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Gothmog

(144,005 posts)
Fri Jan 29, 2016, 01:32 AM Jan 2016

Bernie Sanders And Hillary Clinton Are Actually Fighting About Barack Obama

I believe that there is some merit to the observation made by this article. I admit that I am impressed with the amount accomplished by President Obama in face of the stiff GOP opposition to every one of his proposals and I personally believe that President Obama has been a great President. It seems that this view colors who I am supporting in the primary http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/clinton-sanders-obama_us_56aa378de4b05e4e3703753a?utm_hp_ref=politics

But lurking behind this argument about the future is a dispute that's really about the past. It’s a debate over what Obama accomplished in office -- in particular, how significant those accomplishments really are. And it's been simmering on the left for most of the last seven years.

On one side of this divide are activists and intellectuals who are ambivalent, disappointed or flat-out frustrated with what Obama has gotten done. They acknowledge what they consider modest achievements -- like helping some of the uninsured and preventing the Great Recession from becoming another Great Depression. But they are convinced that the president could have accomplished much more if only he’d fought harder for his agenda and been less quick to compromise.

They dwell on the opportunities missed, like the lack of a public option in health care reform or the failure to break up the big banks. They want those things now -- and more. In Sanders, they are hearing a candidate who thinks the same way.

On the other side are partisans and thinkers who consider Obama's achievements substantial, even historic. They acknowledge that his victories were partial and his legislation flawed. This group recognizes that there are still millions of people struggling to find good jobs or pay their medical bills, and that the planet is still on a path to catastrophically high temperatures. But they see in the last seven years major advances in the liberal crusade to bolster economic security for the poor and middle class. They think the progress on climate change is real, and likely to beget more in the future.

It seems that many of the Sanders supporters hold a different view of President Obama which is also a leading reason why Sanders is not exciting African American voters.

Again, I am not ashamed to admit that I like President Obama and think that he has accomplished a great deal which is why I do not mind Hillary Clinton promising to continue President Obama's legacy.
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Bernie Sanders And Hillary Clinton Are Actually Fighting About Barack Obama (Original Post) Gothmog Jan 2016 OP
Something roughly analogous happened with Republicans in 1988 Recursion Jan 2016 #1
1988 is indeed a good analogy Gothmog Jan 2016 #2
Some of us are reacting to things like this.. Fumesucker Jan 2016 #3
I've always believed that patience is a virtue. NurseJackie Jan 2016 #4

Recursion

(56,582 posts)
1. Something roughly analogous happened with Republicans in 1988
Fri Jan 29, 2016, 01:36 AM
Jan 2016

There was a big in-fight over whether Reagan's administration had been a conservative success or a series of half-hearted compromises. GHWB came in 3rd in the Iowa caucus, for instance, getting fewer delegates than Dole or Pat Robertson.

Really good piece; thanks for posting it.

Gothmog

(144,005 posts)
2. 1988 is indeed a good analogy
Fri Jan 29, 2016, 01:52 AM
Jan 2016

I have no problem supporting someone who will continue the hard work started by President Obama

Fumesucker

(45,851 posts)
3. Some of us are reacting to things like this..
Fri Jan 29, 2016, 06:19 AM
Jan 2016

I figured he was lying but I supported Obama at least partly because unlike Hillary he was not in favor of mandated private insurance during the campaign.

For reason of painful personal history I really loathe the health insurance industry, being forced to buy their miserable product really sticks in my craw and irritates the hell out me. Once the public option was gone, eliminated by Obama rather than the Republicans it was quite clear how he actually rolled.

"We could solve homelessness by mandating everybody buy a house."



NurseJackie

(42,862 posts)
4. I've always believed that patience is a virtue.
Fri Jan 29, 2016, 09:36 AM
Jan 2016

It's not always easy. If it was, then it wouldn't be a virtue.

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