President-to-be Obama is doing everything right

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

To paraphrase SNL's version of Sarah Palin, he thinks, "What would a good President do?" and does that.

I see Obama as someone motivated to succeed, so he will emulate Reagan and Bill Clinton; the only two Presidents since 1963 who were not run out of town on a rail. (Defined modestly as having a higher approval rating than disapproval rating when you leave office. Most post-JFK Presidents have left office under 30%! Nixon, Carter, Bush, Bush. Ford was probably around 40% but lost anyway.)

In a Democracy it's hard to separate success and popularity.

I trust the guy precisely because I think he's really into himself. (Just as Ted Kennedy and Hillary and Biden and Dodd and Kerry, etc. are really into themselves. As Barack himself said, "Nobody gets to the level without a pretty healthy ego.")

He can be counted on to do what's best for Barack Obama which is, though it sounds snarky, actually something I consider an important trait. A better economy is good for Obama. World peace is good for Obama. Democratic electoral success is good for Obama.

There's stuff that's important to me that President Obama won't touch with a ten-foot pole and that's probably just as well. If I were President right now I have little doubt that I would be succeeded in office in 2012 by Jindal, Palin, Huckabee or some lesser known theocratic loon.

[countingbluecars]

1. I believe he is also

into the American people and will try to do what is best for us in the long run.

[John Q. Citizen]

3. I don't. I think he's a human being, he's smart, he is aware and cares about others

but ultimately he will do what's best for him.

I saw that when the FISA bill got pushed.

He pledged to filibuster any bill that gave retro active immunity for crimes against Americans. Yet in the end, he determined that the public wasn't all that outraged about some random people who had their lives violated by their government and their government's friends in big business.

He decided it was in his best interests to "vote tough on terror" for political reasons that suited his ambitions.

Personally, I doubt that vote made a difference or would have made a difference in the long run. If he had honored the law and his commitments, he would have won any way.

But it showed me flat out that Obama is totally willing to do whatever it takes if he believes it's necessary for him to do it to survive. And that includes selling out his promises or the rule of law for the "greater good," his election in this case. And i do believe Obama is is a far better PE than McCain and will be a much better president than would McCain. And I think that vote stunk from my perspective.

But I'm not going to pretend he's a saint, end of discussion. Though he is in some ways a saint. but he's also corruptible, fallible, and a drug addict (believe me, i know. I'm six months tobacco free. Nicotine is about the most addictive mood altering drug there is)

So I say lets be real. If we believe Obama is doing the best for us in the long run, then that's what's best for Obama, right? Because if we believe that Obama is doing stuff that's bad for us, that wouldn't be good for Obama.

So I always try to speak out to Obama and my friends, neighbors and acquaintances and let them know when I think Obama's doing good stuff and when I think Obama is doing bad stuff. Because I'm like Obama. I'm doing what's best for me, too.

[ROakes1019]

2. farther back than Reagan

I believe Obama will take his cues from FDR on the economy. Naturally, everything isn't the same as in the 30s but Obama's already talking about things similar to the CCC, WPO, and similar programs to get people back to work.

[Orsino]

4. Let's be wary of the word "trust."

I fear it's too often code for "sit down and shut up."

No one, not even Obama, ought to be trusted when so much is at stake--and he seems grown-up enough to take criticism and dissent, unlike his predecessor.

I don't think that he's been wrong often, and when he has, I suspect that it's in intelligent, practical ways.