anything done. Elect me and I will get shit done. Elect them and they won't even do what three of our country's most popular Presidents wanted. I mean, who wants to run against Abraham Lincoln?

 

I think he also lost the primary back then.

 

I got a big ole giggle when you posted this. And for you nerds out there, the "Constitutional Union" party ran in 1860 and would probably have had dozens of rich kids with Twitter ardently defending it to their other pothead friends if it were alive today.

 

Obama failed to spur the Caps on past the Bruins tonight. Although, he did give it his best...

 

That is SOOO funny!

 

Today's Republicans wouldn't have voted for Reagan? Are you crazy? Have you heard the saying, "Democrats worship the man, Republicans worship the idea?" Reagan is about the only president/presidential candidate that we conservatives/Republicans take a pass on that mantra.

And as far as Lincoln goes, I would disagree with that one, too...although, it would be hard for either of us to prove. I do know a few Republicans who will debate Lincoln's greatness, but overall, it's a slim number who might not have voted for him.

 

I hadn't heard that saying, but it's stupid. That said, Republicans probably would've voted for Reagan, but not for Nixon.

 

Yeah, Lincoln would have racked up literally dozens of electoral votes if today's electorate was the one he was in. Remember how his platform was a strong federal government role and his goal was to halt the economic growth of the South? Now, call me crazy, but isn't there a big section of the country, known as the South, that's pretty much against the fed'rul guvmint and doesn't take too kindly to economic stagnation?



And didn't they all vote Democratic back then, when Lincoln was a Republican? Didn't they vote Democratic against Teddy Roosevelt? Didn't they vote Republican against LBJ?

I'm starting to wonder whether or not people have ever seen the 1860 election. Here ya go:



Red is Lincoln, Blue/Green are the Democratic Parties, Yellow is the Constitutional Union Party.

 

Ofcourse they'd have voted for Nixon-- he'd have run wherever he needed to to get their votes...

 

Well, we're not really comparing apples to oranges here. The Republicans of the 80's are today's independents.

And remember, for all of Reagan's conservatism, he had a tough time cracking the John Birch Society nut. He was, like Obama, a pragmatist first and a ideolog second. That meant Keynesian spending to get out of a recession, granting amnesty to undocumented immigrants, negotiating with terrorists and entering into disarmament treaties with enemy states (though all of the above are easier to enact when you brand yourself as a conservative).

taosjohn is right too - Nixon's cynicism was quite calculated. I don't think he was actually against the Civil Rights Movement or modernity in general - that was just the most straightforward way to bring the GOP back.

 

We are talking about REAL REAGAN...the one who raised taxes and used Stimulus spending to help get us out of a recession...not Zombie Reagan who rubes like yourself have concocted to be some uber conservative wizard who dined on commies and magically vanquished all of our enemies

as Thai noted...the republican of 1980 would hardly recognize the GOP today...

 

A Democrat of 1980 would have a harder time recognizing which of the two parties today is supposed to be representing the common man.

 

very true

 

Yep. For example, Mitt looking to shave $47 billion from the poor by cutting subsidies for low-income housing. The Dems like the Republicans care more about the middle class than the poor, because that's where the votes are, but the Dems do have enough of a collective conscience to at least hold the line on current benefits.

That's a real difference. And there's more where that came from, this is just one program that Romney mentioned. If elected and the Republicans control Congress, they'll absolutely gut programs for the poor so that they can cut taxes for the wealthy and middle class.

 

So yesterday's comic "Buffett Rule" vote went down in flames as predicted (thanks for the pathetic theater Barry). Here's a Buffett rule I can back:

“I could end the deficit in 5 minutes. You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP all sitting members of congress are ineligible for reelection.”