What happens if Obama can't get re-elected?

[Anonymous]

If it becomes clear that Obama can't win a second term - what does the Dem party do? Do they put forward another candidate to run against him? Has such a thing ever happened before? If another Dem challenges Obama, who would it be? Is there another Dem who is electable?

[takoma]

One time it happened was when Ted Kennedy challenged Jimmy Carter in 1980. The challenge fell apart when Roger Mudd asked Kennedy why he wanted to be president and Kennedy could not come up with an answer.

[TheManWithAUsername]

Didn't Bobby Kennedy campaign before LBJ announced he wouldn't run?

I can easily imagine a firebrand - er...not sure exactly who - Dem doing better in the general than Obama. Of course the corporate-owned Dem leadership and the corporate-owned media will tell us that such a person is unelectable, though. One problem identifying one is that no Dem has gotten a lot of press for bucking Obama from the left, even though half the House Dems did over the debt ceiling deal - I mean, raping. Damn liberal media!

So get used to increasingly conservative Dems, and therefore an increasingly conservative country, for a few more decades. I think it will only change when so many people have been so screwed that their self-interest finally trumps what the TV tells them. I just hope that the country isn't completely shot by then, and that the uprising doesn't take the form of rioting...or true fascism.

[Anonymous]

I would love for the Dems to nominate another candidate. I am completely at a loss. I think Obama has done a horrible job. And I think the Republican options are as bad, if not worse.

I would absolutely vote for Hillary Clinton. I think she would have been a great President. And I say that as a fairly conservative Republican.

[Anonymous]

Op here, I think Hillary is too smart to run in this environment. Too much economic uncertainty.

[TheManWithAUsername]

Anonymous wrote:I would love for the Dems to nominate another candidate. I am completely at a loss. I think Obama has done a horrible job. And I think the Republican options are as bad, if not worse.

I would absolutely vote for Hillary Clinton. I think she would have been a great President. And I say that as a fairly conservative Republican.

If you're a pretty conservative Republican, what specific things would you have wanted from a president that you didn't get from Obama? What kind of Dem would you like to see in his place?

[Anonymous]

If you're a pretty conservative Republican, what specific things would you have wanted from a president that you didn't get from Obama? What kind of Dem would you like to see in his place?

I am conservative on fiscal issues. And I don't think the government should be so involved in business. But I am liberal on social issues....totally in support of gay marriage and legalizing marijuana, just as an example. I didn't vote for Obama, but I was hopeful when he was elected. I wanted to see him close Gitmo. I wanted him to get us out of Iraq completely and begin the process of bringing troops home from Afghanistan. I think that the amount of money we are spending in the Middle East is just insane. We shouldn't have ever been in Iraq. And Afghanistan is a nightmare. I wonder what our economy would look like if we weren't spending billions of money on two wars. And I am about as pro-military as they come. My dad is a retired General. My husband was a military officer. And two of my boys are military...both about deploy again. One for the second time. I support our troops. I would just like to see them protecting our country instead of "nation building" in the Middle East.

I think some of Obama's policies have hurt the economy. However, I was impressed with his proposals during his jobs speech. I agree with him. I think we need to raise taxes on the wealthiest of our citizens. But I also think everyone should be paying something. And I think we need to close the loopholes that so many people use to avoid paying their fair share.

See.....I'm all over the place. I think I could vote for someone like Hillary Clinton. I don't agree with her on everything. But I think she has the leadership ability and most of all experience to lead the country. Obama is really good at coming up with ideas and motivating people. But he doesn't have the leadership ability necessary to actually get things done.

[Anonymous]

I think the dems need to lose. They win elections and then do nothing. I am sure the republicans would have found away to get their agenda through with control of congress and the white house.(Oh wait, they did with control of the house!)The democrats agenda, we need to win more seats in the senate so we can adopt the republican agenda. Oh and we need more committees so I can do even less. Yep ...sounds like a plan. These long time democrats need to be kick out. The party needs to be reset.

[Anonymous]

But will either party actually be reset? The Reps got kicked out - they don't look any better than before. Will the Dems actually change anything if Obama is a one termer and we have a Rep President next time?

[Anonymous]

I am conservative on fiscal issues. And I don't think the government should be so involved in business.

Funny, you often hear this, but I have no fucking clue what this is supposed to mean. Especially when framed as "I am conservative on fiscal issues, but voted for Obama."

You realize of course that Democrats have a much better record on the economy than Republicans, right? It's about as dumb as saying, I'm a social liberal, but I vote for the Republicans because they'll keep our country safe.

You're obviously entitled to your opinion, but there's about a half century of data that shows you're incredibly wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the dems need to lose. They win elections and then do nothing. I am sure the republicans would have found away to get their agenda through with control of congress and the white house.(Oh wait, they did with control of the house!)The democrats agenda, we need to win more seats in the senate so we can adopt the republican agenda. Oh and we need more committees so I can do even less. Yep ...sounds like a plan. These long time democrats need to be kick out. The party needs to be reset.

Problem is that the GOP agenda is essentially the handing out largess the wealthy, and destroying the efficacy of government. That's a Hell of a lot easier than governing. Especially in our dysfunctional political system (i.e. too many veto points, divided government, etc..).

[Anonymous]

if he cannot get elected, then the country might have a chance at real leadership to face its challenges?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I am conservative on fiscal issues. And I don't think the government should be so involved in business.

Funny, you often hear this, but I have no fucking clue what this is supposed to mean. Especially when framed as "I am conservative on fiscal issues, but voted for Obama."

You realize of course that Democrats have a much better record on the economy than Republicans, right? It's about as dumb as saying, I'm a social liberal, but I vote for the Republicans because they'll keep our country safe.

You're obviously entitled to your opinion, but there's about a half century of data that shows you're incredibly wrong.

Good think Obama is around to blow the data.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I am conservative on fiscal issues. And I don't think the government should be so involved in business.

Funny, you often hear this, but I have no fucking clue what this is supposed to mean. Especially when framed as "I am conservative on fiscal issues, but voted for Obama."

You realize of course that Democrats have a much better record on the economy than Republicans, right? It's about as dumb as saying, I'm a social liberal, but I vote for the Republicans because they'll keep our country safe.

You're obviously entitled to your opinion, but there's about a half century of data that shows you're incredibly wrong.

Good economists are divided on this so I am not sure why you are so certain the rest of us should be certain.

A lot of people are more financially conservative than Dems (they want less government involvement in the marketplace) and less socially conservative than Reps (they was less government involvement in personal lives). Those people do have to pick a party to vote for if they want to vote for someone with a chance at winning. It's not an easy call. But Clinton and Obama didn't impress me with their treatment of gay people, for example, so it's not ludicrous to fall out on the Rep side much of the time.

I'm not the PP you're talking with, by the way.

[Anonymous]

A lot of people are more financially conservative than Dems (they want less government involvement in the marketplace)

Right, but my point is that this is just so much poorly informed blather. "less government involvement in the marketplace" is content-free lip-flapping. Is there widespread support for immunizing corporations from any lawsuits? Abolishing the EPA? Further deregulation of the banking and financial sector? No, there's no evidence whatsoever for this. Of course people like to think of themselves as paragons of fiscal and moral rectitude. But for that to mean anything, we need to talk about policies.