A line making the rounds in recent weeks was that while Mitt Romney’s supporters were anxious because the opinion polls were neck-and-neck, Barack Obama’s backers were angry that the race was so close.
Angry they might well have been. After all, it wasn’t supposed to be like this for the 44th president of the United States. As the nation’s first African-American chief executive, Obama swept to power on an unprecedented wave of adulation and excitement. He’d won the popular vote by a margin of nearly 10 million, and carried states — such as Indiana, Virginia, and North Carolina — where no Democratic nominee had prevailed in decades. With Democrats in control of both houses of Congress, and job-approval ratings in the high 60s, the Obama presidency was launched on the wings of eagles.
Comments
Wow. sour grapes. Ugly? Romneys whole campayne was based on lies
Don't forget: his party themed their convention on an out of context quote by the president and then featured someone arguing with an empty chair. Didn't they know that the metaphor is a 'straw man'?
Jeff: How can you say that he squandered the first four years? Do you remember what was happening in the US in 2008? Seriously, it was almost economic armageddon, when Paulson and his cronies were trying desperately to gut the economy to stay out of jail and band-aid a country they had wrecked with the help of the putative 'Decider'. The fact is, we ARE better off now than we were four years ago. If only in the sense that we have a fighting chance.
And let's not overlook a little piece of legislation called Universal Health Care. Supported by parts of both parties for over 50 years, it became law thnks solely to the POTUS' willingness to expend his political capital to make it happen. / / / Jeff you need to consider listening to, and generating better written, more unbiased, reality based news, not mere propaganda, after all, there's just not a lot of job openings for second or third-rate right-wing pundit/propagandists in non-election years.
I'd say that the American people can't wait for 2014 to turn the country's focus of renewal upon the so-very-out-of-touch House of Representatives. Those there that are still living in the gilded age need to go outdoors and sniff the winds of change.
Classy piece Jeff. How's the song go, "Money can't buy you class."
Jeff hands us yet another tragic example of how empirical reality seems to be one of the prime casualties of the current political climate. I respectfully disagree with the picture you sketched here. In colonial times, people could spout off in the local tavern and say outrageous things, and they would be heard by a small handful of people, and gone forevermore. These days, people can impulsively spout off on a keyboard, it is transmitted to millions in an instant, and then lives forever. That single change in life structure has imposed on all of us a problem which we have not yet learned to handle. What is real to one person is a function of feelings, personal history, and ability to see. And even more importantly, the ability to process what is seen. Take then, a portrayal of a scene which is impaired because the person is simply incapable of understanding. They offer an inadequate rendering of the scene. The inadequacy could be over-simplification, intentional distortion in the service of self-interest, or any number of other failings. As those twisted renditions of reality mount up around all of us, the impact is a more generalized loss of what is true. Too often, Mr. Jacoby, I see you as contributing to that loss of truth. You are someone who aspires to give voice to the more conservative viewpoint. I challenge you to aspire to a higher level of integrity. There is value in the conservative viewpoint. Find it. Express it with elegance. Challenge yourself to look for the consensual empirical reality, and not the type of distortions you peddled today.
... and rarely has a President ever faced such intransigence and unwillingness to compromise from a spiteful group of putative GOP leaders. Mr. Jacoby your words have the stench of a sore loser.
Jeff, you need to stop letting Sununu put words in your mouth. Romney did zero to merit election.
Cheers, Jeff!!! It's a great day in America, and a great day for Americans and other freedom loving people of the world. I always believed that if God was real, and if he was the loving God of inclusion and equal rights for everyone, he had to be a Democrat. I was right!!!!! Yippee!!!
Oh come off it Jeff. The wave of adulation you describe Obama riding into his first term crashed into unfailingly obstructionist Republicans in Congress and a viciously insulting Right Wing pundisphere, both committed to little more than his defeat. They never had any intention of cooperating with President Obama. The mistake made by the President and his supporters was not exposing and isolating them for the dangerous, disloyal political game they were playing at a time of real economic peril.
Note to "Voter suppression" Jacoby: doubling down on right-wing policies (and your extremist approach) might not be a growth venture. As with your friend George Bush following his re-election in 2004, Obama has earned a lot of political capital with this victory, and I have no doubt that he intends to spend some of it.
WAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!
Unfortunately, Jeff, question 3 lost, so that's not an option for you ... a shame
whoops - question 2 - sorry, got lost in the euphporia
If you are looking for presidents that have squandered historical levels of good will, I submit to you one George W. Bush and the invasion of Iraq.
Welcome to the United States of Not Only Rich White Men Who Bow To Religious Nuts to Increase Their Wealth
A little sour grapes? All that matter are results and Obama gets results.
Liberals knew that it would take more than four years to wash away the stench that Bush left on the country. In 2014 the House will be in Democratic control as well. The Democrats will save the country. The republican party of sore losers and right wing nut jobs will soon follow the path of the Wig Party. Why don't you join them.
Jeff, you really are an ignorant fool.
Ah, my instant response to this is to want to quote one of Dan Aykroyd's SNL news lines from wayback--"Jane you misguided ignorant slut!" :)
It was actually a pretty good night for democrats in general. Romney, through his inability to articulate any core principles to which he would reliably stick, pretty much doomed himself. Unless the republican party can wean itself from a primary process that selects only the most ideologically extreme for the nomination, they are going to be in trouble. It will be fascinating to see whether the republican party doubles down on its current version of "conservatism" or whether they moderate their positions to increase their base. I think that the Atlantic was speculating whether someone like Jeb Bush needs to finally call the party out and have a come to Jesus moment. We'll see. Oh yes, one last observation. Wasn't it great to see religious interest groups pushed to the background? Maybe the politicalization of religious faith is ebbing. I sure hope so.
Grace in defeat is the true mark of reason. / / / I suggest we all resolve to move forward as one people, willing to disagree, but also willing to listen, to be sure that all are heard, so that our ideas are tested, and that our decisions are sound. I suggest we put away our partisan vitriol, turn off the propaganda machines, put on our thinking caps, roll up our sleeves, and get to work.
Way to completely absolve the Republicans Jeff. Adelson spent 100 mil, McMahon 90 million, the filibuster reighns supreme, and you leave all of that on the table. Brave guy, you!
Given the amount of cash these candidates were willing to throw around this leaves no excuse for taxing them a bit more to put the money where it will actually do some good. Besides this will do more to boost their image then trying to camoflage where problems actually lie.
Wow. Really, Jeff? Your articles are usually so well reasoned and lucid. This particular diatribe just sounds bitter, and not a little petty. Disappointing.
well reasoned and lucid?? a hack right wing scribbler
HUH? Did you miss the the Tparty backlash to the first African American President? Did you miss the birthers and obstructionists?
I am not angry that is was close. I am angry at goons like Trump who tried to manipulate the electorate with BS. But I would welcome any debate on real issues.
The electorate has changed. The demographics of the 2 conventions were in stark contrast to one another as were the demographics last night from election HQ of the candidates.
And, seriously, can we put the rancour to bed today? Let's look to a future in which people are less afraid of people who look different from them or who think and act differently.
FORWARD! To a more civil America with less obstructionism.
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well, leave Jeff behind .. a just say no right wing fringe hack writer
Sore loser Jeff Jacoby did not get the message. His brand of political idiology backed by overly monied individuals did not make the sale to the American people. The ugliness he describes is the citizens of this country realizing that reactionary thought has lost its cache. What unmitigated whining by this columnist. Instead of learning that a road forward has been opened he chooses to slam the door on those who want a better nation. Shame on you Jeff Jacoby and your Heritage Foundation overseers.
Winning ugly, Jeff, is still winning. We now need to get on with the business of the country. I hope the House of Representatives chooses to do so and not to obstruct it.
a whiner ... sounds like the in-house terrible 2 toddler of the Globe. bad writing, lousy insights and a whiner
A rather puerile response to what was a decisive victory for President Obama. The people have spoken.