I’ll never understand why this machine wasn’t used in 2010 and 2014 to GOTV. 2010 was devastating.
I know he conventional wisdom was that Obama would only hurt the cause, and in fairness to Obama, a lot of Democratic candidates didn’t want his help, but I still believe had he gone into full campaign mode, he could have reversed the slide.
It was used, but nothing can beat gerrymandered districts and southern ignorance.
The districts were gerrymandered AFTER the 2010 mid-terms thanks to the massive GOP gains in statehouses. The losses in 2010 was the cause of the gerrymandering.
And you can’t gerrymander Senate seats.
More or less it was…
But in 2010 lots of people my age were “mad” and “betrayed” because Obama turned out to be human and not “Bagger Vance” I mean we voted for “hope and change” and we waited a whole 6 months and we didn’t get everything we wanted… What were we supposed to do? Be patient? So we were determined to “send a message” and the Tea Party was truly ascendant. didn’t help that Democratic voters were activly repudiating the “50-State Strategy” because the Blue Dogs it elected were, to purity minded Dems, “worse than Republicans”. So like usual we made the perfect the enemy of the good…
In 2014 Dems were actively running away from Obama because… Again… Like usual we let Republican control the narrative with regards to The ACA and such. top it off with young people not turning up (look even in 2008 we didn’t show up in the numbers polling Indicated even though we turned up in record numbers) like usual because congressional elections are confusing and unsexy.
The story mentioned that Obama isn’t on the ticket this year, but I’d say the other team is doing everything they can to put him on anyway and make it about him, the guy they lost twice to. Slow learners, I’ll tell you. Very slow learners. They never seemed to understand that he won twice by getting more votes by being popular as a person and political leader. They still think it’s a winning approach to describe him as a walking catalogue of every known human flaw. Slow, slow, slow, slow learners.
yes, of course, but I’m not willing to give Obama a pass on this. In 2010 he needed to lead by campaigning in support of his own policies. We know from experience that his doing so (see his reelection) has a very significant impact.
Here is an historic fact that doesn’t get enough attention: Barack Obama is the first President since Ike to win two election with a majority of votes.
And he, Ike and FDR may be the only Presidents to do so since the start of the 20th Century. I’ve looked this up before, but I exactly recall. This is a very surprisingly rare feat.
Obama will rock in Charlotte on Tuesday…
Very rarely do sitting presidents jet around campaigning during Congressional elections because… You know… There are a lot of races and they’re the president, kind of an important job. Was he supposed to take a year off to stump for each indavidual running?.. Or just spend the State of the Union reading off a list of endorsements and campaigns he supports?
Also, yet again, in 2010 young people were “mad” at Obama so him campaigning for a candidate (especially one that they saw as " a Blue Dog=worse than a Republican) was not going to help and in 2014 Dems were pushing Obama away, actively trying to put daylight between them and Obama, a few actually asked him to not endorse them
The President should use the same jokes about Trump he used at the White House Correspondents Dinner. Sent Trump over the edge then, will send him over the edge now.
Good news for Trump…
Clinton is polling one to two percentage points behind Obama at this time…
Bad news for Trump…
Trump is polling four to six percentage points behind Romney at this time…
Really Bad News for Trump…Romney lost to Obama by 3.9%…
I tend to go along with both your posts…and with dwward as well. That was the whole point:
Obama was NOT Clark Kent/Superman
Some people have not fathomed that boycotting voting is not the same as deciding to “boycott” Target by going to WalMart…so they decided to punish THEMSELVES BY teaming THEIR non-voting WITH Bagger voting and…
Voila! John Boehner.
PostScript…
There are a lot of ways to stop governance. Perfect-is-the-enemy-of-the-good on the Left and voting-hate on the Right are two of the best.
But there’s so much more new material to work with!
True…but the classics need to be worked in to the monologue.
He can do like all the other rock stars and save it for the encore.
Happy to see the President unleashed. Yea!!! Need to remember he has a tough day job, so any chance he is out on the stumps is good for Hillary.I am waiting for the subtle stuff but fear that it will be lost on the Trumpster. No time for subtlety: just the shiv and a pair of barber’s clippers for Mr Hair-Do to be Mr Hair-DONE!
Just recently, the DNC started sending emails
signed by Clinton to the entire list, including one last week
inviting donors to enter a raffle to be Clinton’s guest to the Broadway musical “Hamilton.”
I feel so, so special!!
(One down. 399 to go.)
Damn. Jan-to-June was only Purgatory?
jw1
What do you mean? The census is taken every ten years, in years ending in zero (2010). The GOP threw a ton of $$ into state elections and got governors and state houses, and then proceeded to gerrymander their states, which allowed the House to go Republican even though they got thousands fewer votes than Democrats.
Timing is everything in comedy-- and conflict.
'The forces and momentum of the adept in warfare
are so overwhelming and ferocious
and his timing of engagement is precise and swift.’
~ Sun Tzu
When right-- BHO will launch.
His timing, almost always impeccable.
jw1
Everything you say is true. I’m not disagreeing. I’m suggesting the conventional model should have changed with Obama who was/is a transformative political figure.
And lossing Congress for a generation or more – which is exactly what happened in 2010 – not only crippled his Presidency and the Country, but will also cripple Hillary’s and those that following. Avoiding this it seems to me is very much the job of the President in leading our country.
Are you saying nothing was done wrong in 2010 and if you could change Obama’s approach, you would not do so?