What would Obama have to do or not do to lose your support?

[kentuck]

Or is your support unconditional? It doesn't matter what he does - you support him regardless?

What expectations do you have of the President? Everyone knows he inherited a mess. What do you think he should do about it?

Do you feel people do not support him simply because they do not like him? Is he just in an impossible situation? We know his heart is in the right place and that is all that matters? He needs our support?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. I support him, but not unconditionally.

I would be a lot happier if he had signed the treaty that bans the use of land mines. And if he had pushed to stop the so-called Patriot Act, and if he were announcing our reasoned withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Those are the big issues for me.

He does need our support, but he's (it seems to me) paying too much attention to the lobbyists, and not enough attention to US.

[Richard D]

2. Just four things

1. End Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
2. Real HCR
3. Full frontal attack on the causes of global climate change.
4. Prosecution of BFEE for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

[dixiegrrrrl]

19. add prosecuting the banksters, I agree with your list.

[Vincardog]

38. 5) outlaw BBV. 6) get Public financing of elections 7) get a REAL JOBs creation system in place

[hfojvt]

43. so if he does those, Obama will lose your support?

because that was the question. Not what he would have to do to gain your support. Apparently he has already lost your support.

I suppose it does not matter that Congress would be necessary to accomplish #2 and probably #3?

[bdamomma]

3. well, I support him, but not on this Afghanistan escalation of troops

I mean if Russia was beaten badly by Afghanistan warlords what makes us think we will "win".

Yes, he is in an impossible situation, after 8 years of negligence and total incompetence of the Bush administration I would say he is in an impossible situation.

[Johonny]

4. As long as he continues to do what he said he would do

Then I support him. I doesn't have to do it exactly as he promised since congress is also involved and on MY TIME schedule. But I do expect him to have honestly told me his intentions and try to carry them out. So far he has done that to my satisfaction.

[guitar man]

5. far from unconditional

He would score big time points with me if he would give the green light to locking up and prosecuting the Bu$h criminal gang....

[azmouse]

6. I won't blame him for things he is not responsible for....

the way so very many on DU will do.

No, he's not perfect. He's not a "messiah".
But I think the right man came along when the country needed him and time will prove it.

[sandnsea]

7. I don't support everything he does

But I doubt that he would ever go so far off the path that I couldn't support his Presidency. I can't understand how any Democrat, Green, Progressive, or Liberal could feel any differently.

[tekisui]

8. I support issues.

I support him when I think he is right, or making the most politically viable decision.

I don't support the decisions that will take us in the wrong direction, or will hurt the Democratic Party.

[Sinti]

9. To get support he has to give support to the people

to lose support he has to not support the people (I mean the people versus International Megacorp, the Resource Extraction Mafia, and their murderous friends) - just like everyone else. That's how it is, common sense demands that you support that which supports you.

[kctim]

10. Not unconditional

and I will continue to support him as long as he continues to govern for ALL of the people, rather than govern from the far left or far right fringes as the previous administration did.

I will agree and disagree with him on many things, but it would be ridiculous and childish to base my support on what he does with one or two of MY personal pet issues.

[donco6]

11. What do you consider a pet issue?

Just curious.

[kctim]

31. An issue

I feel deeply about and refuse to compromise on. I know President Obama will not achieve the goal I wish on some issues, thats a fact of life and of our political process. But thats no excuse to ignore all that he does achieve on those we agree with.

[natrat]

45. thats funy,, i feel fucked on 9 of 10 of my "pet" issues

[LWolf]

12. A list:

1. Appoint Arne Duncan as Secretary of Education.
2. The war on terror still going on 6 months after his inauguration.
3. Allow health insurance corporations to destroy any chance of authentic health care reform.
4. Pander to blue dogs and republicans on any issue.
5. Allow provisions of the Patriot Act to be extended.
6. Decline to sign the land mine ban.
7. Support union-busting and privatization in the forms of merit pay and charter schools
8. Allow Geithner or Summers any position in his administration.
9. Troops still in Iraq 6 months after his inauguration.
10. Fail to prosecute Bush officials for war crimes.

Do you need more?

[iamtechus]

27. Add one to your list: failure to prosecute Bush officials for war crimes. nt

[LWolf]

29. Done. nt

[inna]

39. FISA

[Echo In Light]

13. Given the current structure of our system of governance, I'd not support any "electable" candidate

... "electable" being establishment code for Will Play By OUR Rule$."

[napi21]

14. If he gave tax reductions to the rich again, he would lose me!

I sure he won't do that!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

15. He lost my support when he said that he would up the ante in Afghanistan.

I vote issues not party or politicians.

[rateyes]

16. I'm issues driven.

I don't support him on Afghanistan.

I'll support him on healthcare unless he agrees to sign a bill with mandates and/or no public option for EVERYONE.

I support him on the environment.

I don't support the "looking forward rather than backward" meme when it comes to enforcing the laws against torture, and not prosecuting those who gave the orders.

I support his postion about "no lobbyists in the executive branch." I don't support his waffling on that promise.

If we still have combat troops in Iraq during the 2012 campaign, I will sit out the election.

[treestar]

17. Odd that you are looking for it

It's like you're trying to find ways to cut his support.

[kentuck]

18. Odd that you would look at it that way?

I still support the President but I am not comfortable with the direction he is going. My support is, like others, conditional on the "issues". I am not trying to "cut his support" nor am I trying to encourage others to support him on issues they do not agree with. I think it is interesting to see how far people are willing to go in their support for the President? Or how quickly they are willing to cut their support?

[jgraz]

30. Can't help but notice you didn't answer the question

In realistic terms (e.g. not "killing a kitten on live tv"), what could Obama possibly do to make you say "he's not on our side"? Is there anything?

[Frances]

20. As long as the Repubs and Tea Partiers

are as irrational, fascist as they are today, I will be grateful Obama/Biden are in the White House.

I don't agree with everything Obama does, but when I consider my options, Obama looks VERY good.

[QC]

21. It would be nice if he would act in the interests of the people now and then. n/t

[Better Today]

22. He's losing my support every day. Though my personal financial situation

sucks entirely right now and I'm angry that banks got a bailout that didn't trickle down and all we small biz owners get is a summit in December.

However, that isn't why I'm losing faith and reconsidering my support. It's primarily because of the way he has handled torture photos, torture issue in general, his not going after the war crimes of BushII, and now the Patriot act and wire tapping, not repealing DADT. These are issues that are bigger than my piddly little problems. These are the things I thought he'd do something about to restore USA's integrity. Yes, just his being in office has helped our image, but it doesn't help our integrity when he's walking the sme path with the same excuses.

[iceman66]

23. Unless the Republican candidate in 2012 runs to the left of Obama,

which isn't going to happen, he will not lose my support.

[NNN0LHI]

24. Lose the next election and let some wackadoodles back in control of this country

That would do it.

Don

[havocmom]

25. His failure to lead the effort (and succeed) to repeal the Patriot Act

He took an oath to uphold the Constitution. Failure to do that is the prime break of trust.

[HipChick]

26. Lose the election and let Beck/Palin/Rush types run the Whitehouse

[flvegan]

28. He won't lose my support.

But I won't blindly support every decision he makes. I might criticize things here and there, but he's still far and away so much better than what McCain would be doing.

My expectations are probably unrealistic, at least in a political game. So, I'll keep them to myself.

[Winterblues]

32. In three years I will be in a better position to answer this.

Right now it doesn't matter one bit.. He is there and not a thing I or anyone can do about it unless he either commits a serious crime or is somehow incapacitated. I will either support him or another Democrat, but in no way will I ever support a Republican for anything, not even dog catcher.

[TwilightGardener]

33. I support him and will continue to, based on one principle--

that he makes progress, makes things better overall for MOST Americans by the end of his term, rather than worse. That's it. I don't have a list of specific things he has to do to prove he's a good Democrat or a liberal or whatever, nor a list of demands that MUST BE MET BY A CERTAIN TIME. Just looking for progress: working towards ending the wars with the best resolutions possible.. decreasing the number of health-uninsured and reducing the numbers of people going bankrupt with hospital bills.. a stabilizing economy.. improvements in environmental policy.. the Constitution being upheld.. dealing with problem nations more effectively and without new military aggression.. terror plots being thwarted with effective intelligence.. Unless I see that Obama is definitely and irreparably off track, then I will give him the benefit of the doubt, and trust, and patience. I'll reserve final judgment until nearly the end of his term--I'll give him a couple years to reverse course on prior administrations' bad ideas, and will wait for his own initiatives and policies to bear results. And I will judge those results, rather than have immediate reflexive doom-and-gloom hissyfits based on wishes and predictions.

[jgraz]

34. You've touched on the major difference between the two camps

Most of the critics go after Obama on specific issues. When he does something wrong, we criticize him. When he does something we like, we http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8692346&mesg_id=8692346">praise him.

I've yet to see one of the so-called "supporters" post a single thoughtful critique of anything Obama has done. Anything. Any hire, any policy decision -- even any single statement. For them, it's all about sticking with the team, right or wrong -- and, of course, attacking any critics with "hater" and "pony" and (my personal favorite) "you NEVER liked him!!"

Both sides want Obama to succeed. Some of us just think "success" means more than winning an election.

[Papagoose]

35. I support him

but I reserve the right to complain when I disagree with his direction. The President has surprised me several times though, when I thought he was all wrong, I realized he was steps ahead of me in his thinking and I ended up agreeing. I'm still not used to having a President who is smarter than me.

[mopinko]

36. i support the actual president. the media projection, not so much.

sad to see so many here who swallow the media image of the presidency, when the truth is available here. those threads sink like stones, tho.
i think he is doing the best job possible in the real world. hard to see how he will ever live up to our dreams for him when so many have already jumped ship. people who swallow the kind of pr crap that sunk jimmy carter should not be surprised to wake up nov 7, 2012 to find the new ronald raygun headed for the white house.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7086187

[tigereye]

37. well, I was just in DC and I would like to see more improvement in impoverish

ed neighborhoods there. My brother who used to live in DC for years said this one section of NE looked worse than when he lived there 15 years ago!


But all in all, I am totally thrilled to have a compassionate and smart Dem in the White House! :woohoo:

[cali]

40. attack Iran

like him, not like him, whatever. that would certainly be it for me.

[enigmatic]

41. I don't support Politicians and I don't support The Party

I support ideas and ideals; nothing more, nothing less. Unconditional support to a Politician or The Party is fool's gold to me.

Whatever the party and/or politician that supports the ideals/ideas that mean the most to me I will give my support. Those who treat it like a sports team and/or cult of personality scare the shit out of me, and always have.

[Raine]

42. Ignoring environmental issues

and the crisis of global climate change. Unfortunately he's losing me on those issues already, I still have hope but it's fading. :-(

[stuntcat]

44. environmental.. maybe I'll know after Copenhagen..

..maybe I'll know after Copenhagen if he's failed me or not.

Anything to do with the bald monkeys seems silly from now on :P For a few years I still hung onto hope for Education but even that seems silly next to the big shitty mess everybody's still ignoring. I call it a 'long emergency' because we're being eased into this retarded uncaring way of life. I really do believe most of the babies born today will grow up not minding how many animals their species is wiping out forever!