So I hear there's an election...

Brit here, but we all get to worry about who's elected US prez.

I gather it's close, which is gob-smacking from over here. What with the likes of Bush, Palin and Romney it looks like the Reps are determined to see if it's poss to win with the crappiest possible candidates. Should just be grateful I suppose!

So what's the verdict on Obama's presidency? Disappointing, made the best of a bad situation, or what?

I think Obama did a great job considering the hand he had been given. Even so, I think he could have played it better. Obama focused too much on policy when he should have focused on leadership in some cases. Obama was too bipartisan even after it was clear that the opposition had chosen to make bipartisanship impossible. Had he used his pulpit more, and taken his case more often to the people, then I think he may have been able to get more done.

I often do not feel Obama deserves a second term; however, I have never felt that Romney deserves even a first term. I feel Obama better represents my values when it comes to economics, foreign affairs, and social policy.

Obama had quite a commanding lead before the first presidential debate. After that, I emailed his campaign to ask for a refund. I was very disappointed. I even came up with a joke: Did you hear how incompetent Obama is? He couldn't even schedule a political event around his anniversary! O.K., its a lame joke

I am still voting for Obama, and I hope he wins.

Romney doesn't have the faintest clue what to do with regards to the dire state of the economy.

If he gets elected, the US economy will collapse in on itself.

Which is bad news for people who rely on trade with the US (almost everyone).

So, yeah, vote Obama. If Romney wins, the world will be a very different place. And not in a good way.

Among likely voters they are practically tied, which makes me kind of sick...

Yeah, among the popular vote...but Nate Silver at 538 is currently predicting ~75% chance of Obama winning the Electoral vote http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/

The Electoral College seems antiquated and elitist, but for this election I'm glad it's still in place!

Well, since Cenk (Uygur) called the election as a victory for Pres. Obama I haven't paid any attention.

I think that Barack Obama is likely to win again, although it may be a squeaker.

I think that he appeased the Republicans too much. But at least he succeeded where Bill Clinton had failed, in passing his health-care-reform law.

I've seen speculation that he may win the electoral vote while losing the popular vote. That would be from many blue-state voters not being enthusiastic enough about him to counter many red-state voters' hatred of him. If so, then I'll enjoy the sight of the Republicans denouncing the Electoral College even as they profess undying love for the US Constitution.

mood2 wrote:Brit here, but we all get to worry about who's elected US prez.

I gather it's close, which is gob-smacking from over here. What with the likes of Bush, Palin and Romney it looks like the Reps are determined to see if it's poss to win with the crappiest possible candidates. Should just be grateful I suppose!

So what's the verdict on Obama's presidency? Disappointing, made the best of a bad situation, or what?

Disappointing

Obama squandered the two years he had with control of the House and the super majority in the Senate.

The ACA that he did manage to push through is a hot mess. The good news is that DADT was repealed (although the credit for that goes to several democrat Senators who did an end run around Obama's luke warm efforts.

I'll still vote for him though. Supreme Court appointments are absolutely critical

I honestly don't think it's going to be close. I get the sense that ever since the republicans declared mitt to be their nominee, it has been a done deal, and the people interested in making it seem as tight a race as possible are the media. A landslide victory is boring, thus bad for ratings, so after months of Romney gaffes, they pounced on the first opportunity they got to declare him a winner. I watched that first debated knowing a couple of facts about what the two candidates were talking about, and no-one with any knowledge of the US budget/tax system could have called Mittster the winner, his lies were just too blatant.

But the media, desperate for sensation, have successfully made an effort to convince the public that this race is close. You see it in the way they treat the debate polling results (calling the other 3 debates a tie, REALLY?), the way they treat the easily debunked claims by team romney as factual, etc.


Obama might be a centrist corporate tool, but romney is a conscienceless extremist corporate tool and a compulsive liar. I'm not sure how well Obama would deal with the social issues we want addressed (I have a secret optimism that he might be a bit more ballsy in his second term instead of failing at bipartisanship), but I'm sure republican voodoo economics, draconian welfare cuts and reckless foreign policy would be devastating, and at least we know obama is competent at running the country.