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BOULDER, Colo. – A mountain range in the near distance behind him, President Barack Obama appeared before thousands of just-returning University of Colorado students here, making a play for the youth vote in this crucial Western state.
“I could see folks forgetting to vote. They’re having too much fun,” he said, urging the 13,000 students on CU Boulder’s Norlin Quad to go to the polls. “That’s why you are so important because you’re going to have to set an example to the person next to you in class. You’re going to have to remind them, have you voted yet?”
Students at schools like CU Boulder contributed to Obama’s 2008 victory, with 66 percent of young voters picking him over 2008 GOP nominee John McCain. But recent polls show young voters losing excitement at the prospect of voting at all in 2012, let alone showing up for Obama in as large numbers as they did last election.
Underscoring the importance of young voters in this state, the Obama campaign last week launched a “Rocky Mountain Rumble,” challenging sports rivals CU Boulder and Colorado State University to see which school can register more voters by Election Day.
Obama, who campaigned at CSU last week, noted that the school had “a little bit of a head start” and was already up by 41 registrants. “Let’s get it done,” he urged the CU Boulder students.
The president also tailored his standard campaign pitch to voters of all ages in this mountainous frontier state, hearkening back to its pioneer roots: “The story of America is about going forward. Nobody understands that better than folks in the West, because you know, this was a region that was settled by people who understand, ‘We’re not looking back, we’re going forward. We’re going forward to the next frontier, to new horizons,’” he said.
The Romney campaign released a statement in response to Obama's speech today, alluding to Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, a top Obama surrogate, who on CBS' Sunday morning show Face the Nation responded "no" when asked whether he could "honestly say that people are better off today than they were four years ago
"On the same day that the Obama campaign conceded Americans aren’t better off than they were four years ago, the President offered no solutions to the problems facing our country. Instead of taking us ‘forward,’ President Obama is taking us on a path of declining incomes, high unemployment, and trillion dollar deficits. The Romney-Ryan plan for a stronger middle class will spur economic growth, bring back jobs, and turn our economy around," Romney spokesperson Amanda Henneberg said.
The Obama campaign is working hard to recapture the nine votes they won in Colorado in 2008 with a 53 to 44 victory over McCain. Of his eleven trips to Colorado since the beginning of his presidency, eight were in 2012, most of which were political.
Boulder County, where Obama spoke today, handed him a resounding 72 percent in 2008. But there were still regions in the state remain deeply red – after all, President Obama was the first Democrat to win Colorado since Bill Clinton did in 1992.
One such area was El Paso County in the southern part of the state, which voted 59 to 40 for McCain. Before his speech today the president sat down for interviews with two TV affiliates from Colorado Springs, the largest city in El Paso County.
Later Sunday, Obama heads to Toledo, Ohio, for a campaign event Monday morning. He’ll then travel to Louisiana where he will tour damage wrought by Hurricane Isaac.
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After watching Clint explain the GOP platform in full detail, every one will vote for Obama. The GOP is vacant platform trying to forget that it is Bush all over again. If your considering voting for Mitt, remember George Bush. That is the guy that started two unfunded wars, lost millions of jobs at the rate of nearly a million in one month alone, destroyed 19.7 TRILLION DOLLARS of home values in a single year, left millions homeless and retirees lost over half their nest eggs for retirement. That isn't a platform (but is Mitt's) , it is total insanity. The GOP wants your vote to continue that destruction that Bush didn't get done. If your an American, you have to vote a STRAIGHT DEMOCRATIC ticket in November and FIRE EVERY LAST REPUBLICAN. We have to save our Democracy.
You haven't checked the latest polls, have you? Half the voters are going with Romney and 8% are still undecided. Bad news for any incumbent.
Yeah, check your polls, and check CNN too as they interview dems about how their base is falling down.
You guys need to check Nate Silver's 538 Blog, just look a few messages above. The gap is widening. President Obama is now almost 3 to 1 to beat Romney. It's not going to be an election, it will be a LANDSLIDE!
But since Joe mentioned Clint...
Clint Eastwood at the RNC Convention...
And that's called "Eastwooding"!
(This 2012 political joke was written for you by Bruce-1628250)
BTW: To see Articles I have posted to the Newsvine, click on either of these links below,
September 2012 or August 2012
As Margaret Thatcher said -
The problem with Socialism is that one day you run out of other peoples money.
The opposite of socialism is Fascism where the masses pay the welfare for the rich. That is the GOP way.
Joe is now Two for Two! Smart man!!!
Students, if you really want to save this country, get a good job, live a happy life etc.
To do so, the sooner we get rid of Obama and his kind of politician the better. If you really need proof of the direction Obama and his type are taking this country. Just look real close at any Democratic run city or state, that is if the have time and the will to do so. :)
Start with, California, Detroit and even Chicago, New Orleans is another good example.
Vote for who in this 2 party monopoly of corporate whores?. It's a joke that the presidential race is funneled down to 2 candidates from 2 parties hell bent on destroying America!. Where is choice?. Why are we forced to vote for only 2 candidates?. When are you going to stop accepting promises and demand clear cut plans to create jobs, rebuild our education system, Enforce the borders that the republican created Homeland security department has failed to do?. Or do you care?.
GCB... Until you come up with something better, it is what it is, and it is what we have. Deal with it!
Check out the latest polls for the battleground states. Notice the Obama leads today compared to the winning margin he had in 2008. Pay particular attention to lead versus the undecideds. Obama has not been able to break 46% in any poll in the last six months. And as the undecided numbers dropped, it coincided with Romney's gain in those states.
2008 Winning Margin, Obama Lead Today, Undecided
Michigan 16% 3% 5%
Wisconsin 14% 2% 4%
Pennsylvania 10% 9% 11%
Virginia 6% 0% 8%
Ohio 5% 0% 10%
Florida 3% 1% 5%
North Carolina 0.3% 0% 4%
Polls schmolls! Check this!
Nate Silver and Five Thirty Eight says...
the election over
And ~ Republican Pundit George Will, seems to agree with Nate Silver, blasting Romney's flip flopping when he wrote in the Washington Post, October 2011,...
"Romney, supposedly the Republican most electable next November, is a recidivist reviser of his principles (Flip Flopper) who is not only becoming less electable; he might damage GOP chances of capturing the Senate…
BTW: To see Articles I have posted to the Newsvine, click on either of these links below,
September 2012 or August 2012
The days best..... "Yeah students, vote for the man whose antibusiness agenda is largely responsible for your inability to get a job when you graduate."
BHO
"You didn't build that."
"You can build new coal-fired power plants, but my regulations will bankrupt you."
"I didn't come to Washington to help a bunch of fat cats."
"If you want to participate, go to the back of the bus."
"You need to pay your fair share."
"Oil drilling? Not on my public land."
"At some point, you have made enough money."
"$250,000, that's all you need."
"The private sector is doing just fine."
"We need more public sector jobs."
Bye Bye Obummer 2012!
Jello heads!
SPEAKING OF:
If you really want to find out about such a man...
If you REALLY care about your family, your country, anything about the truth...
If you have the courage to do this, then watch the video described and available at this link
http://Bruce-1628250.newsvine.com/_news/2012/09/02/13615732-when-mitt-came-to-town
This could be the most valuable thing you do before deciding how to cast your vote for the President of The United States of America in 2012.
This could be the most important election you will ever cast a vote in, during your entire lifetime.
Don't blow it by being uninformed!
sloppy joe--you summed it up perfectly--nice job! People like k1200 and the other Obama supporters on this thread are your typical Democrats that use excuses to defend the actions of their beloved Obama. They ignore the facts and certainly do not understand economics. Like Mommin said above--if college students want to move in with their parents after graduation and wait until another Republican President is elected before getting a job then vote for Obama. CU students as well as all college students need to understand that the Republicans have always supported the student grant & loan programs with Ronald Regan being the first President to place freezes on tuition costs back in the 80's. Republicans support Entreprenuership and the building of wealth that in-turn creates jobs. Obams doesn't believe in this-just read sloppy joes Obama quotes and you will see. Vote Romney/Paul for a new beginning.
We'll vote democrat because Republicans in congress and Romney are nothing more than corporate whores. I thought Romney was a liar but Ryan took the cake with his convention speech. When caught he tried his best to not sound like a liar. It's amazing the lengths Republicans are going to in order to win this election: voter ID, voter suppression, lying, etc. If you think they can fool the smart ones among us then you're sadly mistaken. We've seen their agenda from since 2009.
"Make this president fail by any means necessary. Even if it means Americans are worse off, we'll just blame everything on him anyway because Americans and our party base are stupid enough to believe it."
That's how highly Republicans think of their voting block.
Before your liberal heads get so big they explode, you might want to give this some thought...
Obama means well, he just doesn’t understand how business works.
“Obama was a pioneering contributor to the national subprime real estate bubble, and half of the 186 African-American clients in his landmark 1995 mortgage discrimination lawsuit against Citibank have since gone bankrupt or received foreclosure notices.
As few as 19 of those 186 clients still own homes with clean credit ratings, following a decade in which Obama and other progressives pushed banks to provide mortgages to poor African Americans.
The startling failure rate among Obama’s private sector clients was due to a lawsuit with Obama as the lead plaintiff’s attorney. Now, some of his former clients are calling for a policy reversal.
“If people don’t make enough money to afford the mortgage, why would you give them a loan?” asked Obama client John Buchanan. “There should be some type of regulation against giving people loans they can’t afford.” Banks “were too eager to lend to many who didn’t qualify,” said Don Byas, another client who saw banks lurch from caution to bubble-inflating recklessness.
“I don’t care what race you are. … Obama needs to keep financial wisdom separate from trying to help black people,” said Byas, an autoworker.”
He'll make sure you get college loans you can't afford too....
You can just go borrow the money as Romney said. Even if your parents don't have it, borrow it anyway. Newsflash!! Not everyone wants to be a businessman and not everyone wants to be in business. There are people who love being in public service (Police, firefighter, teacher, etc) who enjoy and love their work daily. Romney and the Republican party have looked down on these kinds of people like they're the plague to our society. Leave it up to Romney, he'll close all public schools and privatize education on the backs of the taxpayer money.
What is this? Campaign stop number 12 on his way to New Orleans?
This pandering, arrogant a-whole needs to go come November. Take Moochelle Antionette with you.
MORON! (Yah! That's you OL!)
Are all your posts this articulate and thoughtful?
Looks like Obama is mostly appearing on college campuses during his campaign because he knows that naive youth are the only folks still ignorant enough about what's really going on to continue to believe the torrent of "inspirational" lies that continuously pour from his mouth.
That worked pretty good for him four years ago, so he's going to try that again. The problem of course, is that due to Obamanomics, over 53% of the youth who have entered the work force since he became President can't find work, so those folks won't be quite so eager to vote the One back in again.
Still. Every four years, Obama's got a fresh crop of the naive to peddle his lies too. Fortunately, a majority of the adults have figured out his deliberate plan of destruction and won't be voting for four more years of the worse economy since WWII. You know, little things like losing our AAA credit for the first time ever, adding more to the national debt than all other Presidents combined, worst economic "recovery" ever, 23 million still unemployed, and the lowest participation in the work force ever. Yeah, 4 more years of that sounds like just the ticket to me! And I guess Obama figures freshman and sophomores in college want that too.
"Sorry students we couldn't get you that college credit for volunteering for the Obummer campaign" We found out we couldn't make it an actual college course.
Not voting, election is a fraud. If either party was really for the people, they leave medical pot in the States' hands.
College students and recent grads listen up. If you are having problems finding a job, like 50% of your peers, vote for Obama in for 4 more years of hardly any job creations. Oh yes I forgot to mention those 800,000 ILLEGALS who the president just dumped on the job market to compete with you. Use your new found wisdom and vote for yourselves, not for the job killing Democrats! Romney in 2012 for sanity!
Ed inColumbus
"You cannot give more tax breaks to the wealthy while telling future medicare recipients that they must pay more out of pocket for their health care." Ed in Columbus
Please explain why did Obama extend the Bush/Barnanke tax cuts to the rich in 2010 rather than implement his job creating tax reform when he had the power with a democratically controlled congress?
Why did Obama with his democratically controlled congress take $700 billion out of the Medicare fund forcing seniors to pay higher out of pocket expenses?
I look forward to you answers as you as you present yourself as someone who knows what they are talking about and here's your chance to shine.
Poor Ed in Columbus. Looks like he put his foot in his mouth again. That explains his silence over this issue.
Obama would be better off telling them not to vote. Obama's problem will be voters in droves.
Mister Romney predicts that under a Romney/Ryan administration he will add 12 million jobs over the next 4 years (2012-1016). Consult with your economic's professor and you will discover that under the present Obama policies the US economy is expected to grow 12 million jobs. However, the changes in the tax structure will have a direct impact on the job picture for all if supply-side economics is given a chance . . . again. Supply-side, with tax breaks for the wealthy doesn't grow jobs in the manner Romney predicts. Also, students need to take note of the increase in Pell grants and the interest rates on college loans under a Democratic administration and keep in mind that team Romney wants to eliminate the Department of Education.
Additionally, let's take a look at who is supporting Candidate Romney:
1). Sheldon Adelson, owner of the Las Vegas Sands Casino, is worth nearly $25 billion, making him the 14th wealthiest person in the world and the 7th richest person in America. While median family income plummeted by nearly 40% from 2007-2010, Mr. Adelson has experienced a nearly eightfold increase in his wealth over the past three years (from $3.4 billion to $24.9 billion). Forbes recently reported that Adelson is willing to spend a “limitless” amount of money or more than $100 million to help defeat President Obama in November.
2. The Kochs (David, Charles, and William) are worth a combined $103 billion, according to Forbes. They have pledged to spend about $400 million during the 2012 election season. The Kochs own more wealth than the bottom 41.7 percent of American households or more than 49 million Americans. (The Koch brothers have told Republicans that they are prepared to spend $400,000,000 to defeat President Obama.)
3. Jim Walton is worth $23.7 billion. He has donated $300,000 to super PACs in 2012.
4. Harold Simmons is worth $9 billion. He has donated $15.2 million to super PACs this year.
5. Peter Thiel is worth $1.5 billion. He has donated $6.7 million to Super PACs this year.
6. Jerrold Perenchio is worth $2.3 billion. He has donated $2.6 million to super PACs this year.
7. Kenneth Griffin is worth $3 billion and he has given $2.08 million to super PACs in 2012.
8. James Simons is worth $10.7 billion and he has given $1.5 million to super Pacs this year.
9. Julian Robertson is worth $2.5 billion and he has given $1.25 million to super PACs this year.
10. Robert Rowling is worth $4.8 billion and he has given $1.1 million to super PACs.
11. John Paulson, the hedge fund manager who made his fortune betting that the sub-prime mortgage market would collapse, is worth $12.5 billion. He has donated $1 million to super PACs.
12. Richard and J.W. Marriott are worth a combined $3.1 billion and they have donated $2 million to super PACs this year.
13. James Davis is worth $1.9 billion and he has given $1 million to super PACs this year.
14. Harold Hamm is worth $11 billion and he has given $985,000 to super PACs this year.
15. Kenny Trout is worth more than $1.2 billion and he has given $900,000 to super PACs this year.
16. Louis Bacon is worth $1.4 billion and he has given $500,000 to super PACs this year.
17. Bruce Kovner is worth $4.5 billion and he has given $500,000 to super PACs this year.
18. Warren Stephens is worth $2.7 billion and he has given $500,000 to super PACs this year.
19. David Tepper is worth $5.1 billion and he has given $375,000 to super PACs this year.
20. Samuel Zell is worth $4.9 billion and he has given $270,000 to super PACs this year.
21. Leslie Wexner is worth $4.3 billion and he has given $250,000 to super PACs this year.
22. Charles Schwab is worth $3.5 billion and he has given $250,000 to super PACs this year.
23. Kelcy Warren is worth $2.3 billion and he has given $250,000 to super PACs this year.
(Note: list taken from a report to the US SEnate submitted by Senator Bernie Sanders.)
And the list is probably much longer, since the Citizen’s United decision allows billionaires to contribute anonymously, but these are the major contributors exposed so far.
What all of this points to is that these GOP supporters, unearthed by Senator Bernie Sanders (Independent, Vermont), intend to own the Republicans, the economy, and the government; a government in which they want to eliminate the regulations put in place to minimize the risk of another Wall Street/Banking crisis, eliminate the EPA regulations intended by Team Obama to heal the planet and prevent the oceans from rising (remember how this was ridiculed during the Republican Convention) and students need to note that the GOP wants to eliminate the Department of Education and privatize schools. Other act of privatization include: Medicare (Vouchers, which will add $6400 to their medical costs at age 65 and as much as $14,000 at age 77) and private Social Security accounts, which will provide more money for an unregulated Wall Street.
cut n paste....too long...didn't read....
Thomas
You should be working for OdumbO as an adviser or czar with all your misinformation and lies you'll fit in there cup of tea.
Feel free to fact check everything I wrote. I did, and start with Senator Sanders, he's an Independent from Vermont and a member of a Senate subcommittee investigating the result of Citizen's United so appropriate legislation can be enacted to stop our Democracy from becoming an Oligarchy.
And if my remarks about economics bother you consult with Paul Krugman of the New York Times or any other independent economist. And if you believe that Voucher Care will not sink future seniors financially go to Fact Check.org. Seems to me that marco-399856 and sloppyjoe-3632629 need to (1) take a bit of time to look into what is going on, and (2) not dismiss something which will affect you if you are in the 55 and younger crowd which will be affected by RyanCare. I'm willing to stand corrected on anything I wrote, if you are willing to fact-check with reliable sources.
“I will be held accountable,” Obama told NBC’s Matt Lauer on Feb. 1, 2009. “If I don’t have this done in three years, then there’s going to be a one-term proposition.”
Its about the ECONOMY jello heads!
College students not wanting to move home with mom and dad will not be voting for OBlunder!
Bye Bye OBummer 2012!
Thanks sloppy joe
I was looking for that information. Do you know where there might find a transcript of that interview?
Seems Obama was running his mouth like an open sewer that month. Shame Obama's words have about as much value as an open sewer.
In February 2009, Democratic President Barack Obama stated:
I refuse to leave our children with a debt that they cannot repay. And that means taking responsibility right now, in this administration, for getting our spending under control.
"Remarks at the Fiscal Responsibility Summit." By Barack Obama. Government
Printing Office, February 23, 2009. http://www.gpoaccess.gov/presdocs/2009/DCPD200900102.htm
For you Obama supporters who think I'm too hard on Obama, please explain how Obama administration's spending $20 million in a corrupt country like Pakistan to develop a children's TV program in 2012 is responsible spending after Obama's government was going to shut down on August 2,2011 because the national debt reached the debt ceiling of $14.2 trillion.
Considering that today the national debt is only $700 billion away from reaching the debt ceiling of $16.7 trillion, that's quite an accomplishment for a person who said 3 years ago the administration had to get control of its spending.
Be sure to get your free condoms that daddy paid on the new OdumbOcare health plan and have fun.
Thomas: You should be working for OdumbO as an adviser or czar with all your misinformations and lies.
Thomas
Very interesting your #105 post, but what does it have to do with the average American? We are not fools and know that campaigns of both parties raise millions if not billions to get elected, so let get real with some information most American don't know.
At the end of 2008 each persons share of the national debt was $33,542.00. Each taxpayers share of the National debt was $94,310.00
As of today, each persons share of the national debt is $50,905.00 Each taxpayers share of the national debt is $140,005.00
That's a whole lot of debt Obama has dumped on the people and taxpayers of this country. Why would anyone be surprised that Obama created a debt crisis that almost shut down our government on August 2, 2011 with the amount of debt he's heaping on us.
Is this good judgement, leadership by Obama. Obama doesn't think so and has openly said it in a number of speeches he's made.
Yes Colorado students; You vote for O BUM MA so he and his wife can go on more million dollar vacations while you live with mom and dad and spend your next 4 years looking for a job... Think about that when you finally get a job and suddenly a lot of it goes to pay for welfare and other SOCIAL PROGRAMS. You may not want to work any more especially since you can get more from the government than earning it yourself....
Ed Poka
Between the taxes and their student loans, they will never be able to afford to move out of ther parents home.
30+ years ago when subsitute teaching a high school gov civic class, science major me/no politics college classes, I told those senior year high school students basically this: we are seeing people live a lot longer with modern medicine and safer jobs (OSHA and EPA) now and that will continue, so since old people usually have a lot more rich folks in their generation and that means political power through their wealth, I recommend that if young generations want some power and control of their lives they better become more and more active in voting and campaigning....then the oldest 2 term president we ever had with his shaft the young and poor people policy was vote in - Reagan. Why do I say shaft the young and poor from Reagan as a starting point - look at inflation of public college tuition in last 32 years since he took office, in my alumni state it has averaged 7 to 8% every year = 3 time larger than inflation for consumer goods/service/cars etc., how can a family pay for education of their children with that inflation of college tuition - thank you Ron and GOP!!
BigBearcatBill
Why are you posting this nonsense? Anyone with half a brain knows that most of the inflation in school budgets comes from teachers contracts. Who do the teachers support, the democrats.
What you should have been advising your students to do was go into teaching. Its were the jobs, money and the job protection that you can't be fired if you're incompetent are.
Why do you democrats treat people like thay are morons? Could it be because you are a moron.
Sure didn't substitute teach much in English did you BiggBarecat.....?
Just sayin......
Jello heads!
you repubies just want to privatize all education again and are going insane trying to destroy public education. repubs = let churches tell you how smart to be, only as smart as they want you to be...but they want you to make/develop the most advanced weapons and medicine to keep their butts safe to tell you how smart you can be, but no smarter. private schools, conservative's churches, weapons and medicine = GOP master formula to rule the 7 billion people with their 30 million racist nuts.
BigBearcatBill
What do private schoold have to do with what you posted. Most of the inflation in their budgets is also caused by teachers contracts.
Thank you for demonstrating you are just another uninformed confused Obama supporter who can't even debate/ defend his own post..
The major reason President Obama will get re elected is due to the poor competition of ROMNEY AND LYING RYAN
The empty chair tells students," half of you will be broke, out of of job, and living with your parents after this,"
We can do better
Romney Ryan,
The hatred for Obama is driven by whites who know they will not have the reigns of power in this country forever; i would applaud repubs if they would just admit this. (like Lindsey graham of SC). as for the Obama-haters on this thread, if they showed up at Mitt Romney's home they would get shown to the servant's entrance! And don't start with the lame-a$$ "class envy" bullsh$t...most people who spout that line don't have a pot to piss in. The maniacal hatred of Obama is fear-driven by the changes coming in this country. And come they will. There are many,many more poor people in this country than wealthy and the chance of violent revolution is real. I think repubs want jobs overseas to force poor people into the military so wealthy whites can continue to avoid service (sound like anyone we know?). The draft need to be instituted again to force everyone of every class to serve..no more disproportionate numbers of poor having to serve. By the way, I am not liberal and my father is wealthy and ULTRA conservative.
Petparent1; WTF happened to you in life?
By Matt Patterson (columnist - Washington Post, New York Post, San Francisco Examiner)
Years from now, historians may regard the 2008 election of Barack Obama as an inscrutable and disturbing phenomenon, the result of a baffling breed of mass hysteria akin perhaps to the witch craze of the Middle Ages.
How, they will wonder, did a man so devoid of professional accomplishment beguile so many into thinking he could manage the world's largest economy, direct the world's most powerful military, execute the world's most consequential job?
Imagine a future historian examining Obama's pre-presidential life: ushered into and through the Ivy League despite unremarkable grades and test scores along the way; a cushy non-job as a "community organizer"; a brief career as a state legislator devoid of legislative achievement (and in fact nearly devoid of his attention, so often did he vote "present"); and finally an unaccomplished single term in the United States Senate, the entirety of which was devoted to his presidential ambitions.
He left no academic legacy in academia, authored no signature legislation as a legislator. And then there is the matter of his troubling associations: the white-hating, America-loathing preacher who for decades served as Obama's "spiritual mentor"; a real-life, actual terrorist who served as Obama's colleague and political sponsor. It is easy to imagine a future historian looking at it all and asking: how on Earth was such a man elected president?
Not content to wait for history, the incomparable Norman Podhoretz addressed the question recently in the Wall Street Journal: To be sure, no white candidate who had close associations with an outspoken hater of America like Jeremiah Wright and an unrepentant terrorist like Bill Ayers, would have lasted a single day. But because Mr. Obama was black, and therefore entitled in the eyes of liberal Dom to have hung out with protesters against various American injustices, even if they were a bit extreme, he was given a pass. Let that sink in: Obama was given a pass - held to a lower standard - because of the color of his skin.
Podhoretz continues: And in any case, what did such ancient history matter when he was also so articulate and elegant and (as he himself had said) "non-threatening," all of which gave him a fighting chance to become the first black president and thereby to lay the curse of racism to rest?
Podhoretz puts his finger, I think, on the animating pulse of the Obama phenomenon - affirmative action. Not in the legal sense, of course. But certainly in the motivating sentiment behind all affirmative action laws and regulations, which are designed primarily to make white people, and especially white liberals, feel good about themselves.
Unfortunately, minorities often suffer so that whites can pat themselves on the back. Liberals routinely admit minorities to schools for which they are not qualified, yet take no responsibility for the inevitable poor performance and high drop-out rates which follow. Liberals don't care if these minority students fail; liberals aren't around to witness the emotional devastation and deflated self-esteem resulting from the racist policy that is affirmative action. Yes, racist. Holding someone to a separate standard merely because of the color of his skin - that's affirmative action in a nutshell, and if that isn't racism, then nothing is.
And that is what America did to Obama. True, Obama himself was never troubled by his lack of achievements, but why would he be? As many have noted, Obama was told he was good enough for Columbia despite undistinguished grades at Occidental; he was told he was good enough for the US Senate despite a mediocre record in Illinois; he was told he was good enough to be president despite no record at all in the Senate. All his life, every step of the way, Obama was told he was good enough for the next step, in spite of ample evidence to the contrary.
What could this breed if not the sort of empty narcissism on display every time Obama speaks? In 2008, many who agreed that he lacked executive qualifications nonetheless raved about Obama's oratory skills, intellect, and cool character. Those people - conservatives included - ought now to be deeply embarrassed.
The man thinks and speaks in the hoariest of clichés, and that's when he has his Teleprompters in front of him; when the prompter is absent he can barely think or speak at all. Not one original idea has ever issued from his mouth - it's all warmed-over Marxism of the kind that has failed over and over again for 100 years.
And what about his character? Obama is constantly blaming anything and everything else for his troubles. Bush did it; it was bad luck; I inherited this mess. It is embarrassing to see a president so willing to advertise his own powerlessness, so comfortable with his own incompetence. But really, what were we to expect? The man has never been responsible for anything, so how do we expect him to act responsibly?
In short: our president is a small and small-minded man, with neither the temperament nor the intellect to handle his job. When you understand that, and only when you understand that, will the current erosion of liberty and prosperity make sense. It could not have gone otherwise with such a man in the Oval Office.