Obamas Presidential Legacy

I think Obama's legacy will be his lack of resolve. He came in with a good portion of the vote and a lot of popular support. He had fairly high approval ratings despite a dismal economy. Yet he always seemed so willing to concede to the republican party. He came in with almost a mandate for health care and economic reform, but he seemed to falter on both. He passed health reform, but it was a very watered down version of what he promised and wanted despite having control of congress at the time. His policy on gay rights is lauded, but he really didnt step up to the plate for them. He kind of dragged his feet until popular opinion supported them, then he jumped on board. So I give hima pass for that but not praise. And for the debt deal, I felt like he caved on his ideals and let the republican party dictate the deal.

sonicare

way to early to talk legacy, his supporters will say he will be well remembered and his opponents will say he will be forgotten weezyfb

[QUOTE="weezyfb"]way to early to talk legacy, his supporters will say he will be well remembered and his opponents will say he will be forgotten mattbbpl

I think Obama will have agood legacy so farthanks to the Republicans for the past two years more then anything else.. The recent debacle has pretty much made Obama out to be the voice of reason and compromise, being a moderate above all other things.. While the Republicans have pretty much turned into the unreasonable party of no.. Who really don't care about how bad the country gets inless they can strong arm the president or get him out of office out right.. This is in no way suggesting he is or isn't, its just he has appared to be teh lesser of two evils as of late.. More then anything else.

[QUOTE="mattbbpl"][QUOTE="weezyfb"]way to early to talk legacy, his supporters will say he will be well remembered and his opponents will say he will be forgotten sSubZerOo

I think Obama will have agood legacy so farthanks to the Republicans for the past two years more then anything else.. The recent debacle has pretty much made Obama out to be the voice of reason and compromise, being a moderate above all other things.. While the Republicans have pretty much turned into the unreasonable party of no.. Who really don't care about how bad the country gets inless they can strong arm the president or get him out of office out right.. This is in no way suggesting he is or isn't, its just he has appared to be teh lesser of two evils as of late.. More then anything else.

[QUOTE="sSubZerOo"]

[QUOTE="mattbbpl"] In all fairness, these are mostly just lighthearted "up to this point" exercises. It's more of a barometer for people's current perceptions rather than a true look into what his end legacy will be.KC_Hokie

I think Obama will have agood legacy so farthanks to the Republicans for the past two years more then anything else.. The recent debacle has pretty much made Obama out to be the voice of reason and compromise, being a moderate above all other things.. While the Republicans have pretty much turned into the unreasonable party of no.. Who really don't care about how bad the country gets inless they can strong arm the president or get him out of office out right.. This is in no way suggesting he is or isn't, its just he has appared to be teh lesser of two evils as of late.. More then anything else.

This is oversimplyfing it.. Unlike the Republicans, democrats are far more split on things especially when that majority was thanks to many southern democrats and DINO's (which disappeared come the midterm).. Add in the fact of the historical large amount of filibustering the Republican minority did, Obama hardly had the majority as your leading on to be.

[QUOTE="KC_Hokie"][QUOTE="sSubZerOo"]

I think Obama will have agood legacy so farthanks to the Republicans for the past two years more then anything else.. The recent debacle has pretty much made Obama out to be the voice of reason and compromise, being a moderate above all other things.. While the Republicans have pretty much turned into the unreasonable party of no.. Who really don't care about how bad the country gets inless they can strong arm the president or get him out of office out right.. This is in no way suggesting he is or isn't, its just he has appared to be teh lesser of two evils as of late.. More then anything else.

sSubZerOo

This is oversimplyfing it.. Unlike the Republicans, democrats are far more split on things especially when that majority was thanks to many southern democrats and DINO's (which disappeared come the midterm).. Add in the fact of the historical large amount of filibustering the Republican minority did, Obama hardly had the majority as your leading on to be.

Not sure how democrats being divided during that time is the fault of republicans.

[QUOTE="sSubZerOo"]

[QUOTE="KC_Hokie"]For the first two years of his presidency his party controlled both houses of Congress. Things got worse during that time as well.KC_Hokie

This is oversimplyfing it.. Unlike the Republicans, democrats are far more split on things especially when that majority was thanks to many southern democrats and DINO's (which disappeared come the midterm).. Add in the fact of the historical large amount of filibustering the Republican minority did, Obama hardly had the majority as your leading on to be.

Not sure how democrats being divided during that time is the fault of republicans.

[QUOTE="KC_Hokie"]

[QUOTE="sSubZerOo"]

This is oversimplyfing it.. Unlike the Republicans, democrats are far more split on things especially when that majority was thanks to many southern democrats and DINO's (which disappeared come the midterm).. Add in the fact of the historical large amount of filibustering the Republican minority did, Obama hardly had the majority as your leading on to be.

DroidPhysX

Not sure how democrats being divided during that time is the fault of republicans.

Filibuster proof majorities for any length of time are extremely extremely rare. Having huge majorities in both houses of Congress is rare. Republicans under Reagan, for example, never controlled Congress and for most of the time it was split or under democratic control.

[QUOTE="tylergamereview"] He didn't kill Osama, the SEALS did!

whipassmt

[QUOTE="tylergamereview"]He was a huge spender who killed Osama. So he was like a really really really expensive hitman. Yeah. Politics are fun.whipassmt

Got cluster****ed by a movement history will NOT be kind to.

Got cluster****ed by a movement history will NOT be kind to.

789shadow

But really, we may not even be halfway through Obama's presidency; I don't care to speculate on what his legacy might be like. If you took away the second terms of the last three presidents who served for 8 years, their legacies would have been totally different. Bush would have been associated with kicking Taliban and Baathist ass but not so much with the difficulties that followed, Clinton would have had NAFTA and the Oslo Accords, but not the Lewinsky Scandal or Kosovo, and Reagan never would have met Gorby.

A talented and moderate individual who broke one of the last remaining color barriers and then did the best he could in a political environment where one party has gone certifiably insane and off the deep end, pulled us back from the brink of the second Great Depression that he inherited (fingers crossed), ended two wars started by his predecessor, ended DADT, enacted the first new entitlement program since FDR that will only grow and be strengthened over time, and killed the greatest terrorist that the U.S. had ever known.nocoolnamejim

Even though he was an orator...Stevo_the_gamer

Seriously... I can sit through one of his speeches (in fact, I have done this, and it drives my family crazy :| ) and literally time when he'll pause for a breath, turn his head exactly 45 degrees, and resume speaking.

That picture I posted earlier in the discussion? C-3PO and Obama have 2 things in common:

1. Both are freakin' androids (although Threepio sounds much more human when he speaks than Obama does);

2. Both annoy the **** out of me when they open their mouths. Obama could have been a Republican, and I'd still want to switch channels as soon as he starts talking.

What is it about his public speaking that people find so appealing? I just don't get it.

(By the way... no, I didn't find George W. Bush that interesting to listen to, either, but that's because he stammered too much... he was too human, if you follow my meaning.)

way to early to talk legacy, his supporters will say he will be well remembered and his opponents will say he will be forgotten weezyfb

Early? The elections really aren't that far away.

He will have the curse of Herbert Hoover. He will get the blame for the crash of the economy and lose.

As far as good things, well there is healthcare. Provided it sticks, I imagine that this will remain (whether he loses 2012 of not) the single biggest most memorable thing his admin has accomplished. And of course being first black president.

A talented and moderate individual who broke one of the last remaining color barriers and then did the best he could in a political environment where one party has gone certifiably insane and off the deep end, pulled us back from the brink of the second Great Depression that he inherited (fingers crossed), ended two wars started by his predecessor, ended DADT, enacted the first new entitlement program since FDR that will only grow and be strengthened over time, and killed the greatest terrorist that the U.S. had ever known.nocoolnamejim

He didn't kill OBL. He approved the mission; the credit for that lies with the CIA and the SEAL's.

[QUOTE="whipassmt"]

[QUOTE="nocoolnamejim"]A talented and moderate individual who broke one of the last remaining color barriers and then did the best he could in a political environment where one party has gone certifiably insane and off the deep end, pulled us back from the brink of the second Great Depression that he inherited (fingers crossed), ended two wars started by his predecessor, ended DADT, enacted the first new entitlement program since FDR that will only grow and be strengthened over time, and killed the greatest terrorist that the U.S. had ever known.sSubZerOo

Actually the timeline for ending the Iraq War that the U.S. follows is the one outline in the Status of Forces Agreement which was negotiated between the Bush Administration and The Iraqis in 2007-08, so its more accurate to say that Obama would just be the guy sitting in office when U.S. troops withdraw and Bush and Petraeus are the ones that actually came up with the plan.

This is what we call a political ploy that more or less left the pile of crap for the next presidency to deal with(based on the popularity of republicans, democrats).. Just like how the Bush tax cuts were strategically placed in ending.. Both parties do this all the time to force blame on one another.

I think in 30 to 50 years, when all the programs he believed in and thought America would benefit from are instituted and in operation, I think we will look back and go "Gee, we really should have listened to our president back then, he really was right about most things"

I think Obama is ahead of his time, which is unfortunate.

mrbojangles25

IDK if any of you have the attention span to read this but it pretty much sums up Obama's legacy very well.

What Happened to Obama?

Basically a lack of identity, direction, and ability to make any tough decision.