Obama is still better than McCain would have been.

[MinneapolisMatt]

Having said that, the biggest shift since the campaign (I feel) is that Obama isn't being truthful with us anymore. I elected him based on truth on transparency.

If he would have come out and said "I don't want single payer, the public option, etc." back in March or whatever, it would have hurt, but I also wouldn't have felt so strung-along on the roller coaster from hell. I could have had time to understand the process of incremental change and fought this from a different perspective.

Just stop bullshitting us, President Obama. Say what you mean and mean what you say. I hope this year has taught you that lesson.

Thank goodness I live in a state (MN) where I have 2 fabulous Senators and my rep is the first Muslim elected to congress. I can count on them.

So from now on, no more money to anybody except directly to candidates. Period.

I'll be out in force re-electing Kieth Ellison (my Rep), even though my Senators aren't up for re-election in '10.

2012 will be interesting. I'll be voting...but at this point only to keep Republicans out of office.

[yourout]

1. Agreed but the gap certainly has narrowed.

[abluelady]

2. I Hope the Base Remembers That in 2012. eom

[MercutioATC]

3. Yes, and I'd rather be pissed on than shit on.

But I'm not going to cheer the person who does either to me.

[Mari333]

6. haha wellsaid

[Iggo]

4. McCain was never going to be President.

You have to compare Obama to the only other people who had a chance to be President: the other Dem candidates.

[Iggo]

11. Oh, yikes!

Please don't see that as a call to start rehashing the primary wars of '08.

[iceman66]

14. Hillary as president would not have been any different.

She'd also be sending more troops to Afghanistan and pushing a watered-down health care bill.

The only real difference is that liberals' expectations wouldn't have been as high.

[Iggo]

23. That sounds about right.

All I was saying though is any conversation about "well, we could've had ________ instead of Obama" should only involve the other Democratic candidates, because they were the only other ones who had a chance to be President. McCain never did.

[JCMach1]

5. Pure speculation at this point- might have been better with a dem Congress

and McCain holding the Repigs to the fire to something passed on healthcare...

We ended up with a leadership vacuum instead.

[avaistheone1]

7. But certainly not good enough in terms of leading on the people's vital interests.

Better than McCain - Yes.

But Obama is not the only viable Democrat in the country.

[RainDog]

8. what a fucking piss poor reason to vote for someone

...they aren't as bad as Bush or Palin or blahblahblah.

they're still governing based upon the interests of a MONIED MINORITY rather than the interests of the American people.

in other words, they're still part of the problem, not the solution.

[Captain Hilts]

9. Absolutely. nt

[Craftsman]

10. A punch in the face is better then a kicking the groin

But that does not mean I would be happy with one. These past few days have me asking the what if on President Hillary.

[ShortnFiery]

12. Now the Senate has allowed The Estate Tax legislation to lapse. It's all for the moneyed elites ...

the rest of us get the scraps - if anything at all - our tax dollars FEED THE WEALTHY.

When are people going to REALIZE it's CORPORATE RULERS vs. AVERAGE WAGE-SLAVE AMERICANS and not about "left vs. right" or "republican vs. democrat?"

[walldude]

22. This is what we would have got from Hillary too but she would have

been upfront about it. It's part of the reason she lost the primary, by admitting that any HCR bill would require a mandate.

[Tom Rinaldo]

13. Yep. And 30 degrees is warmer than 5 degrees.

McCain can be counted on to continue to make Obama look great in comparison.

[treestar]

15. Assuming he could get everything he wants means you need a civics

lesson. He can want the public option all day. It won't pass the Senate.

[PurityOfEssence]

16. Lowering the bar is one thing, but laying it on the ground is another

Yes, things could suck much worse than they do, but that means little and provides little comfort.

Had the monarchists won again, it might have galvanized the left and made all the current catastrophes undeniably their responsibility. Instead, we have a sham populism that actually reinforces privilege while destroying people and sending the left into self-destructive disarray.

We have a say in all this, and those who would quash any dissent are more dangerous to liberalism than those who are making a stink.

[dysfunctional press]

17. i'm not so sure...

i'm the kind of person that likes to rip the band-aid off in one quick jerk, as opposed to s-l-o-w-l-y pulling it off...

things apparently aren't going to get much better in this country until they get worse, and the people are finally motivated to stand up and say "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!".

by peeling the band-aid off slowly, obama is just painfully extending the time that it's going to take us to get there...whereas johnny mc and sarah plain and stupid would have fast-tracked us toward a popular revolt.

[lame54]

18. Whoopee!...

:applause: :applause: :applause: :banghead: :nuke: :argh: :cry:

[QC]

19. And he's definitely better than the reanimated corpse of Pol Pot would be. n/t

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

20. McCain would be dead 6 months ago.

Of natural causes, of course.

[Ignis]

21. Sure, but that's a pretty low bar. (nt)