Obama: I’d rather be ‘really good one-term president’ than ‘mediocre two-term president.’

[ProSense]

Obama: I’d rather be ‘really good one-term president’ than ‘mediocre two-term president.’

In an interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer that will be aired tonight, President Obama said he will not back off his agenda despite the political hazards that might lie ahead:

“I’d rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president,” he told ABC’s “World News” anchor Diane Sawyer in an exclusive interview today. <…>

“You know, there is a tendency in Washington to believe our job description, of elected officials, is to get reelected. That’s not our job description,” Obama said. “Our job description is to solve problems and to help people.”

Seated across from Sawyer in the White House, the president added, “I don’t want to look back on my time here and say to myself all I was interested in was nurturing my own popularity.”

Read the full transcript here.

[DJ13]

1. 0 for 2

[timeforpeace]

43. Better get the "four more years" chant warmed up.

[Luciferous]

109. +1

[LWolf]

111. +1

[David Zephyr]

2. I'd rather the same thing. So, when does he begin?

He has three years left to make up for the first year he pissed away completely.

[jaxx]

10. He didn't piss anything away.

What he did was piss off some people who had delusions of grandeur about what could get done.

[zipplewrath]

18. He might think so

I suspect if he had known that he'd still be trying to pass a health care bill, especially this one, he might have chosen to do something else for the last year. This has gone on a good 5 months longer than he really wanted. Even he might be looking at this as "pissing away" a years worth of effort on something that will ultimately undermine much of what else he wants to accomplish. 20/20 hindsight for sure, but none the less, probably not the year he'd a preferred.

[TheBigotBasher]

85. There is no other time he could have tackled health.

He lacked a disciplined Senate, but that is hardly his fault. If he tried it later, the majorities may not have been there.

[zipplewrath]

101. Actually a very disciplined senate

It was a very disciplined senate, just not one that was going to cater to his schedule or desires. As you say "no other time" may be true, but the assertion is, knowing what he knows now, he would have put it off until a second term, if at all. It has potentially cost him the rest of his agenda.

[avaistheone1]

87. I believe Obama would sell the White House silver if he could to get a second term.

I think the way he has pursued his platform this past year is his cynical attempt to get reelected for a second term.

Basically the strategy is to cater and bend over backward for the elites, the military industrial complex, Wall Street and health insurance companies and big Pharma. Interesting that this people are continuing to fill Obama's campaign coffers as we bail these entities out and Obama cuts his deals with them. All of course a coincidence.

[Arkana]

49. +1

[ProSense]

11. Why do you care? You want him primaried. n/t

[rudy23]

3. This may explain why he does not give a shit about the base. Did he make a deal to cover up Bushco

in exchange for the presidency? Sure seems like it.

[Jennicut]

5. Yeah sure...check out this site...loaded with conspiracy theories...

Sounds like it is up your alley:

http://www.myspace.com/tom_heneghan_intel

Basically, this theory is that Bush and Clinton appointed Obama President and Hillary wants to kill Obama so she can become President herself.
Have fun.

[Chulanowa]

8. Sounds like something a few DU'ers would come up with

Especially the mouthbreahters who keep insisting that the two parties are the same

[provis99]

13. The Democrats sell out to corporations; the Republicans sell out to corporations.

Yet people that see the obvious are "mouthbreathers"? You sound like a goose-stepping party loyalist.

[Chulanowa]

35. They're also both mammals, OMFG!

Yes. Mouthbreathers. Simpletons. Fools. The ignorant herds. People who judge the world by singular criteria that are only ever completely white or completely black.

I may sound like a "goose-stepping party loyalist" but you sound like an ignoramus.

[DJ13]

9. I think were entering a period of single term Presidents

The real job of the President since Bush (as hired by the conservatives really running the country) is to walk our economy down, to weaken us as a means of eliminating the middle class, and as a result the "winner" of the Presidency doesnt expect reelection as the populace grows angrier by the hour.

They will just "elect" another chump to do their bidding every four years, no problem.

[rudy23]

100. If you take away that second election, there's really no accountability for the President

A single-termer has all the power in the world, b/c they have nothing tying them down.

[secondwind]

69. you ARE joking, aren't you?

[rudy23]

99. Kinda. Why hasn't his DOJ touched the Siegelman case, though? Some deal had to be made over Rove.

Or maybe they won't touch the case b/c it will lead back to their own election fraud. If you have a better explanation, I'd love to hear it.

[liberal N proud]

92. Did you read the text of the interview or listen to it?

[donco6]

4. I'd rather he be a really good president. n/t

[flvegan]

6. I'd rather he'd be a "really great" two-term president.

[rockymountaindem]

14. Exactly. He needs to start thinking in those terms. Besides, name a good one-term Prez.

I can't think of one. Probably because the "great" ones tended to get reelected because they were great. Not that every two-termer has been fantastic, but I can't think of a "great" one term President.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[slipslidingaway]

12. As explained many times by several people, it is the direction that many...

object to, nobody expected him to clean everything up in a year.

[uponit7771]

16. Obama is taking us in a BETTER "direction", what's wrong with that? TIA

[slipslidingaway]

24. I do not consider mandatory purchase of private insurance a Better direction...

and I do not consider making a deal with Pharma for 80 billion over 10 years, instead of the 300 billion mentioned in the Obama/Biden HC plan a better direction.

[firedupdem]

15. +1

I sleep better knowing who we have in office! Thank goodness is right!

[uponit7771]

19. +1

[jesus_of_suburbia]

17. Let's hope he starts being a good President in his second year! I'm waiting for action, not words.

[uponit7771]

20. Obama promise meter establishes that he's taken action

[Cha]

26. They won't read that..they'd rather shove their own

version down people's throats.

[Fire1]

60. Too bad that doesn't work with informed people.

:sarcasm:

[dave29]

48. what action are you missing, he has done more than most first year Presidents

?

[jesus_of_suburbia]

62. Most first year Presidents don't have as much capital as he did.

I'm hoping that President Obama will come out fighting.

Losing 1 Senator doesn't really mean jack sh*t since we obviously didn't have 60 votes anyway, so I hope that we see more of the fighter Obama from the Primary season, rather than the go-along-to-get-along Pres Obama from the past year.

[Fire1]

21. Whatever he does is not going to be enough for some folks.

Whatever.:boring:

[firedupdem]

22. yup....they want him to fail. n/t

[pnorman]

23. Just recently spotted elsewhere on DU:

My opinion EXACTLY! FYI: I voted AGAINST Joe Lieberman in 2000, but I'm learning!

[Jim Sagle]

25. Translation: 'Fuck the base, I'm a Republican and proud of it. Tough titty if you don't like it.'

[ProSense]

28. When it comes to comments like these, the President has a point. n/t

[Name removed]

33. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Fire1]

36. If the banks had collapsed there would have been a

depression of catostrophic proportions.

[Jim Sagle]

38. There was never going to be a collapse. TARP was a stickup not a fixup.

[Fire1]

39. Then why did the banks pay it back? n/t

[Jim Sagle]

42. So the execs could freely pay out big bonuses.

[Fire1]

46. Ok! So, where does the "stick up" come into play? n/t

[Jim Sagle]

59. You don't really think the money was ALL paid back, do you?

[Fire1]

61. Let's not answer a quesion with a question. n/t

[Jim Sagle]

77. Your question wasn't worth answering in the first place.

Everybody goddamn well knows it was a stickup.

[Fire1]

79. Whether you consider it a stick up is not the point. It had to be

done. That was the only "reasonable" solution, at the time. The underlying problem, according to most economists, is that they're "too big to fail." Essentially, that is what has to change.

[Jim Sagle]

81. Just because you pretend to think it had to be done, doesn't mean it ACTUALLY had to be done.

It was bullshit.

[Fire1]

107. That is your OPINION and thankfully that's all it is. n/t

[Jim Sagle]

113. My opinion, shared by anybody with a clue.

[donco6]

72. Free use of trillions of dollars?

Wish I could get a deal like that . . .

[Fire1]

74. Elaborate, please. n/t

[donco6]

75. The use of money is never free.

One pays considerable interest on it. Getting a no interest loan is . . . basically impossible. Unless you're a really big bank with no money and good connections.

[Fire1]

76. Are you referring to TARP funds that were repaid? n/t

[donco6]

71. Well, finally some honesty.

It'$ Refre$hing!

[depakid]

27. If by really good, he means tireless efforts at bipartisan and blue dog consensus building

he may well get his wish.

While an admirable sentiment- it was (everyone has to agree) a fruitless and naive endeavor from the outset.

[Fire1]

44. I think all of us can agree on that. Even the supporters. n/t

[TheCowsCameHome]

29. He may get his wish....

....about the one term part.

[ProSense]

30. Yeah,

or his agenda might prove to be the best thing that happened to this country in decades.

[harun]

95. If he doesn't throw progrssives at least one bone, he will most certainly get his wish.

[lynne]

31. "Really Good" presidents normally sail into the second term -

- and "Mediocre" presidents rarely see a second term. Obama's inference doesn't fit the logic or history of the circumstances he proposes.

[laugle]

51. He will

probably be a 'mediocre' first term president and that fits logically..........he still doesn't get it!!!

[rateyes]

32. Better late than never.

I'm still waiting for the fighter in him. All I've seen is "bipartisanship" bullshit.

[rateyes]

34. Why doesn't he start by cleaning house of the mediocrity in his administration?

Emanuel

Geithner

Bernanke

Holder

Gates


Those assholes need to go.

And, then he needs to play hard ball politics with the shitheads running Congress.

[ProSense]

37. Maybe,

he believes they're doing a good job. It's ridiculous to see people spending so much time demanding people be fired when it's clear the administration has no intention of firing them.

Same thing with Reid, people have been demanding that he be removed as majority leader for years, and the Senate turned around an re-elected him unanamously to the position.

Seems like a complete waste of energy.

[slipslidingaway]

47. And Summers was there when Brooksley Born wanted more regulation...

and transparency on derivatives, but they were able to push her out.

Years later we bail out the speculators and now talk about a freeze on non-security spending.


The Woman Greenspan, Rubin & Summers Silenced

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut/370925/the_woman_greenspan_rubin_summers_silenced

"Break the Glass" was the code-name high-level Treasury Department figures gave the $700 billion bailout; it was to be used only as a last- resort measure.

Now millions have been sprayed and damaged by broken glass.

But more than a decade ago, a woman you're likely never to have heard of, Brooksley Born, head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission-- a federal agency that regulates options and futures trading--was the oracle whose warnings about the dangerous boom in derivatives trading just might have averted the calamitous bust now engulfing the US and global markets. Instead she was met with scorn, condescension and outright anger by former Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan, former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and his deputy Lawrence Summers. In fact, Greenspan, the man some affectionately called "The Oracle," spent his political capital cheerleading these disastrous financial instruments..."


Obama wants to freeze discretionary spending for 3 years

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/01/25/obama.spending.freeze/?hpt=T1

"...The proposed freeze, which could help position Obama in the political center by sharpening his credentials on fiscal discipline, would exempt the budgets of the departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs, along with some international programs.

"We are at war, and we're going to make sure our troops are funded adequately," one of the senior officials said..."

[avaistheone1]

88. Yes, yes.

All that is true.

[slipslidingaway]

103. :) thanks n/t

[zbdent]

40. At least Clinton was elected to his two terms ...

and George H.W. Bush was not a "Good" one-term president ...

Let me rephrase that ... compared to his two-"term" son, George H. W. Bush was a GREAT one-term president ...

[Clio the Leo]

41. That's one of my favorite Obama spins ever...

.... he's said it before. (and I dont say "spin" to bash)

love it.

[Oregone]

45. Maybe neither is in the works

"Really good" presidents can get a second term from the people too. What an odd false dichotomy being created here

[NorthCarolina]

58. +1

[jillan]

63. +2

[last1standing]

50. Right now it'd be an uphill fight for mediocre.

n/t

[ProSense]

53. Teh Prezident Suks. n/t

[last1standing]

55. From your fingers...

n/t

[asdjrocky]

52. In his second year in office he'll end hunger.

By mandating we all buy food.

[dave29]

54. naw, he'll just get beat up for not ending hunger

.

[ProSense]

56. Actually, he

is already addressing childhood hunger.

[caraher]

57. In the spirit of bipartisan compromise

will he then announce plans to be a mediocre one-term president, thus splitting the difference? :crazy:

[VMI Dem]

64. Does that mean he will suprise us all and walk back his bigoted rhetoric in the near future?

Nope.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

65. Well, it's not T Roosevelt or FDR anymore, now the comparisons are, Carter or Hoover?

He doesn't see this?!

[ProSense]

67. A lot of people don't see it, and

some consider it hyperbole.



Edited to fix link.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

68. I think your link may be broken. I'm not seeing what it links to.

It couldn't possibly be another thread of your own, could it?

[ProSense]

70. "It couldn't possibly be another thread of your own, could it?"

What exactly is the problem with linking to an already posted item?

Anyway, the link has been fixed.

[Feron]

78. Well so far, I'm guessing Hoover. nt

[HopeOverFear]

66. I knew the topic of this thread would attract sarcastically spewed bile and vitriol

DUers don't dissapoint. Well, actually, they do.

[donco6]

73. It's been egged on purposefully by some sycophants.

I hate to disappoint those DUers who like to play little games like this.

[applegrove]

80. Good thing to say and remember. You go Obama.

[donheld]

82. Then why is he doing everything he can to be a mediocre one termer?

[BlueIris]

83. I was wondering when he'd get around to admitting it.

He gets credit for acknowledging this.

[Hippo_Tron]

84. Due Respect Mr. President, I don't believe that for a second

Everybody is rational and self interested including you and democracy rewards rational self interested politicians when they strive to get re-elected.

Fictional President Bartlet said it best...

"We run for things! From the day a Congressman is sworn in he's got to raise $10,000 a week so he can get reelected! A President gets to govern for 18 months. We try to get people to vote for us and in the process we hope the people force
us to do good things."

This is what Obama was talking about with his "we are the change we've been waiting for". He's going to try and get people to vote for him. People need to force him to do good things in the process.

[Vidar]

86. He's off to a piss poor start.

[Skittles]

89. translation: I don't give a shit what liberals think

[Ganja Ninja]

90. ‘mediocre two-term president.’

I don't think he needs to lose any sleep over that. Right now he's looking like a below average one term president.

[liberal N proud]

91. He has said that more than once

[old mark]

93. Not too late to start now.....nt

[MadHound]

94. Trobule is the way he's going he's going to wind up the worst of both worlds

A terrible one term president.

[Beacool]

96. Spoken like a true politician!!!

Who is he trying to kid? Yeah, Plouffe is back because he's not interested in making sure that in 3 years he gets reelected.......

:eyes:



:7

[TankLV]

97. If he was "mediocre" - that would be a STEP UP!!!

He's been awful - and will be a well deserved one termer if he continues on his present path...

simply awful president - all bullshit no RESULTS!!!

"but at least he's not bush*!!!"...that's just not working anymore...

[ruggerson]

98. So he's saying the American public wouldn't recognize a "really" good President

and would vote him/her out?

Brilliant politics there! Let's insult voters even more and rack up a landslide.

[David Zephyr]

108. +1

.

[woo me with science]

110. Bingo. nt

[freddie mertz]

102. Nonsense. "I never campaigned on the public option."

The president has a tendency to throw words out without considering their actual meaning or longer-term consequences.

This one sounds like it was tested by some pollster or another.

Means less than nothing.

[ProSense]

104. "The president has a tendency to throw words"

Obama has a tendency to keep doing his job while some people are stuck parsing words, long after comments have been clarified.

[gkhouston]

106. Perhaps he meant, "I never campaigned *for* the public option".

That would better fit the laissez-faire attitude he's demonstrated while Baucus has "helped" the process along this past year.

[theothersnippywshrub]

105. Neither is likely, or even plausible at this point. n/t

[jeanpalmer]

112. My god this guy is hopelessly lost

Somebody better straighten him out real soon.

[democracy1st]

114. What a weak weak man so sad!

[Strawman]

115. Get Biden and 50 Senators to end the filibuster then

You can spend all your political capital and do what needs to be done and let the voters decide if they like it in 2012.

[truebrit71]

116. At the rate he is going he will be neither...

..