Meanwhile, in the real world

[cali]

Obama's comments about Reagan will have little if any impact.

Some of you are acting as if Obama is a stealth right wingnut who has spent 20+ years under cover as a community organizer, civil rights lawyer, progressive State Senator and liberal/progressive U.S. Senator just in order to win the Presidency and follow in Reagan's footsteps. Reminds me of people on the other side of the fence who think he's a stealth Muslim who secretly sides with the evil Muslim "plan" to impose Sharia Law in the U.S.

You want to believe that, have a blast. But all your fulminating is irrelevant to what's happening on the ground. Obama will win or lose, but not because he made comments about Reagan that met with your displeasure.

It's natural enough that campaign season devolves into the utterly simplistic and into a loss of perspective. I've been guilty of both myself.

I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything. What would be the point? It's clear that a lot of what's driving this and other topics that DU seizes on, is hyper partisanship. And that's the nature of the season we find ourselves in.

It's almost all over. In a month or so, I believe we'll have a pretty good idea of who our nominee is and we'll either come together or not. I hope we'll come together and support our nominee. No matter which one it is, they're vastly preferable to anything on the repuke side.

[WCGreen]

1. It's just another sign that he may not be all that the left is projecting

upon him...

That's my problem...

That and he seems to be, at least two years ago, a little naive...

That is what a lot of this stuff shows me...

[Mythsaje]

2. I said that from almost the beginning...

That was my initial perception of him. Naive.

[cali]

3. I think he's more shrewd than naive.

And I think he understands some very basic things about human nature. It's hard for me to imagine that a 46 year old man with his broad experience and intellectual abilities is naive in any sense of the word as I understand it.

[WCGreen]

4. About politics...

He so wants to be a uniter that he forgets that maybe the true democratic base, not those DINO's from the 80's south who worshiped RR and bought into the old south crap, would be offended...

Just because you are brilliant doesn't mean you can't be naive ...

[cali]

6. I think he's trying to build a coalition that will get behind

a liberal vison. And it's not merely his intelligence that I referred to; it's his broad life experience coupled with intelligence that's been informed by education.

[Mythsaje]

7. I think he underestimates their ruthlessness.

Because he's made "friends" with certain members of their party. But the party as a whole opposes everything Democrats stand for. They've done their damndest to eliminate us as a viable force in this country and damn near every one of them has been on board with it.

He's going to have to come to terms with people who believe that every single thing that we stand for should not only be opposed, but stamped out and erased from the American psyche. His "friends" will not help him. They'll bury their knives in his back and walk away.

[jackson_dem]

8. Reagan didn't "unite" or "compromise" when he was in power

That is the irony of all this. The example Obama points to rejected the Obama philosophy. If you want to see the Obama view in action look at Bush 41's bipartisan work. Where did that get him? Remember the good old days from 1989-1993?

[Mythsaje]

9. I know.

It's trying to be all things to all people and it bugs the crap out of me.

[cali]

10. Reagan united the country behind him so he didn't have to

compromise. That's Obama's point.

[jackson_dem]

11. Obama is going to win 44 states in 2008 and 49 in 2012?

[cali]

12. Are you always this stuck on literal?

No, it's unlikely that he'll win 44 states, but depending on who the repub candidate is, he does have the chance to win a substantial victory with a wide margin of votes over the repub candidate.

[jackson_dem]

13. You know better

My point was not setting a literal bar based on Reagan's record but pointing out what kind of landslide is needed to do what Reagan did. The popular vote margin is more telling. Reagan won by about 20 points in 1984 and 10 in 1980. We might do well in the electoral college like Clinton did both times (his popular vote margin was 6 and 9. Good but not enough to have a transformative mandate.) but it is hard to see us, unless Ayatollah Huckabee is their nominee, winning in a landslide.

[cali]

14. I think that Obama can win with a 10 pt margin of victory against

either Huckabee or Romney. But who knows? This is all highly speculative. So much can happen between now and November.

[jackson_dem]

15. I think he can too

That is enough for a mandate to implement a lot of his agenda but it isn't enough in and of itself to realign our politics. We are speculating. Let's say he, or any of our other candidates, wins by that much, has a great first term and wins by 20 points in 2012. Then we may have a shot at realigning. Reagan won by "only" 10 points his first time but won 49 states and by 20 points his second time.

[cali]

16. agreed

god I love having a substantive exchange. Thanks. It happens all too rarely these days on GDP.

[jackson_dem]

18. Likewise

:hi:

[FrenchieCat]

5. Obama is anything but naive.....

but Like you said, hyper partisanship will not allow rational conversation of the meaning of Obama's words or anything much else at this time. I just pray that enough are not hyper partisan enough to drown him out with their howls.

What I do realize is that bickering on this board with those who don't want to understand certain concepts will not help Obama get elected. I'll be working for Obama here in California, on the ground.

[rucky]

19. As a 37 year old who refuses to grow up...

a little bit of what you call naivete may be just what the doctor ordered for this country. I'd like to see what's possible before resigning to things as they are.

[Perry Logan]

17. Imagine the shitstorm if Hillary had said any of those things about Reagan.

[cali]

20. that dog don't hunt n/t