What is your level of buyer's remorse toward the Obama administration?

[Bossy Monkey]

Poll question: What is your level of buyer's remorse toward the Obama administration?

Full disclosure: mine is very limited. I know he/they have made mistakes, and regret and sometimes deplore them. But it will be a long time before the words "President Barack Obama" do anything but bring a smile to my lips.

I tried to graduate the responses and provide expository (is that a word?:)) text for each, but obviously 9 slots can't cover every point of view. Feel free to respond below if your "Little" (for example) requires different exposition.

Edit: added a missing "text"

[Deja Q]

1. Okay. Anybody have a TARDIS? I'm going back in time and vote for McCain because of some around here

openly seem to hate what he's doing or are so myopic to their own personal, narcissistic desires...

:sarcasm: (take that with qualifiers; some people are one-topic for self-interests only. I've said I'm one-topic, but that's the economy because it affects us all. Not entirely narcissistic, certainly by comparison.)

Everyone makes mistakes, and President Obama has made fairly few.

I can google "Obama lobbyists mad" and get a few responses showing corporations don't like him, because he is following through.

I agree on a lot of things others don't around here by default, because if I hadn't thought of it myself, I'd have agreed with his reasoning anyway.

He is not like Bush.

Change WILL take time; we're not like a dictatorship or anything... unlike Venezuela and other countries, whose leaders have played the extortion card (so stop supporting those vermin folks, please)...


Edited: Minor context adjustment.

[blondeatlast]

3. Ain't it the truth? I've not been visiting much lately but I checked in on Saturday

(my birthday--and I was sick) and it's Monday now and I'm already sick of the Tiger Beat meme.

Besides, Donny will ALWAYS rule.

[azmouse]

18. awww... c'mon!

David Cassidy was dreamy and had a better voice! :P

:hi:

[DarkTirade]

8. "He is not like Bush"

That's the big one there. I voted 'some', because he hasn't quite lived up to the hype, and there are a few specific things I am dissapointed in... but the alternative would have been horrific.

[blondeatlast]

2. None of the above. I have some reservations, but I consider the only plausible alternative plus

the explanations don't adequately explain my consideration of this administration 't all.

[stray cat]

4. My other choice was McCain Palin - need I say more?

[get the red out]

31. Exactly!

What should we do, fight to elect the Republicans next time?

These "polls" are useless.

[ZombieHorde]

5. I voted...

"None. Can we really change the name of this site to 'Obama Tiger Beat'?"

But I would have voted, "None. I often disagree with Obama but McCain/Palin was just not an option after eight years of Bush.", if the option was available.

[ixion]

6. I'm disappointed, but then, I expected to be

so I'm not surprised.

[RDANGELO]

7. Considering that if McCain had won,

we might be in a totally unecessary war with Iran right now, very little.

[TahitiNut]

9. I live in Michigan. I voted for Kucinich.

Then I voted for Obama. :shrug:

I voted correctly. :patriot:

[Hell Hath No Fury]

10. I voted against McCain, not for Obama --

I have never been a huge Obama believer. As far as I was concerned, he was not Clinton and not McCain -- I figured we had a 50-50 shot with him.

He has done much of what I wanted, but more of what I feared.

With the recent weeks headlines, the later is outweighing the former for me.

[Warren DeMontague]

11. I'm for "Obama Tiger Beat", myself.

Guy inherited a giant, overflowing toilet of a situation. He's handled it exceptionally well, given the circumstances.

[Bill McBlueState]

12. I don't understand why DU polls often have a little comment with each option

For example, this poll might be missing people who would respond "some" but don't also agree with the sentiment, "I am increasingly concerned about the DLCification of this administration."

Why not offer simply, "none," "little," etc?

[Warren DeMontague]

13. Because that offers the opportunity for the OP to (mis)characterize various opinions. Classic tactic

see, if you still like Obama, you must be a glassy-eyed "tiger beat" starstruck fan.

Get it?

[Bossy Monkey]

30. No, I offered suggestions for what the one word responses might mean

I also noted that people voting might not agree with the expository text and suggested that if so they could reply below. But thanks for kicking my poll twice.

[Warren DeMontague]

42. Fair enough. Upon re-reading your OP, I have a better idea where you're at.

I'm just tired of this "Tiger Beat" noise for everyone who isn't OUTRAGED!!1111!!!!!!! with Obama as of yet.

Oh, and that's 3 times, now. :hi:

[Bossy Monkey]

43. I did have an evil ulterior motive; I hoped to demonstrate that very few DUers had serious buyer's

remorse regarding BHO. Mission accomplished.

Personally, I'd be tickled stupid if they renamed DU "Tiger Beat Obama" or some variation thereof. Gotta be able to poke fun at ourselves sometimes. I always think they should change it to Democratic Overlords or something for April Fools' Day.

And :hi: back.

[lunatica]

14. I expected what Obama is doing because I've been a politcal junkie

for over 40 years and I know that in Washington, DC politics is mostly from the Middle. Middle with some overlap into moderate Right and Moderate Left. That's where most Americans are and perhaps it's best to govern from there.

Big changes, of which I've seen quite a few in all those years (both ways) have always come from the people putting so much pressure on the politicians that they had no choice. Civil Right and all the Supreme Court Decisions, including the Right to Choose came about from the bottom up. Regular citizens demanded justice and the US got it. Conversely the enemy of the little people, the Corporations and the Wealthy put pressure on the government and got what it wanted. Politicians, as a rule, go wither the winds blows.

So I'm not disappointed, nor do I expect too much change. It's kind of like more of the same fundamentally, but with incremental progress when a Democrat is in Office and incremental regression when it's a Republican in Office. I still consider the Bush Era as an aberration because it was Neo-cons in power, not real Republicans.

[pretzel4gore]

21. most americans are left- way left!

common sense says that people whose greatest wealth is the collective national wealth- ie the roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, telecom/electric power/transport and ...intellectual development of the mass of people etc- common sense says that if such people are aware of the facts, and are not independently wealthy enough to own their own private island/mercenary army and soon, iow are mostly dependent upon the public 'common' wealth regards their kids/grandkids hopes for a good life; well common sense says such people support leftwing, public oriented government policies. And they do. The hardest battles in history fought by humanity was for economic dignity, and we have a little economic dignity only because countless people died fighting for it. The bushes think they own the USA, but we the people OWN the bushes.
I agree with your assessment, but MOVE the goalposts the lying liars use way over to the left. After all, why should the privilege of the few trump the needs of the many?

[lunatica]

25. I would love to see some real Progressive policies

But those will only happen if we make them happen, and we know how hard it is to do that these days!

[ElboRuum]

35. Maybe it's a question of semantics...

...but I'd have to disagree with you that "most americans are left - way left".

Most Americans are moderate left. Most won't identify with the far left because of the leftover '60s "hippie tree-hugger" stigma which, believe it or not, still exists in many areas of this country. Interestingly enough, they won't identify with moderate left either, although that probably best describes the majority point of view, because 30 years of right-wing media indoctrination has sufficiently stained the idea of "left" and Americans seem notoriously susceptible to those sorts of propagandized negative associations. The oddest thing is that most Americans benefit (actively) from so-called left policies, but some would still see themselves as conservatives, buying into the "independent, pull yourself up by your own bootstraps" nonsense offered up by the right.

So you're kind of half right here. It would be much more accurate to say that most Americans are moderate left, but really don't think about it long enough to realize they are. Let's face it, most Americans are disaffected by politics unless they are directly in its way, so in that way, their mistaken self-identity isn't too difficult to understand.

[TreasonousBastard]

15. Absolutely no remorse, even though...

I disagree with some things he's done. Overall, I am breathing the fresh air after the rot and corruption of the past 8 years.

I am not always right, and even if I were always right I wouldn't expect a poltician, or anyone else, to agree with with me all the time.

Those of you who are always right, and who have found people to put in office who agree with you 100% of the the time-- I congratulate you on your ability to survive on that barren planet you live on.

[Coyote_Bandit]

16. Other

I voted for Obama - but I did not have high expectations. Matter of fact I had pretty low expectations. Have to say, however, that he hasn't even met those.

I'm pretty certain that the main differences between the Dems and the Pukes is how they sell themselves. Both have the same corporate loyalties.

[jobycom]

17. Other: None, based on my level of expectation upon voting for him.

He's exactly what I expected him to be when I cast my vote. He's inexperienced, and that means he doesn't know how to stick to his guns, he's easily swayed by arguments from people with more impressive resumes, and he hasn't figured out how to play with power yet. Plus, he was a moderate in everything except the eyes of a few supporters, so he's about where I expected him to be politically--a pragmatic moderate.

That's what I voted for, knowing it would be better than Bush or McCain, and that's what it looks like I got. No buyer's remorse at all, because my expectations were based on what I saw him to be, not what I wanted him to be.

I said it then, and I'll say it forty years from now if I'm still around--I preferred a couple of the other candidates, and still wish one of them had won. I'll always feel like we missed a great opportunity by picking Obama. But once Obama was our candidate, he was my candidate. I never checked my brain at the door, so I never expected more than what we have.

Sounds too negative. I like the guy, I like what he's up to, and I appreciate the difficulty he faces. He's heading the nation in a better direction, and I hope as he gets more experience he'll also understand better how and where to draw lines that can't be crossed. I think the only disappointments in him come from people who based their expectations on their desires rather than on Obama's abilities.

Just MHO.

[EFerrari]

24. That's pretty much where I am, too. n/t

[Richard D]

19. Two choices

mcshameful and Obama. Regrets? Not at all.

[snake in the grass]

20. I voted "other"...

...although I have no remorse that I voted for Obama. The difference between my reasons and the given choice is that I knew what we were getting before the election. I would have preferred Kucinich, but after he dropped out there was no other choice. Obama is doing exactly what he said he would. No one should be surprised.

[DireStrike]

22. Other: Moderate for other reasons.

Got my hopes up during the campaign as always. But for the most part I knew what we were getting and was always nervous about it it.

[Kaleva]

23. I wish he'd come out against renewing the AWB

[musicblind]

26. I voted "A Little" because he has made mistakes

but SO FAR, I think he's been the best president of my life time.

NOW, that being said. I am 1.) Young and 2.) He hasn't even been in office for a year so that opinion could drastically change by 2016.

But I have been very pleased, over all, with Obama's administration. Have there been things I did not like? Yes, of course, I'm not a sheep... but I think that Obama really cares about this country. I think he cares about you and me, which means a lot. I think we are in for 8 years of good, safe, caring, quality leadership. I hope I'm not wrong.

[closeupready]

27. Bitterly disappointed. I hope that changes.

But I doubt it.

[HamdenRice]

28. None. Zero. Zip. Nada. I'm extremely pleased. nt

[Toucano]

29. +1

No one person can satisfy everyone on every issue.

[tabbycat31]

32. I've got a few issues but overall no buyer's remorse

My issues have been with cabinet picks, mainly Geithner since I did not want someone at treasury that had anything to do with Wall Street.

[jsamuel]

33. Other: I don't have buyer's remorse because I didn't buy it to begin with.

I did vote for Obama, but he has done exactly what I thought he would do during the primaries:

1. Support center-left domestic policies, but not willing to go to the mat for any true change.
2. Become a war hawk compared to his opposition to the Iraq War. (but still no McCain or Bush)
3. Resist dialing back the clock on Executive powers amassed during the Bush Administration.
4. Appoint many centrists and PR type advisers with the occasional meeting with "ultra-left" groups.

He is just following through.

[Greyhound]

34. Moderate, he embodies the "We suck less" philosophy of the Democratic Party.

I view the last election as a Republik defeat rather than a Democratic victory.

If the Republiks shit-can their extremists/fundamentalists, we're in deep shit.

"Those that stand for nothing will fall for anything."

[leftofthedial]

46. !

Those who stand for nothing...

indeed.

[book_worm]

36. Yes, lets go vote for McCain.

[omega minimo]

37. The real question is the relationship b/w expectations and "buyer's remorse"

[book_worm]

38. I'm sure some of his harshest critics here have little buyer remorse

because they didn't vote for him but voted for some third party.

[omega minimo]

41. and some have little because they knew that in many ways his power would be compromised

as it has proven to be.

[zorahopkins]

39. I LOVE Our President!

I absolutely LOVE President Barack Obama.

President Barack Obama.

How I LOVE the way that sounds.

Hope. Change. President Obama.

I love him, his wife, and his daughters.

Oh, and I Love Bo, too!

[ThomWV]

40. It is unfare to suggest in one answer that anything below it favors McCain

That is what is implied by the questions that compares Obama to McCain and so it implies that everyone else who replies below that level feels that McCain would have been better. That is not the question. The question is how do you feel about Obama's performance - not how do you feel about your choice of vote last November.

[TheKentuckian]

44. I took option 2 to reflect that I acknowledge that no one is perfect but I have no real remorse

either.

He comes as advertised and is doing as well as I believe can be expected at this time.

He's very much exactly what I thought I was getting. I don't relate to those who are surprised at all. He seems more who he said he was as a candidate than any President at least since Carter and he's a much better politician than Jimmy.

If you ask me how we're doing, I'd have to say better than usual. That's nothing to sneeze at. Especially, as the pendulum begins to to swing leftward this is a perfect type of guy to start us in the direction and put down a solid foundation.
This cannot be seen as a shot fix. It will take an appreciable percentage of the time we took to dig into this hole to climb out. Give me twenty years of steady progress over anything we can shove through to get a fix of progress.

Seriously, we're really doing better than usual. Let's take advantage of that and set up some long term wins.
Clean, abundant, and renewable energy, a commitment to 100% and continuing education, as well as first class universal health care for all are the keystones.
If we can handle those three things in this time then this would be the generation that not only kept the torch burning but laid the table for a new epoch. Energy alone would change the game to such an extent that many systemic problem would be solved by almost pure evolution. You add widespread and lifelong education and most of the ills we're fighting about find little room to exist. The revolution of mentality that allows us to be a nation that takes care of each other so that my mother gets the care you'd want for yours.

When we say that each our lives are worth preserving and properly maintaining without even thinking "what's in the account?" then in my view change will have come to America. Change that comes in a lesson that should have been learned before our founding, that we are indeed "our brother's keeper" and more selfishly that "we are only as strong as our weakest links".
America learning in larger way about community would be big.

No question other things must be done but we really do have to make a real start in these areas or the rest will be cherries on a shit sundae in not such a long time as would allow most of us to get out while the gettings good. Is Obama doing what I'd hope for or even arguably what is needed but he is making headway in the national perspective. It isn't tangible but it is important and it is real.
Stopping the dead run to the cliff is ok but actually turning and facing another direction is rare and impressive.

Our job is to just to get them to get it as close to right as possible and keep working to make it right but we must get to moving before everything unravels with no solutions for a rebound.

[blogslut]

45. I have no remorse

I knew I was voting for a moderate and I knew that if he could get one third of the things done that he promised in the campaign, he'd be better than any other president I've voted for.

[Marr]

47. I truly hate the "I always knew it" kind of post, BUT...

in this one case, I will say as much about Obama. Remember how the corporate news talking heads were all goo goo about Obama after the 2004 Democratic Convention? Remember how they were all talking about how he was the "new star", etc., etc.? Well, I assumed then that he was a corporate Dem, something like Bill Clinton. That is to say, a moderate Republican. They *never* would've promoted him otherwise.

During the last primaries, I pretty much lost interest as soon as the race came down to Obama and Clinton. The two are nearly indistinguishable.

I am of the opinion that nothing will change in this country until the populace is so fed up that they're willing to do a lot more than protest and write emails. Until we see massive civil disobedience, nothing is going to change. Sure, there will be differences in style from one administration to the next, but government will always operate as a tool for the wealthy to build more wealth and completely disregard the broader population until doing so is no longer an option.