Okay, I have had it with the sourpusses on here. People on here have been bitching and moaning about the debates for a week now, constantly griping about how Obama has let us down. How about this? How about we have let HIM down? How about US, the fairweather Democratic Party? This has always been our downfall. We DO have a Messiah complex, but President Obama has said from the very beginning that to make big changes, he was going to need our help. And what exactly happened after he worked his ass off to win in 2008?
People danced in the streets. They cried. They cheered. They wept over the prospect of The New Deal 2.0, where the country enjoyed decades of prosperity, all the while forgetting history. FDR faced an onslaught of opposition and criticism from the Robber Barons of the 1920's, who destroyed our economy and lived in luxury while the populace suffered. It took years to get out of the Great Depression, but, back then, everyone knew who caused it, and they weren't going to allow the elite to drain America of everything it had. They fought the elites. They pushed back. And they helped FDR win again and again until he got the change he wanted for America.
I believe the election taught Obama one thing-he was going to be in for a fight for the ages. He was counting on us. While everyone basked in the celebrations from President Obama's inauguration, something unprecedented happened. The GOP got together and made it their number one mission on day ONE to make Obama a one term President.
What was their plan?
1. Oppose everything Obama proposed
2. Use Obama's grassroots strategy for winning to create "astroturf" organizations to make every opposition to his policies look like a populist uprising
3. Repeat lies over and over again to make them truth
4. Bombard President Obama with insult after insult to crush his spirit and to put his supporters on the offensive
5. Push Citizens United to carpetbomb Obama and to win back Congress
6. Paint him as the "other" by using dogwhistles to scapegoat the most vulnerable while absolving the elite of any responsibility
7. Push voter ID laws across the country to disenfranchise voters
8. Troll every liberal blog and every comments board with paid posters to paint the illusion of dissatisfaction, knowing that we would join in
We saw what happened with the ACA legislation. Did anyone here really thing that BigPharma and the Chamber of Commerce and the wealthy insurance stockholders would take a major overhaul of healthcare where they couldn't profit sitting down? How about Dodd-Frank? Did anyone really think that Wall Street was going to roll over and allow the temples of their wealth to collapse? We knew what would happen, yet we did nothing. We complained along with the supposed "librul media" about how Obama didn't go far enough on ACA, didn't go far enough on the stimulus, didn't go far enough on anything, yet the GOP had buses full of people traveling the country invading townhall meetings and creating calamity. It looked like a rebellion against a tyrant.
How did we respond? Occupy Wall Street, a group of people camping outside, bringing back images of Woodstock and drugged out hippies (how anyone didn't think that this was the narrative the media would push is beyond me). Didn't anyone think of logistics? Didn't anyone consider that once winter came that the protest would have to end? Didn't anyone think that this would be infiltrated by the right? Didn't anyone think that you can't "freestyle" agendas in this country? No plan from OWS. No platform from "OWS". Rejection of support from anyone in DC while trying to change DC. It was destined for failure.
Now, Obama, after being disrespected, insulted, called names no sitting President should have to endure, after basically standing alone while the gutless Dems in Congress offered no cover, didn't "fight back" at the debates, and his supporters go apeshit crazy. It's unfathomable. I'm sure Obama prepared for the debates. To say otherwise, especially after 2008, is silly. Was anyone prepared for Romney to basically lie about every single thing? How do you counter 10 lies while explaining your policy in 1 1/2 minutes?
I'm sure Obama feels disdain for Romney. Everyone who has ever run against him hates him. We hate him. The optics weren't good. But Mitt Romney is a sociopath. I've dealt with them. You can't win an arguement with them. You have to let them lie and then come back at them. That is the only thing Obama can do. The man knows what he's doing. He was behind more than once in 2008 during the primaries and the general election. And he perservered, without any encouragement from us.
We have to remember-HE IS HUMAN. He has run a flawless campaign and did what every other incumbent President except Clinton did with their first debate-he lost. There are two more debates, and this is when Romney will have to face up to 18 months of lie after lie. The chickens will come home to roost.
We have the policy. We have the plans. We have the knowledge. But, unlike the right, we have no zeal. The right has the zeal, and whether its fueled by hatred, racism, or righteous indignation, zeal makes it to the polls.