Americans like strong presidents, not weak ones [View All]

[brentspeak]

Context: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/2010_Elections/poll-2010-elections-confidence-in-obama-drops/story?id=11146584">Poll: Confidence in President Obama Drops, GOP Congress Gains Support

FDR: strong, bold, made no apologies for standing up for the average American. Reelected three times, including that all-important first reelection - despite the U.S. still gripped by the Great Depression (so much for the myth that a poor economy will necessarily kill a politician's -- or even a whole party's -- reelection chances)

Truman: firm, resolute, no-nonsense -- reelected

Ike: firm, went against his own GOP's most greedy members -- reelected

LBJ: had no idea what he was doing with the Vietnam War, gave up

Nixon: a Republican who vowed to end the war and who adopted progressive economic policies -- reelected

Carter: projected meekness, lost reelection

Reagan: a giant wrecking ball, but did project an image of strength -- reelected

Bush I: also projected meekness, lost reelection

Clinton: projected strength through political savvy and fending off clumsy GOP political attacks -- reelected

Bush II: an exception. Did not project strength and projected total cluelessness, but reelected thanks to a) the weak campaign by his rival, b) the new corporate media, and c) an increasingly dumbed-down electorate

Obama: projecting conciliatory "bipartisanship" all over the place, despite the fact that America put the Democrats in the majority for a reason