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TOPIC: "The Blasé Mandate" (11/12/10)
Sanders


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"The Blasé Mandate" (11/12/10)
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Read @ NYTimes.com
Op-Ed Columnist

The Blasé Mandate

By CHARLES M. BLOW
Published: November 12, 2010
Democrats still searching for a silver lining to the waxing they took last Tuesday can cheer up a bit. According to a new poll, the public may already be experiencing a bit of buyer’s remorse about the choices they’ve made, and Republicans seem to have unrealistic expectations about what their leaders will be able to accomplish.

A poll released Thursday by the Pew Research Center found that people are considerably less happy about the Republicans’ victory than they were about the Democrats’ victory in 2006 or about the Republicans’ victory in 1994. They also approve much less of the “Republicans’ policies and plans for the future” than they did of the Democrats’ plans in 2006 or the Republicans’ plans in 1994. (I must say that that question threw me a bit because I didn’t know that Republicans had “policies and plans” for the future. Silly me.)

About 60 percent of the respondents thought that the Republicans in 1994 and the Democrats in 2006 would be successful in getting their programs passed into law. This year, just more than 40 percent believed this about the Republicans. In fact, unlike in 2008 and 2006, more people than not believed that relations between Republicans and Democrats in Washington would now get worse.

That doesn’t sound like a ringing endorsement to me. It sounds like a Congress of Low Expectations.

Furthermore, about half of the respondents said that President Obama still should take the lead in solving the nation’s problems. Only 39 percent said the same about Bill Clinton in 1994 and only 29 percent said so about George W. Bush in 2006. This seems to be at odds with what Republican respondents want. By more than 2 to 1, Republicans think that their leaders should “stand up to Obama” as opposed to working with him, and most think that those leaders should stick to their positions as opposed to making compromises. (This is stunning. Compromise is how democracies function. Are they saying that they don’t want a functioning democracy?)

Continues

Good article

 




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reddirtgirl


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Having a Rep House will help keep the fraud in check. But unfortunately, the public will blame Congress when things don't get done.  furiousMy fear is that he will run again in '12, saying "but the Pubs blocked all the good things I tried to do".

-- Edited by reddirtgirl on Monday 15th of November 2010 08:57:06 AM

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freespirit


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reddirtgirl wrote:

Having a Rep House will help keep the fraud in check. But unfortunately, the public will blame Congress when things don't get done.  furiousMy fear is that he will run again in '12, saying "but the Pubs blocked all the good things I tried to do".

-- Edited by reddirtgirl on Monday 15th of November 2010 08:57:06 AM


I  agree, and, I think that's what he's counting on, reddirtgirl.  Obama needed the Pub take over in the house to have them to blame for his ineffectiveness.  I do think, however, that voter dissatisfaction with Obama runs deeper than the issues.  It's a matter of trust.  I think people are recognizing how little they actually know about this president, where he stands, and what his values are. 

Regarding  the Pub take over - In electing them, the country was sending a message to all of Washington D.C. that we want government to place the country's interests above their own bank accounts and above their political parties.  If people remain vigilant, and if the Pubs continue with business as usual, they will be voted out in 2012.  Hopefully, all of our officials will finally get it, and realize that the people of this country won't tolerate their corruption, self-interest, and placing party politics above the needs of the American people.  We need a government that works.

Of course, I realize that may be giving the pols too much credit.  They're not great at learning from their own mistakes.  But, the pub avalanche in the house should be a wake-up call.  The damn far left and far right are on the fringes.  We need moderates who actually care about this country more than the lofty ideology of the far left, and the 1950s mindset of the far right.


 



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