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obamaoverrated (not verified) says:
Look, Obama has a had a clear strategy of getting Republicans to come to open primaries and caucuses to support him. There is nothing wrong with that. He ran an ad in predominantly Republican Northern Nevada targeting Republicans and letting them know they could switch their registration for a day to participate. Again, I have no problem with that. The issue I have with Obama is the way he did it. In the Reno Editorial Board Meeting, he basically said that people were ready for Reagan because they grew tired of the excesses of the 60's and 70's and the overgrowth of government that was stifling the entreprenurial spirit. I think this is a poor choice of words because it basically appropriates Right-wing talking points.
While that might attract Republicans to vote you for a day, it does not attract Republicans to the Democratic Party over the long term. The correct way to attract Republicans would have been to talk about accountability and balanced budgets, and how there was no transparency or accountability with our foreign policy because both the Iraqi Government and the Musharraf Dictatorship had been given a blank check to restore Democracy and fight Al-Qaeda. There is ample evidence that establishes that our tax dollars have been wasted in both Iraq and Pakistan, which bothers all Americans, not just Republicans.
However, when you start talking about overgrowth of government, stifling entreprenurial spirit, and the excesses of the 60's and 70's, you are not making an effective progressive case for Republicans to vote for a Democrat. You are making a case for your own personal gain at expense of the party because you are appropriating right-wing talking points.
Furthermore, In October 1980, opinion polls showed that voters had negative opinions of both Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. They didn't like Jimmy Carter because of what was going on in Iran and the poor economy, but they didn't exactly trust Ronald Reagan with his voodoo economics. John Anderson was a legitimate third party option that year who did quite well for some time, but saw his standing crater after some poor debate performances with Ronald Reagan. Polls going into the last week of the election showed the race was close with President Carter holding a slight lead. After months of dodging, President Carter finally agreed to debate Ronald Reagan when both sides agreed John Anderson would not participate. I believe it was the most watched debate in history, and Ronald Reagan ended the debate with a simple question: Are you better off today than you were four years ago? It was a devastating question to say the least, but Jimmy Carter added to his woes when he said during the debate that he spoke to his daughter when it came to nuclear issues. He was widely ridiculed by late night comedians and media pundits for that comment, and by election day, Jimmy Carter's slight lead became a Reagan landslide.
So I believe Obama is wrong because the country wasn't necessarily ready for Reagan and tired of the excesses of the 1960s and 1970s. If that was the case, Reagan would have led by wide margins throughout the campaign. It was President Carter's poor debate performance days before the election that led to the landslide.
Look, Obama has a had a clear strategy of getting Republicans to come to open primaries and caucuses to support him. There is nothing wrong with that. He ran an ad in predominantly Republican Northern Nevada targeting Republicans and letting them know they could switch their registration for a day to participate. Again, I have no problem with that. The issue I have with Obama is the way he did it. In the Reno Editorial Board Meeting, he basically said that people were ready for Reagan because they grew tired of the excesses of the 60's and 70's and the overgrowth of government that was stifling the entreprenurial spirit. I think this is a poor choice of words because it basically appropriates Right-wing talking points.
While that might attract Republicans to vote you for a day, it does not attract Republicans to the Democratic Party over the long term. The correct way to attract Republicans would have been to talk about accountability and balanced budgets, and how there was no transparency or accountability with our foreign policy because both the Iraqi Government and the Musharraf Dictatorship had been given a blank check to restore Democracy and fight Al-Qaeda. There is ample evidence that establishes that our tax dollars have been wasted in both Iraq and Pakistan, which bothers all Americans, not just Republicans.
However, when you start talking about overgrowth of government, stifling entreprenurial spirit, and the excesses of the 60's and 70's, you are not making an effective progressive case for Republicans to vote for a Democrat. You are making a case for your own personal gain at expense of the party because you are appropriating right-wing talking points.
Furthermore, In October 1980, opinion polls showed that voters had negative opinions of both Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. They didn't like Jimmy Carter because of what was going on in Iran and the poor economy, but they didn't exactly trust Ronald Reagan with his voodoo economics. John Anderson was a legitimate third party option that year who did quite well for some time, but saw his standing crater after some poor debate performances with Ronald Reagan. Polls going into the last week of the election showed the race was close with President Carter holding a slight lead. After months of dodging, President Carter finally agreed to debate Ronald Reagan when both sides agreed John Anderson would not participate. I believe it was the most watched debate in history, and Ronald Reagan ended the debate with a simple question: Are you better off today than you were four years ago? It was a devastating question to say the least, but Jimmy Carter added to his woes when he said during the debate that he spoke to his daughter when it came to nuclear issues. He was widely ridiculed by late night comedians and media pundits for that comment, and by election day, Jimmy Carter's slight lead became a Reagan landslide.
So I believe Obama is wrong because the country wasn't necessarily ready for Reagan and tired of the excesses of the 1960s and 1970s. If that was the case, Reagan would have led by wide margins throughout the campaign. It was President Carter's poor debate performance days before the election that led to the landslide.