If I am still around, I can tell you the person I will be voting for in the 2016 presidential election. It will be the Democrat. In 2012 I will also be voting for the Democrat. I assume it will be President Obama in his reelection bid.
The Republican Party is the party of the 2%. It is the anti-science party, the anti-woman party, the anti-gay rights party, the party of the rich, the party of the haves and the want-even-mores. It has been taken over by anti-intellectual scoundrels, and it shows no signs of putting national interest above partisan advantage.
Nonetheless, I am not a happy camper. I am disappointed in President Obama, and I know very few Democrats who are pleased with him. An article in the Sunday New York Times by Drew Westin, a professor of psychology at Emory University, discusses our dismay. Dr. Westin notes that Obama ran as both a reformer and a unifier, and you can’t be both. He points out that Obama’s actual accomplishments prior to the 2008 election were thin, and that Obama seems reluctant to identify or label an enemy or present a coherent narrative. He keeps calling for us to work together, but in spite of a reputation for good speeches, he never explains why the nation is in the straits it is in, or how it can turn around. To sum up, he doesn’t lead.
Of course I will vote for him. What are the alternatives? Bachman? Perry? Pawlenty? Santorum? I will vote for him, give contributions, and go door-to-door, but all the time I’ll be thinking of the gap between my hopes and the reality.
I feel much the same as you do. However, I think that the President needs a primary opponent. Maybe then he will get the guts to do the right things.
ReplyDeleteHe has to realize that he won't be able to accomplish anything with the current congressional make up. So why even try to negotiate with the tea party. Between them and Grover Norquist there will never be honest negotiations. What the President needs is to come out and say "The Bush tax cuts will expire at the end of 2012". If Grover wants to draw a line in the sand, the president should do the same. After all, he campaigned on this in 2008.
On another note, I'm somewhat disappointed in the Wisconsin recall election. However, when I look at it, the Democrats did pretty well considering they were going up against republicans in districts that are heavily republican. I wish I had donated more to the cause. When the Governors recall comes to fruition early next year, I plan to do more. I am very confident that Mr. walker will be ousted.