There Will Be No Serious Challenge to President Obama & He'll Be Re-Elected in 2012.

[David Zephyr]

President Barack Obama clearly found his footing in 2010 after a rough start in 2090. The hell-fire of two wars, staggering unemployment, a housing crisis unparalleled since the 1930's and the collapse of Western capitalism that greeted him upon inauguration tested this man and his leadership skills -- all simultaneously -- in ways that no President since Franklin Roosevelt experienced.

I do know a thing or two about the American People and I can confidently tell you this: For two years now, Americans have watched and studied this remarkable young President, his First Lady and his two children as our First Family and I can tell without hesitation, and they are warming to President Barack Obama.

His quiet, deliberative manner proved that "No Drama Obama" was more than just a campaign slogan. It's really how the man is engineered and wired. And that "nice side" that so many of us on the Left sometimes are prone to consider as weakness, well, that really is how he is. President Obama is a gentleman...and there's nothing weak about him at all.

Our last President apparently beleived that showing strength was more important than demonstrating strength. Our country had to endure eight very long years of the former President's non-stop bellicose talk, fear-mongering, and conceited swaggering posture. It was the only card in his deck. Someone forgot to tell George W. Bush that although Ronald Reagan -- who Bush clearly attempted to imitate -- really did live on an actual ranch (not a former pig farm) and that he rode real horses, and unlike Bush, could actually be a gentleman and a statesman at times. Thankfully, the quarter's worth of time on George's pony ride in front of the supermarket finally expired and someone took his little rifle away from him.

I can't help but feel nothing less than relief to know that a dangerous fool was replaced by a grownup man, who does more than he talks about doing. He accomplishes, sometimes slowly, what others have only pretended to to or have only promised to do.

President Obama has overseen the creation of more jobs already than those created during the Bush Administration. That "bikini curve" is simply staggering to look at, and yet, the President is keenly aware that there's a lot more to be done. But, for pete's sake, let's give this man some credit. It's bad enough that Republicans will never give this man one word of credit, but it's even worse when many of us on the Left (I point my finger at myself first) can not or will not give him credit either.

As a gay man, let me say just this: this President has done more for my persecuted community than any living President in American history. And, of course, he didn't do it alone, but he did keep his word in ending Don't Ask, Don't Tell. He signed a federal bill including my community into the national hate crimes law. He's delivered. He's earned my respect and my gratitude.

As a life-long Democrat and activist, I will tell you that I was disappointed on many levels with the President during his first year, but that's ancient history to me because I see the makings of a historic, and yes, transformative President in Barack Obama. He's beginning to deliver the goods, he's keeping his promises, and he's putting this country back on the right track again.

There will be no credible political challenge to this President from the Democratic Party in 2012, and anyone that the Republicans choose to nominate will not have a prayer of defeating this good man that resides at the White House. And moreover, Obama will have coat tails in 2012 and we might just wind up with control of the House of Representatives again. Why? Because the American People know a good thing when they see it. And they are figuring out that we actually do have a very good thing with Barack Obama in the White House. A very good thing indeed.

[AspenRose]

1. 2012 is an eternity away, and anything can happen (and usually does)

but I'm glad you're optimistic. :hug:

[xiamiam]

2. well i recommended..because he got me again..ive been mad as hell

about a lot of things..but i needed that speech personally..i think a lot of us needed that..

[Exultant Democracy]

31. +1. I feel about the same way.

[Jakes Progress]

45. I loved the speech too.

I've loved many of his speeches. But we elected him to be president and commander in chief, not public orator.

[Cognitive_Resonance]

3. K&R David K&R nt

[davidpdx]

4. I agree with you

But Obama needs to take advantage of the recent turn around (since the election) and push his agenda. The opposition have literally handicapped themselves with their own selfish behavior.

I'm watching the speech right now as I wasn't home when it took place. One of the things about his appearance that stood out is how grey he is getting. The guy isn't even 50 yet. It speaks volumes for the stress he is under.

Edit: I was recommendation #7.

[Politicub]

5. K&R - proud that he's my president and the face of America to the world

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

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

[LynneSin]

7. I kinda saw 2012 as another 1996. They are almost identical with how they are going about

A president weakened by a bad mid-term election turns it around to win re-election 2 years later.

Personally I think the RNC would rather focus on regaining congress in the next 2 election cycles then building a big name to run in 2016 to win the white house.

[Scottybeamer70]

8. Thank you!

Nice post.

[Dokkie]

9. K&R

[golfguru]

10. 21 months is eternity in politics....all depends on unemployment

if over 9% in November 2012 it will be a very tough election.
if under 7% then it will be smooth sailing. Simple as that.
It is the economy stupid.

So just watch unemployment and you will know what is to come.

[opihimoimoi]

11. KnR :o)

[eridani]

12. I think that depends on what happens to the economy between now and then n/t

[demwing]

13. Barack Obama - Time Traveling President of the Future!

"President Barack Obama clearly found his footing in 2010 after a rough start in 2090."

The paradox presented in that statement boggles the mind!



:) All in good fun....

[David Zephyr]

30. I re-read my post long after it was too late to edit it and had a good laugh at my 2090, demwing.

Many years ago, I wrote here that typos were the hallmark of a David Zephyr post. I see that I've started 2011 with staying consistent.

Great graphic, by the way. :)

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

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

[dionysus]

16. .

:nopity:

[gibby2433]

15. The GOP knows this very well...

and that's why we can expect the nasty and violent rhetoric not to decrease but INCREASE in the next two years. The closer we get to 2012 and the more desperate the Right is going to become, because they know (at this moment) Obama is a virtual shoo-in for re-election.

[trud]

17. yup. Obama in 2012

I wonder how much of this drastic improvement is because Rahm Emanuel is no longer there?

[dotymed]

18. IMO,

people who put party before accomplishments, on both political sides, are very detrimental to our country. Interpret his "accomplishments" how you will. Unless we can get a "people before profits" person leading America, we are doomed. We do not currently, nor have we, since FDR (again IMO).

[TexasEditor]

19. "... in 2010 after a rough start in 2090."

Fix your opening sentence, Comrade.

President Barack Obama clearly found his footing in 2010 after a rough start in 2090.

[Arkana]

43. Yeah, I was gonna say--he's good, but time travel?

[Skittles]

60. I could not get past that

I mean, WTF

[RichGirl]

20. I love President Obama and will not only vote for him but work my ass off getting him re-elected.

But, let's face it, we only have two choices. The right gets worse and worse. So no matter how critical someone is toward President Obama you have to consider the alternative and not voting is a vote for them. And any vote for a third party is a vote for them.

These people are crazier than I ever imagined they could be. I think even the saner republicans are realizing that. So, unless you want children to go to school with a gun and a bible in their backpack....

Bottom line...you are absolutely right...he will be re-elected. Probably record-breaking landslide.

[creon]

21. agree on all points

This country was in a real mess in 2008. The economy was close to a real depression. And, the financial side of the economy was almost unregulated. Plus, all the other problems.
The Democratic Party is, as it usually is, divided and undisciplined. That is a fact of life.

The country needs a man of Obama's approach and demeanor. We need calm and steady.

The problem is that Washington lacks talent. The people in Washington lack the wit, the wisdom, the political and moral courage to do what needs to be done. And, Obama has to work with that lack of talent.

It is very unlikely that anyone from the Democratic side will try to 'primary him'. The talent is absent.

The economy is critical. If it is still bad, the GOP has a chance.


It is sad that there is so little talent in the political class.

[LibDemAlways]

22. Assuming there is no challenger, the Dems could save themselves a lot of

money and simply horn in on the Repukes convention. Then there would be two nominees - Republican Right and Republican Light. It's only a matter of degrees.

[Phx_Dem]

23. Amen friend.

:7

[RandomKoolzip]

24. THere are still lots of things about this administration that make me terribly uneasy...

but right now, after last night and especially after the repeal of DADT, I at least know that Obama is a good man with a good heart.

[ClassWarrior]

25. Someone else with crystal balls.

:eyes:

NGU.

[WI_DEM]

26. If the economy is improving and unemployment is falling he will be a shoo-in

but even if things aren't much better I think he wins anyway because by and large I think most Americans will feel he is better suited for the job than any of the GOP candidates currently being discussed.

[onlyadream]

27. Well said

I have to admit that this past fall I felt buyer's remorse, however, Obama has since shown that he is pragmatic and will do what is necessary in his own time. The HCR was disappointing, but he said that it was the first step. He mentioned how social security morphed over time into what it is today. HCR will do the same. I feel safe knowing that he's in the WH and certainly hope you're right about the American people knowing a good thing when they see it. With all this talk on the MSM, it sometimes doesn't seem that way.

[InvisibleTouch]

28. Fantastic post, thank you!

I get so disgusted to see him bashed here by people whose own personal priority hasn't been shot to top of the President's to-do list, that he hasn't waved a magic wand and cured all our ills. My own personal priorities are among those that haven't been addressed as aggressively as I would like in an ideal world (I personally think that every resource, EVERY resource, should be thrown first and foremost into addressing climate crisis, environmental degradation and toxic pollutants, and the protection of endangered species), but we have to realize what he's dealing with - the morass that was left for him to clean up, and the deliberate sabotage set against him daily by his political opponents - for no other reason than to spitefully try to block his every move. It's not even about differing ideologies - it's about pure spite. This is what the President is working against, and is still getting things done and making things better. And he's done it without descending into bluster and bullying and name-calling and nastiness. I too would like to see him hit back a little harder and put the rethugs in their place with a good verbal shredding, but that's not his way. I have to respect his personal style, because he *is* getting things accomplished.

I remember how I felt on election night 2008 - like I could dare to breathe again after 8 years. No matter how annoyed or frustrated I've been since then, no matter that I've disagreed with or been disappointed in some things President Obama has done or not done, I've never since had that pervasive sense of having to hold my breath in fear. He needs and deserves our support, because he gets all the opposition he needs from our enemies.

One big problem I see is that there's a nebulous sense of what exactly President Obama has accomplished, as in, specifics. I know the specifics exist, I know he's been doing good things and making progress. But we need to define them clearly and promote them. Repeal of DADT is a big one. That's a concrete, specific leap of progress that we can point to. How about numbers of new jobs created per month? How about raised standards of environmental protection, gas mileage rules for automakers, laws that help and encourage small businesses? Those specifics exist, but I don't know where to find them in a centralized location. A clear, concise list that can be forwarded, promoted, referred to, and kept in the public eye, would be one way that we can do our part to help a besieged President move forward in fixing what the rethugs broke.

[HeroTwins]

29. you got that right!

[efhmc]

32. 2090? That was a rough start.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

41. At least his fluxcapacitor was working. nt

[efhmc]

42. Too cute.

[impik]

33. Excellent post. His win will be bigger than in 200&

He has ni competition on the other side. Not surprising that none of them is yet to even declare they're running.

[RZM]

35. Definitey disagree

I think it will actually be smaller, though that depends on the nominee and the economy (along with many other things). I think Obama would have a hard time keeping N. Carolina and Virginia if the Huckster is the nominee. Indiana is probably gone no matter what. The Republicans are apparently very interested in New Jersey, though that would probably require Christie on the ticket and even then I think the chances for a flip there are pretty small.

I do think Obama will win, but he won't waltz to victory -- he's going to have to earn it. I think the only way he could win with a bigger margin than in 2008 would be with either a throwaway/unknown Republican nominee or a major scandal on the Republican side.

[FiveGoodMen]

34. And he will continue to push us in the direction set by Bush.

[lfairban]

36. Good to hear.

Obama is better than Bush, you got that right.

I am glad to hear he will have no problems getting re-elected. Now I can put my energy, and money, into getting progressives elected to congress.

[Blue Owl]

37. Sarah may now return to the hellhole

from whence she was belched forth.

[L0oniX]

38. No comment! (one pissed off anti war, anti corp, anti MIC progressive)

[Skittles]

61. I hear you

bone tossing aside, I want REAL results, REAL change

[closeupready]

39. He will be re-elected, yes, I've said so since he was sworn in.

Republicans have nobody to run.

Now do I think there won't be a credible challenger to the Democratic nomination? Not necessarily, but they don't have a chance in hell of being nominated.

[BlueIris]

40. If you post that enough times on DU.com, maybe that will magically make it possible.

Oh, except it totally won't.

[Arkana]

44. There's a difference between wanting the President to be reelected

and actively rooting for him to be replaced by a Republican. Which, you know, is evidently what you want.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

50. I wish I could laugh in your face when he is reelected.

[BzaDem]

54. Actually, no magic is required. Just because a tiny portion of each party will never be satisfied

does not mean he won't be re-elected (to the chagrin of a few). The same tiny percentage exists in the Republican party opposed to whoever they elect -- this is nothing new.

[Kolesar]

55. snotty...eom

[Jakes Progress]

46. Probably right. The power elite will have nothing against putting him in office again.

[Kolesar]

57. One off snot subject line that has no relevance to David Zephyr's O/P

whiney too :cry:

[Jakes Progress]

58. Not off the subject.

Very relevant. And I'm not the one who whines when reality is thrust in front of them.

2 points for imaginative use of word "snot". I will counter with "snit". You know. What you are in.

[DFW]

47. Don't be so sure there will be no serious challenge from the Republicans

I agree Obama will be re-elected, but the far right wants "to take the country back" in a bad way, and they
will use (my opinion only here) the 2012 race as a testing ground, much the same way Hitler's Luftwaffe used
Guernica and the Basques as training bombing runs for World War II. They will try every dirty trick and employ
every propaganda experiment they can legally get away with. Frank Luntz and the House Republicans are meeting
very soon to see what they can come up with. They will make what seems a concerted effort to snatch back the
White House, and make a decidedly real effort at taking back the Senate while keeping the House.

The biggest difference between Luntz's word warriors and us is that they see it as "taking" the country, whereas
we seek to earn back the country. Their tactics will bear this out, mark my words.

[kimmerspixelated]

48. I certainly don't think it is definite that he will win in a large way.

I haven't seen that speech yet, but I know it was good.. I am proud that he is such a fantastic orator. I think he means well and is a good man. I really think that TPTB are running things behind the scenes like the mafia so most of the time his hands are tied-hence the gray hair, but I will say this... the crowds and parking lots during the Christmas shopping season spoke volumes about the turnaround. Volumes! And that's what is going to count the most.

[norske]

49. The results are the same

"I can't help but feel nothing less than relief to know that a dangerous fool was replaced by a grownup man, who does more than he talks about doing. He accomplishes, sometimes slowly, what others have only pretended to to or have only promised to do." op

Bush was clearly an imbecile, yet the results have been virtually the same under Pres. Obama. I don't think the people who are being slaughtered in the Middle East recognize the nuance of being killed by Bush's policies or by Obama's policies...they're still just as dead and Obama continues to follow the neoliberal policies of his predecessors.

[bread_and_roses]

51. and this will matter to the dominance of the Oligarch-Corporatacracy exactly how?

By the record thus far, not at all. A scrap or bone gets thrown now and again to a constituency group - the GLBT community, Labor and Women (Lily Ledbetter was a two-fer), First Peoples...meanwhile, the Banksters and Corporate Profiteers and Oligarchs and the War Machine occupy the same positions of obscene wealth, influence, access, influence, secrecy, and privilege not just unconstrained but applauded and abetted.

[girl gone mad]

52. I still have hope..

for a better future for Christina Taylor Green's generation than what this President seems capable of offering.

[Kolesar]

56. What a twisted, complicated sentence

:cry:

[Dawgs]

65. I have hope because of the her and her generation.

Not because of this President. The status quo is not enough.

:cry:

[SnoopDog]

53. Hopefully, we can elect a Progressive Congress and Senate...

...to counter balance his center-right policies....

[totodeinhere]

59. It's too early to say with a certainly that he will be reelected.

I would say that he can be called the heavy favorite at this point. But if the economy tanks again or if any number of other things , some of which we might be be foreseeing at this time, should happen, then the race might suddenly become competitive.

Then we have the possibility that if it's close enough the GOP might try to steal the election again.

I learned not to pay much attention to political predictions at the DU after several posters assured us that the GOP would not retake the House. I also remember that several posters assured us that Scott brown could not win. And I also saw assurances at DU that Rand Paul would not win.

So I take any prediction at DU with a grain of salt.

[GSLevel9]

62. what will the PowerBall numbers be this weekend? nt

[Lindsey]

63. Thank you for posting the positives! n/t

[Dawgs]

64. Sorry. I'm not going to forget about the Obama tax cuts for the rich...

just because he finally passed something progressive.

Too little too late.

[old mark]

66. I am thinking the OP is correct...the "real" GOP candidates will wait till '16

while they send a place holder in '12...Maybe Barbour?

I really wish the Democrats would start thinking about 2016...I am afraid the GOP will take it all after the Obama era is through.


mark

[TomClash]

67. Proving once again . . .

. . . that one good speech trumps a host of bad policies.

[TBF]

68. The only "goods" Obama is delivering go straight to the elites. Sorry,

one good speech does not make a re-election campaign.

[Catherina]

69. My dear friend David, this country won't be anywhere near the right track

until it has the integrity to end the wars. Until then, I'm very sorry but I can't join you in any optimism or rejoicing.

[Number23]

70. Self delete. This place just ain't worth it and hasn't been for a while.

[Beacool]

71. Obama will be reelected depending on two things:

1) The state of the economy. Will the job market improve by election time?

2) The Republican candidate. If they are foolish enough to choose someone like Palin, then it won't even be much of a competition for Obama.

:shrug:

[dionysus]

72. just where have YOU been young lady?

:hi:

[Beacool]

74. Hi, sweetie!!!

I've been busy. Work, life, the usual. LOL!!!

I'm already sick of winter. There's been too much snow around here.

Hugs......

:hug:

[dionysus]

76. nothing cures those winter ills like one of these;

:hi:

[Beacool]

77. Banky!!!

:woohoo:

I sure could use one. This morning's commute in the freezing rain was slow and treacherous. I wish I could have stayed in bed with a banky.

Thank you!!!

:pals:

[KoKo]

73. Absolutely...no problems with what you say. K&R!

[Pushed To The Left]

75. I look forward to watching RW heads explode in November 2012!

[Deep13]

78. Depends on the economy.

If it gets better, he's golden. If not, the Rs will have an easy time of it.