What grade would you give Obama after 1 1/2 years? - Domestic Policy

[AnArmyVeteran]

What grade would you give President Obama after 1 1/2 years? - Domestic Policy
What 'Grade' would you give President Obama at the year and a half mark into his presidency? I've broken this poll up into two categories, domestic policy (HCR, DADT, Energy, etc...) and foreign policy (Iraq, Afghanistan, foreign relations).

Note: The second category is another poll.

DOMESTIC POLICY:
A
B
C
D
F

[flvegan]

1. 10W-30

:popcorn:

[AnArmyVeteran]

2. It looks like you opted for the 'multigrade' option. :)

[bmbmd]

3. I give him a "C".

Which is a great improvement from the "F-" who preceded him in office....

[BolivarianHero]

4. D

I'm tempted to give him an F, but that would take away from the fact that Bush (a cancer who still infests us in Canada through the PM and his right-wing freakshow) is far worse.

I'm a tough grader though. I wouldn't give anyone higher than B right now.

[inna]

9. Same here.

I couldn't give him an F because psychopathic fascists like Bush/Palin/McCain certainly make Obama look favorable.

I'd still give him an F on his corporate-friendly, workers-not-so-friendly, policies. But then he gets a B on Sonia Sotomayor, stem cells and student loan reform. I'm sure I'm missing something, but that's the basics...


P.S. Bush still infects you in Canada?

[BolivarianHero]

13. Harper

Our PM is a reactionary demagogue who wrote an essay for the Christian Coalition and used to be active in hard-right lobby groups like the BCC.

[LWolf]

12. There's a huge range of performance with a traditional "F."

0 - 59%.

I give him an F, which still puts him 40 points or so ahead of Bush.

[Rex]

5. Some would say I am being too generous or disingenuous

when I say he gets a solid B.

[housewolf]

6. Given the circumstances we're in...

I think he's done q pretty good job. Oh, I could fall into the "he's not perfect, he hasn't done good enough in (name your issue)" ... but I have a realistic, pragmatic side and I don't expect perfection from any president. I gave him a B. I'm glad every day that he's our president.

[Dogmudgeon]

7. I just don't understand

The guy has gotten more major legislation made into law than anyone in decades, yet we STILL dump on him.

Not "criticize him", but DUMP on him.

Sure, I'm frustrated that we still have DADT, we seem to be stuck in Afghanistan, and that much of said legislation had big chunks torn off; but once those changes are written into law, they are almost impossible to rescind, yet law is quite a bit easier to improve.

We should certainly keep on pushing for more, but I think that's an excellent record.

--d!

[Bluebear]

8. 'The guy has gotten more major legislation made into law than anyone in decades'

Well, there is the conundrum. Whenever somebody mentions DADT, for instance, we are told that Obama has no place in making legislation, since he is in the executive branch. But when something is made into law that is good, a la Lily Ledbetter, Obama is given credit for "making legislation into law".

He escalated the war in Afghanistan, but you casually say we just "seem to be stuck" there.

Finally, what constitutes "dumping on" to you, rather than criticizing?

[AnArmyVeteran]

10. Without displaying some form of discontent where would his motivation come from?

Some leaders just act boldly but for the good of the people. Others have to be pushed to do the right thing. Obama is somewhere in the middle but closer to the latter. I would like to see him more forceful. Things like DADT he could end in the time it takes him to sign his signature on an executive order at least stopping the enforcement of that discriminatory policy. If Obama is worried about the political ramifications of ending DADT he could have done it on his first day in office and it wouldn't be an issue today. Why he hasn't done it is beyond comprehension. President Obama needs to be forceful and stop allowing his opponents to paint him as weak. I believe he needs to dump Rahm and a lot of other advisors who have basically castrated the candidate-Obama. The man in office now is not the person we elected and I put most of that blame on his inept advisors.

[Selatius]

11. A "C" is what you get for signing into law incomplete pieces of legislation with loopholes in them.

An "A" is somehow also convincing the same damn Congress that passed the compromised legislation to fix the fucking holes in their pieces of legislation. A "B" is trying and getting some of the needed changes to these incomplete pieces of legislation through a corrupt Congress.

He starts with a "C" for now, but if he gets two terms, he has more than enough time to build his legacy into something to remember, if only he can make Congress revisit some of the pieces of legislation that passed.

[Greyhound]

14. ..

[VMI Dem]

15. I'll grade on a curve and give him a C.

[inna]

16. wow. lol, who voted A and why? just curious.

[onethatcares]

17. D, reasoning

I have not seen an expression of a spine on any of the domestic issues. I still support him but wonder when the man I supported in the campaign is going to pop out of his suit and start walking the talk. Hell, it doesn't seem that he can even get this Democratic congress to pull its' head out of its' butt and stand up to the pukes on any issue.

Am I seeing things too darkly? To tell ya the truth, I DIDN'T WANT A PONY. I wanted a hard turn around from the * policies, I'm tired of wasting lives in Afganistan, I'm tired of wasting lives here in the good old U. S. of A, I'm more than tired of having to go to work everyday and wonder if my wife or myself is gonna get the ax and lose it all, I'm tired of the healthcare scam for the insurance industry.

Maybe I just expected too much, maybe I didn't, but what I've seen hasn't really impressed me to date. Whoa, scratch that, the banking industry regs are a bit impressive. Hopefully they don't get the crap kicked out of them 6 months from now.