President Obama’s top 5 broken campaign promises

[Playinghardball]

Source: Raw Story
By Stephen C. Webster

President Barack Obama came to office on a tide of voters eager to see a change in more than just the White House's occupant. Two years into his presidency -- and one day after he launched his 2012 reelection campaign -- and even some of his most ardent supporters are having trouble coming to terms with the answer to Sarah Palin's 2010 question: "How's that hopey, changey stuff working out?"

Polls show that less than half the country believes President Obama deserves reelection, with disaffected liberals now a fast growing demographic.

Even though Obama clearly leads all of the likely Republican front-runners at this point, the deep dissatisfaction brewing within his core constituency could make the president, and his whole party, uniquely vulnerable in next year's elections.

Below are five of the biggest campaign pledges Obama failed to keep -- for which he'll likely have to answer before election day 2012.

Read the 5 broken campaign promises at: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/04/05/the-top-five-campaign-promises-obama-left-behind/

[lamp_shade]

1. What the fuck has Obama done so far > >

http://whatthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com/

[county worker]

4. No matter what is on that list, the middle class is at war for their survival,

the uninsured have grown from 40 million to over 60 million, the real unemployment rate is over 10%, millions of vacant homes are spread through out the land, the poverty level has increased since 2008, the income gap continues to grow, hunger in this country is at an all time high, the economy is still bad for most Americans along with continuing wars and the attack by repubs on our safety net programs.

Sure Obama has done some good things and will win reelection but the biggest issues go unspoken of in the White House.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

6. The middle class is at war with the Republicans

NOT President Obama. Work to get more (good) Democrats elected to offices throughout the country and maybe things won't be so bad. Can anybody reasonably argue that things were worse (or the same) when Democrats had the governorships/legislatures of WI, OH, NJ, etc? The level of craziness that we're seeing right now is the result of the Republicans having total control over a number of governorships/state legislatures.

[county worker]

7. You have no argument from me. Obama could join in the fight to save the middle class.

My question is why doesn't he deal with the most pressing problems working class Americans have?

If our fight is with the repubs and the antithesis of the repubs is the Democratic party and Obama is the lead figure in the Democratic party he should be standing with us to fight the repubs!

[Donnachaidh]

21. the war might be with the pukes, but the aid that could be happening AIN'T

It's like being in the middle of a battle, only to look up and see the cavalry sitting on a hilltop, chatting away and ignoring the fight.

USELESS is just as bad as attacking. Especially when they -claim- to be on your side.

[Name removed]

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[Angry Dragon]

16. +1000

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. pc

[ZombieHorde]

11. Her armpit excretes the delicious "butter" we have grown to love. nt

[elocs]

3. As far as #3 goes, the consensus here in WI is that we did not want Obama here during the protests.

This was a people's movement, a people's protest and for Obama to have shown up in Madison at that time it would have been a distraction and the debate would have turned to be about him (which the Republicans would have loved) rather than the issues at hand. It was great that he was willing to march with us but it was nice to know that he was smart enough not to come at that time.

[Shiver]

12. +1000

We didn't need him here. We were doing fine on our own - or does anyone believe that his showing up would have made Walker change his mind?

[Bandit]

13. It does not matter what you wanted. It matters what he said he would do..

And Wisconsin was not the ONLY state that was have collective bargaining taken from State workers.. I wanted him to make a strong stand whether he actually went and marched or not isn't really all that important.

[elocs]

20. Well, let him go to those states then because I'm glad he stayed away from WI.

He could make his stand from wherever he likes, just not here at that time.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

5. My response:

1. He passed ACA. No, it's not 100% comprehensive (and not 100% implemented yet, either) but with a responsible Congress working with him, he (and future Presidents) can continue to reform and expand it so that it will eventually cover everybody. Politically speaking, what he got through was probably all anybody could've gotten through Congress in 2009-2010. That he was able to get ANYTHING through whatsoever should be considered a minor miracle IMHO (see Clinton 1994) given everything he had to deal with.
2. It's quite a stretch to say he has "embraced" Gitmo. Neither he nor Holder have backed off of their original position. However, Obama had to back off on his pledge to close Gitmo and use military tribunals for KSM and others because Congress blocked him from transferring them to SUPERMAX prisons and/or putting KSM or anybody else on trial in NYC.
3. If he said what he said, then fine but how many Presidents can actually afford to do something like that with everything else going on? Backing labor/collective bargaining rights is important but surely he's not expected to get involved in any and every labor dispute in the country, is he? I guess they forgot that he did make a statement in support of labor in Wisconsin during the standoff and he is currently fighting for TSA Union rights.
4. O.k. Fine. He hasn't really made much of an effort (at least that I'm aware of) to advocate for reforming it though technically Congress writes the laws.
5. As the article acknowledges, we are gradually leaving Iraq- just like he said we would during the campaign. He did intensify our efforts in Afghanistan (as he said he would during the campaign) to mixed results. He has stated that the withdraw was scheduled to commence this summer (is it summer yet?) and our presence would gradually diminish until all of our troops are out sometime in 2014. O.k. Maybe it's a little longer than what he might've talked about during the campaign but he wasn't POTUS yet and not privy to all of the facts and details that might ultimately shape such a decision. Upset about it? Pressure him to change his opinion. Get Congress to pass a resolution ordering a withdrawal sooner. The point is that he IS ending the wars, just not, apparently, on everybody else's timetable. Remember that Bush didn't even have a timetable and Republicans in Congress STILL don't believe in one for either conflict.

[spanone]

8. this ardent supporter is not having trouble.

[FormerDittoHead]

10. Wow. All this and the election is just around the corner! I wonder how I'm going to vote!

I'm not happy with Obama, but there is NO ONE on the right that I'll be voting for!

He's got my vote, but not my money. He shouldn't need it, however, when all of those "undecideds" will be voting for him, right?

[LoZoccolo]

14. Raw Story: now on the automatic unrecommend list n/t

[Bluebear]

25. of course

[Name removed]

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[readmoreoften]

19. Fringe? You mean, like, the majority of people on the website?

My life-long Dem father had a frickin oil painting of Obama and now he said he'd vote for any 3rd party ticket that was in any way progressive. You people better wake up because you don't live in reality and you don't manufacture reality nearly as convincingly as the goddamn Republicans do.

[Bluebear]

22. Piss on your posts.

[Zorra]

dupe delete

operator malfunction

[Zorra]

17. One thing I have learned in my lifetime: To always do my best to keep my word.

I have never once regretted keeping my word. Never lost respect by keeping my word. Never had someone not trust me because I kept my word.

Keeping my word, especially when people are depending on me in critical circumstances, has never led anyone to question my integrity. Keeping my word has never led anyone to question my ability or my resolve.

The President has done some good things, there is no question about this.

But his biggest mistakes, IMO, were in not making any significant, discernable effort to even advocate for Single Payer Health Care, ending the wars, or reform the Patriot Act after he said he would try to do these things.

Compromising with republicans and corporations against the interests of non-wealthy Democrats and labor has not earned the President any new voters or any respect from his base. Everyone in the US that is not wealthy is under direct deadly attack by republicans and corporate interests.

Republicans are not going to vote for president Obama. We are.

We are the people he should primarily be representing.

Republicans were full on represented by GW Bush. Bush carried out their will. Their entire agenda was a miserable, devastating failure.

Our president should carry out our (Democrats) will, which is the complete opposite of the republican agenda, and completely abandon consideration of republican desires, desires that already wrecked our country several times.

[sendero]

23. Exactly.

... there is no functional difference between a Bushbot and an Obamabot. Neither have enough critical observation skills to come in out of the rain.

It's not so much an issue of what Obama has done, its that he hasn't even tried - he folds to the Repukes before the debate even starts. It is sickening and I wouldn't vote for him again if he was running against Palin.

[LooseWilly]

24. The worst part is having so hard a time defending my choice in '08 even to myself...

I feel like I've been had by a hustler.

What to do when the choice is between complete indifference and jaw-dropping absurdity?... I mean, the absurdities are at least good for a little drama or outrage or something... right?

[Name removed]

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