Best pro-Obama Letter to the Editor ever

[cal04]

by itsnotbutter
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/11/7/918528/-Best-pro-Obama-Letter-to-the-Editor-ever

Wow, so this is how it's done!

The election season was so disappointing because Democratic candidates couldn't seem to say in a simple, direct way why President Obama's policies have been good for the country. But two days after the election, a perfect example appeared, in the most unlikely place.

How's this for simple and direct?

All told, my family has saved $15,000 in the past year and will continue to save over $3,500 per year as a result of President Obama's new policies... Thank you President Obama.

That's not from a campaign ad, unfortunately. It's from a newspaper Letter to the Editor in ultra-conservative Springfield, Missouri. And even more unfortunately, it appeared in print too late to do any good (this time).

The writer, a husband and father named Jeff Riggins, thanks President Obama and lists 10 ways in which his policies have helped the Riggins family personally.

At the top of the list, Mr. Riggins thanks the President for the tax cut that Democratic candidates couldn't seem to even remember to mention:

Thank you President Obama for the following: 1. The tax cut 95 percent of working Americans received. Even though my tax reduction was only $30 per paycheck (multiplied by 24 pay periods) $720 annually is nothing to sneeze at.

Next, the homebuyer tax credit that the candidates also forgot:

2. The $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit allowing my wife and I to buy our first home (using a VA loan).

And do you recall hearing any candidates mention this, either?

3. The cash for clunkers program, along with the new car sales tax deduction, saved us over $5,500 on the purchase of a dependable, fuel-efficient, and safe automobile. I am now saving over $66 per month on fuel expenses. That's $792 annually no longer going to countries that want to kill Americans.

I don't want to sample too much from the letter, but it's all great. He lists 10 reasons to thank the President, and they're all clear, simple, direct, personal, with actual dollar amounts included. They are real-life examples of how the Riggins family personally has benefited from the President's policies. This is how it should have been done. I read it (two days after the election) with my jaw dropping open, thinking, why am I reading this is a mid-size newspaper in an ultra-conservative city instead of in the New York Times or Huffington Post or Daily Kos? And why in the world didn't the Democrats campaign like this? Next time, next time, there's always next time.

Here's Jeff Riggins' Letter to the Editor, if you want to read the whole thing on the newspaper's website. Be sure to check out the (mostly ultra-conservative) readers' responses to Mr. Riggins' letter, and please add your own!

Thank you Mr. Riggins, for showing us how it's done.
Riggins: Economic policies are worth thank you
http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=201011040334

[CJCRANE]

1. K & R nt

[pacalo]

2. Beautiful -- said Obama's policies have done more for his family than from any other president's

in his lifetime. Very nice.

[zbdent]

3. but ... but ... but ...

Bush43 gave a person (at most) $300 ... which came out of their refund (if they got one) of their taxes the next year ... and that went to paying for their gasoline while they went looking for a job ...

[DFW]

6. Mine didn't go for that

When I got mine, which I didn't need, I wrote on the back of it "Pay to the order of Democratic National Committee,"
signed my name and sent it on to the DNC in Washington.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

4. Thank you! Very good; too bad it's so hard to get the info out there.

KnRnB

[Blue_Tires]

5. ttt

[Scurrilous]

7. K & R

:thumbsup:

[Number23]

8. Rec'd!

[jgraz]

9. Sincerely, David Axelrod

Oops!

[SidDithers]

10. K&R...nt

Sid

[JNelson6563]

11. Nice.

[leftstreet]

12. This middle class rah-rah would have been suicide for campaigning Dems

It's nice the letter writer is doing so well, but politicians know this doesn't reflect the situation for most of the disaffected voters they were going after in the midterms.

People standing on line applying for food assistance after running out of employment compensation aren't going to wet themselves with fond memories of the positively Rooseveltian Cash for Clunkers program

:eyes:

[FrenchieCat]

13. Yep. I think you are right that Obama's policies in 20 months

didn't put a chicken in every pot, and whatever else everyone needed.

That's why the Republicans hold the house....
and why the Republicans will come back for a trifecta in 2012,
with the help of the media, the Republicans, and their useful tools who shit
on everything that is a positive spin on anything Obama.

Then you can really write about how everyone is totally fucked up
with no where to go....of course, if there is an Internet still left
to whine on, that is!
Won't that be grand? :applause:

[leftstreet]

14. I didn't say anything about Obama

Was he campaigning? No.
Was this OP questioning why Dems didn't run on these great policies? Yes.



How often do you have to replace the O B A M keys on your keyboard?

:eyes:

[FrenchieCat]

16. The op is about a letter in support of Obama......

why bother with your negative comments,
if you weren't saying anything about Obama?
Doesn't even make sense!

[leftstreet]

18. No. OP asked why Dems didn't run on the things mentioned in the letter

Yes the letter is in support of Obama

The poster can't understand why Dems didn't run on the 'successes' listed in the letter

Get it?

[KT2000]

15. Dems have so much

to run on but did not even mention these things.
Good for the guy who wrote the letter and thanks for posting.

[Historic NY]

17. I ask the morans if they have less taken out of their paychecks....

when they say yes I tell them to thank Obama. Its drive them crazy.

[tomm2thumbs]

19. maybe there is a silver lining

since there is always a likely-purge of the 2nd year election of the party in power, at least the purge was of bluedog-types - so when the inevitable return swing of the electorate come out for Obama in force 2012, the new challenger Democrats will be fresh, more liberal and be better able to work with the progressives who remained.

having someone with a D next to their name but who votes like an R is as useless as not having the seat in the first place

perhaps this correction was inevitable, but will lay groundwork for a 2 year major course correction in 2012 - and I'm willing to wait 2 years for that to occur. Especially if the veto can quash any stupid GOP Congressional bills that come up.

2010 elections came rather quickly if you think about it - so 2012 will no doubt arrive before we know it - and it'll be chart a course straight ahead to progressive ideas and real solutions, not bashing, obstacles and posturing by the GOP.

[thelordofhell]

31. +1,000,000

It's going to be a fun ride watching the republican oafs in the House put up their idiotic bills and try to investigate President Obama over what he had for dinner. Mark my words, Democratic sweep in 2012!!

[blur256]

20. AG Springfield is showing some promise!

I used to live in ultra-conservative Springfield and I find this to be very encouraging. I like to read the opinion pieces from their paper from time to time just for the novelty of it all. Usually it is Obama is the ruin of the nation! However, this actually has the most positive response I have seen for such a liberal letter to the editor. But then, even idiots try distance themselves from the facts when they know it will make them completely lose their basis. Right? Damn, totally missed that one. But maybe this shows even an ultra-conservative town can be changed. Let's hope!

[Lindsey]

21. Great OP. Why in the Hell don't the Dems. put out these kinds of

opinions during elections??????????????????????????? I seriously do not understand!

[Douglas Carpenter]

22. kick and recommend!!

[deacon]

23. k + r

[indimuse]

24. KNR! n/t

[The Wielding Truth]

33. Those who voted against themselves were sheep taking us all over the cliff.

[madokie]

25. self delete

I didn't think this one through, sorry

[blondeatlast]

26. The people have far more wisdom than the party leaders give them credit for.

That was all we needed to campaign on and there's more wisdom on this board in a day than the DNC can come up with in a good semester.

Time to take our party--and the country--back. May I suggest Mr. riggins for a DNC position?

[tblue37]

Dems--with the exception of a few strong ones like Grayson--pretty much

always accept the Republican framing for everything. I have no idea why that is.

[tblue37]

27. accidental dupelicate post: self deleted.

[h9socialist]

28. I am Pro-Obama and plan to support him in 2012, BUT . . .

This "compromise with Republicans" nonsense is really starting to get up my nose! The Republicans have no intention of compromising . . . denial is not a good state to live in.

[AllyCat]

29. Amazing when you tell people stuff like this, they say "well, just that little bit"

It isn't a little bit!! We have used that extra tax break to pay off two debts, putting even more money in our pockets each month. I've been able to spend some extra money in our community, donated to some new causes, and we're thinking about a refinancing our home soon with a credit union instead of TARP bailout bank who holds our mortgage.

[paparush]

30. My challenge to any TeaPublicans I encounter -

In eight years, name one $%*$&#^%**%*-ing thing that Bush did for poor and working class people......... crickets........... more crickets........ steam coming out of ears........

And the fool-proof, always ready fall back response: Well, 9/11 changed everything!

[sally cat]

32. Hang on to that for the 2012 elections.

[veganlush]

34. This is such a huge indictment

of the dems and the administration, that they failed so miserably in getting the truth out. I've drawn many a blank stare while telling people that Obama's tax cuts were the biggest in history, and other such facts, because it isn't corroborated anywhere else, thanks to the hapless dems. They should not have lost seats.

[Name removed]

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