If Dems get crushed, how much is Pres. Obama to blame?
President Obama speaks to supporters while Vice President Biden looks on during the 'Moving America Forward' rally at Cleveland State University. (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
What a difference two years makes.
In 2008, President Obama rode into the White House on a wave of broad voter enthusiasm, the likes of which hadn't been seen in this country in decades.
Fast forward two years, and the president's party is expected to get crushed in Tuesday's midterm elections. The latest USA Today/Gallup Poll shows the largest Republican margin in House voting in several generations.
And regardless of the turnout, it's looking more and more like Republicans will win more than the 39 seats needed to gain control of the House.
Experts in both parties keep revising their estimates upward. Many now believe the Democrats will lose more than 50 seats, and some are putting that number as high as 70.
Meanwhile, critics are heaping a lot of the blame on the president.
A piece in the London Telegraph suggests that by abandoning his own talk of bipartisanship, President Obama divided the country and set his party up for defeat.
The piece points out how Bill Clinton has held more than 100 events around the country while President Obama is mostly limiting himself to the friendly blue states. This is striking because Barack Obama rose to fame as a state senator by shooting down the notion of a red America and a blue America.
Many also feel the president didn't use his office to address the most pressing issue, the economy. Instead he focused on the "grand issues," such as health care.
And how's this for symbolism: . In Cleveland, Ohio, on Sunday, he spoke in an indoor arena that was nearly half-empty. And on the eve of the midterm elections, President Obama - the leader of the Democratic party - has no public events on his calendar.
Here’s my question to you: If the Democrats get crushed tomorrow, how much blame does President Obama deserve?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Cliff in Rego Park, New York writes:
Jack, President Obama is not to blame. The Republicans made a cynical bet that the mess they made could not be reversed in two years and refused to cooperate in even most the mundane of issues. The American people and our instant gratification mentality are doing the rest. Rest uneasy, Republicans, the worm turns in an instant.
H. in Georgia writes:
The "Democrats" are all to blame. They didn't LISTEN to the people. The people indicated their desires time and time again, but the Democrats just wanted to tell us what "we needed" instead. Tomorrow they will get what they deserve.
Pat in New Jersey writes:
Jack, How can anything get worse? Nothing got done because we have the party of NO. By adding more Republicans to the mix we will then have a larger party of NO. Obama should have immediately pushed through his policies instead of trying to make nice when he first took office.
Dave writes:
As an independent, I say no! It lies directly on the shoulders of this horribly inept and corrupt Congress. Reid and Pelosi are everything that is wrong with America.
Phil writes:
Unfortunately, I don't think it will serve as a wake-up call. The left-winger/liberal contingent in the U.S. will likely just blame it on racism. They'll continue to beat the dead horse that is George W. Bush, hoping they can continue to pull the wool over everyone's eyes that's realizing Obama and Co. (Reid, Pelosi) are charlatans and empty suits.
Tim writes:
I'm getting to the polls early to vote Democratic, Jack. I dreamed that I was at the pump paying $5 for gasoline again.
Larry in Ohio writes:
Jack, Obama will get some blame, but most of the blame goes to the smug, elite, hard-headed Nancy Pelosi. The real witch in politics is from San Francisco!
@jackcafferty on Twitter
No more blame than all the Dems for doing such a poor job of countering all the mistruths put out by the GOP. They rarely stand up for the good they have done. Sure, they have made errors but at least they are doing something to try and make things better. Doing nothing is not and has not been an option.
If the Democrats don't vote, they can't blame President Obama, Jack.
Only look at their reflections in the tin cups that will serve as mirrors while
they are standing in the soup lines during the next Great Depression.
Lots of blame, but then that's only because he isn't the leader of the Democratic Party. If he were the leader, he would have taken a more active role in crafting the legislation and engaging the Republicans. By using his supermajority without the Republicans, he put all the risk and the blame on the Democrats, so it's easy to know where the blame falls, President Obama.
President Obama is just as much to Blame for this as I am,And I know that I am not to Blame.I had nothing to do with it.
Zolicon
Very little blame, the rest of the government however is completely to blame. It no longer matters wich party is in power because neither wants to do what is best for America. Two frat houses throwing a party on the same night trying to out do the other. People outside of the frat houses could care less.
A lot! We sent him to Washington to work for us. When he got there, he forgot about us! Now, the economy is worst than ever and he still refuses to talk about the millions of unemployed people out here who have exhausted their benefits but still can't find a job in this very tough economy. He went to Washington and did what he wanted to do; not what the country wanted him to do...fix the damn economy!!!
South Carolina
I'm getting to the polls early to vote Democratic, Jack. I dreamed that
I was at the pump paying $5.00 for gasoline again.
Obama will hold himself to his usual and predictable standard. The landslide, it will be crowed, was Bush's fault again. Take it to the bank.
Jean- Texas: Jack President Obama bares some of the blame in that he really believed the Republicans would work with him a least a little. Once Rush Limbaugh uttered "I hope he fails" all hope was lost. The Republicans saw that as a sign. Sadly, we have no idea how much may have been accomplished had the Republicans agreed to work even a little with this administration. The Republicans have not produced one plan other than Mitch McConnel declaring the "single most important goal is to make sure President Obama is a one term president". Yea that's going to help create jobs!
Wow!!! Caff, where the hell have u been for the past 2 years? Obama has been talking about the economy non stop for 2 freaking years when the damn economy collapsed. He has been creating green jobs all around the country and trying to help middle-class folks since being elected. You are part of the problem that Jon stewed was talking about at his rally. The stupid talking head on cable tv that always talks about conflict but never any solutions. If the dems lose tomorrow I will blame not only you and the rest these divisive cable news chatter but the dumb folks who have ADD who can't comprehend that it is going to take longer than 18 months to clean up 8 years of bush manure.
Mr. Obama and the democrats deserve what they will get on November 2/10. The arrogance they have shown by disrespecting the voters concerns regarding healthcare, stimulus and overspending and not focussing on jobs. The voters will voice their opinion by going against the democrats and Obama by voting in the republicans. This, I hope, will make him get off his cloud and open his eyes to what's happening around him.
The more I see Obama I think he should have gone to Hollywood and not to Washington. I think he would have done better there because he is definitely having problems governing this great country.
tampa, fl although both sides are guilty of our country's situation, the old saying, "the buck stops here" is truer now more than ever. clearly, obama hasn't a clue.
Jack,
It's not just President Obama that's to blame. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid need to share in the blame should Democrats get crushed tomorrow. Whatever does happen tomorrow, lets hope that for the next two years there's more cooperation in Washington, D.C. Lets hope that the Democrats and Republican's start to work together instead of against each other.
Jack, There's no blame here. The Tea party hides under the big R instead of actualy being independent. We're on the right track with where we are.heading now. Turning back and handing the mess back to The Rep I guess is how the majority believes things should be. Doesn't matter how it was done it's about really putting responsible thought into your vote. I will tell you I own a home in which the value has decreased by 250-$300k. I feel it is my responsibility to bite the bullet and help things from getting worse during a slow recovery.But If things change and we give the Corporations and Big Banks back the power I will walk away from my money pit. By the way on a different note....Does Mrs. Palin know the definition of "Bastard"? As an Alaskan noted "Doesn't Her Daughter have one of them?"
He deserves quite a bit, but not all of the blame. The Dem Party henchmen and the head henchwomen deserve their fair snare, as well. We're sick and tired of all of them. What an unfortunate situation for our Country!! Come on everybody – VOTE!!!!!
Not so fast, Jack. Latino Democrats will show up and show Sharon Angle who we are at the polls in Vegas tomorrow. Something tells me she had better start getting wild about Harry.
It is very hard to reach across the aisle when they are sitting there with their arms crossed glaring at you as they did during the State of the Union! If anything, I think President Obama has reached out too much after always being rebuffed by the GOP. So if the president is to be blamed for anything it was not for lack of trying.
As an independant I say no! It lies directly on the shoulders of this horribly inept and corrupt congress. Reid and Pelosi are everything that is wrong with America.
it's NOTHING against President Obama AS A PERSON, it has EVERYTHING to do with President Obama and the Democrats ON POLICY. His policy priority was Health Care and Banking reform, not jobs and the economy. His policy was to shift the war from Iraq to Afganistan, not troops home now. His policy was to call anyone who disagreed with him racist. His policy was to ram bills through without the fine political art of compromise. The public has seen this and responded. Don't take it personally, Mr. President- it is only your policy.
OK,
On one hand Obama deserves 100 percent of the blame, on the other hand the Liberals/Democrats are equally to blame. While most are nearsighted all the big Social Programs put in place by Democrats, Roosevelt, Social Security. Lyndon Johnson, Medicare, Freddie Mack, Fannie Mae, Democrats, Obama Care, are all in intensive care and doomed to fail. For the record you still can't get blood out of a turnip. Or to put it another way with bigger and bigger Government and more people on the Public Dole it is like feeding those One Armed Bandits in Las Vegas. If nothing else people do understand No Jobs.
If Obama was white there would be no blame.
Just ask any Republican
Of course this will never be a comment.
The idiot democrats have no one to blame except themselves. If they had thought more about what the American people wanted instead of thinking about themselves and their next election then they would probably still be in office. If the Republicans get in office and take over the house and senate the same thing will happen to them, one, because they can't get anything done unless the President decides to let them so what goes around comes back around and they will get voted out the next election, a vicious cycle simply because all they can think of is trying to get re-elected.
President Obama is not responsible for a Democratic defeat. He has tried for two years to improve the economy and has attemped to negotiate with the "always say NO" Republicans. It takes time to overturn all the mistakes of the Bush Administration–it can't be done overnight. If the Republicans take control, we are in for two years of total gridlock in Congress–nothing will get done. The Republican leaders have already announced that their only goal is to defeat President Obama. That says it all.
Colorado Springs,Co.
Well much to the embarrassment of the tea party and the republicans...their predicted landslide are becoming to close to call races...which shows that even if the republicans or tea party wins some....it will be the last time EVER as the demographics of their followers show that they are dying off...
First of all they wil not be crushed in total. This country is diverse engough thank the lord to prevent a total crush. As for Obama to blame it is easy to blame someone at falt or not. Obama has been in for only 2 years hardly enough time to solve 8 eight of problems. We all need to steep back and give him a chance. If things change that is just the fickle american public that fail to see the whole picture. If a crush happenn's it is just the furstration of the public in general of the leadership we have had for several years regardless of party.
Well jack, it is not so much him as the party itself. Any time any one spoke out against Obama's agenda they where labeled as dumb or stupid or they don't know what is best for them.The best was all the racist talk from the democrats, that must have sat well with all the white independents that voted for him in 08 and are now having second thoughts. And last but not least for those of us who live outside one of the major cities. Kinda out in the sticks, all the dumb redneck talk was a little distasteful. Well i like out in the sticks, in my 800K house looking over the 16th fairway with deer running across it. It's peaceful!
Alpharetta Ga
Jack,
President Obama is not to blame. The Republicans made a cynical bet that the mess they made could not be reversed in 2 years and refused to cooperate in even most mundane of issues. The American people and our instant gratitfication mentality are doing the rest.
Rest uneasy Republicans, the worm turns in an instant.
Prers Obama gets most of the blame if his party is routed in the Mid-term election and for good reasons too. He has been ineffective as a leader and lack force and presence as a leader.
He bungled the opportunity to win and keep the people on side when he apparently granted The princes of the derivatives and Sub-prime loans, absolution from prison and instead awarded them a multi Billion dollars bonus and you wonder why the public got palled on him. That was his high tide and would have ridden it waves to glory and everlasting adulation.
HEALTHCARE ; He couldn't even stand up for Publci Option good or bad.
I believe that most of the blame for the Dems defeat falls on Obama.
Of course Pelosi and Reid are also to blame because they pushed Obama's agenda against the will of the people and forced by any means too many Democrats to follow their lead. They failed to listen to the people and now they have to pay the price.
I give him 60% the rest goes to Dems in Congress especially the leadership. Obama seldom thru his support effectively. He rather allowedthe leadership to find its own way. The killer was the obsession with comprehensive Bills, containing too many items to clearly understand – easy to attack & hard to defend.
Prers Obama gets most of the blame if his party is routed in the Mid-term election and for good reasons too. He has been ineffective as a leader and lack force and presence as a leader.
He bungled the opportunity to win and keep the people on side when he apparently granted The princes of the derivatives and Sub-prime loans, absolution from prison and instead awarded them a multi Billion dollars bonus and you wonder why the public got palled on him. That was his high tide and would have ridden it waves to glory and everlasting adulation.
HEALTHCARE ; He couldn't even stand up for Publci Option good or bad.
Not much. It was the congressional democrats who rode into the congress on a wave of running the crooks out of town and no more business as usual . It was the congressional democrats that did not do what the people wanted ; impeaching and prosecuting the crimes of the Bush Administration, reigning in deregulated industries , repealing and restoring lost civil rights under the patriot act,immigration control, repealing the bush tax cuts etc. In the two years before the Obama administration these were the issues the people wanted to resolve and we have not forgotten how they failed us. It was the congressional democrats who did nothing with an absolute house majority and allowed if to be as worthless as a Christine O'Donnell rally. None of the short falls of the current congress can be blamed on the President although his time is coming in 2012 unless he improves. It was the gutless leadership of this congress that proved itself to be weak at a time it should have shown the strength necessary to do what it takes in the face of adversity to get this country back on track. No the blame should fall exactly where it does on the lack of commitment and heart on the part of the democratic leadership.
Blame it on Obama this time and someone else the next time.
The American People change their minds as often as they change their socks & underwear, and apparently they spend the same amount of time thinking about both. Two years ago the Democrats won big because of the failed policies of the Republican Party, and now the voters are voting for the same old thing again. It is called "see saw" politics where we bounce back and forth and accomplish nothing. This country will never accomplish anything until we develop long term policies and stick with them. Our "get rich quick" policies are leading us down the road to destruction and every year we come closer to becoming a "third world Country."
He's to be blamed partially, I would say. As Bill Maher would say, democrats don't know how to brag – so that's the problem too. Having said that, Obama really did not prioritize his agendas. Economy should have been the first and fore most issues of all, then immigration, then health care. Also his lack of spine to stand upright in the immigration situation was a big turn off for people like me. I would like to see a number of incumbents out of office, esp. Harry Reid. If they lose big time, they deserve it.
They will not be crushed as you think. If GOP wins, America is at stake....Americans realize later.....o.k....hope not....I tell to go for Dems., and vote for Dems....
There is nothing worse than taking away peoples HOPE. We expected different from Obama. In the end he is nothing more than a typical politician trying to get his name in the history books. The ego is a dangerous thing. What we need is someone with integrity and unfortunately those kind of people don't want anything to do with politics. We need somebody to just be honest with us. Please!!!
As much as every other mid-term president does..They usually lose seats, and the number of seats generally depends on the opposition that is out there...Thanks to the "first amendment" rights bestowed on these hazy outsiders to spend unprecedented amounts, the good ole boys..(Rove and Co) have been real busy spending their way back into power...Oh Jack, Texas is down 3-1 in the World.Series...Damn Obama !!!!!!
It's not all Obama's fault, Jack. One of his key flaws was trying to work bipartisanly too long with a party that did not hear that part of the 2008 election and had no intention of working with him. The entire problem with Washington (both sides) was eloquently spoken by Jon Stewart at the Rally on Saturday. The only place people can't seem to work together in this country is in Washington. Changing teams isn't going to fix the polarization; especially when the polarization is fanned by the 24/7 news channels. It's the sad reality of it. The ones that will win are the one with the most to gain – the top 1 – 2 percent of the country. I see more wealth distributing upward, Jack.
Obama came into office naively expecting the Republicans to lick their wounds, accept their defeat and cooperate with him to bring the country back to solvency. Instead, the Republicans rolled over and played dead.
In doing so, they weakened his presidency and blamed him for everything but throwing out the kitchen sink. The strategy worked and will continue even more forcefully when they have the power. After all, it's not about the country but about getting back the presidency in 2012. It's a vicious two year cycle with no end in sight.
Politicians don't serve the people. They serve corporations.
The "two-party-democracy" thing is a lie. There's only one party in the USA, and it's the fascist war party. The two-party charade is just so much puppet theatre for the ignorant masses.
And as long as millions of corporate dollars pour into the coffers of political campaigns, voting is an exercise in futility.
little or none at all. If Democrats lose it will be because impatient small minded Americans have unrealistic expectations. Within the next year or two the economy will turn around and everyone will love Obama. He'll win re-election in a landslide and i'm going to laugh at anyone who turned their backs on him now.
Obama deserves a big piece of that humble pie..lol
Really Jack? REALLY? Honest to God, the GOP does NOTHING but lie, demonize and halt any kind of help for this country, puts out MILLIONS of dollars in ads spreading their lies and you ask if it's OBAMA'S fault??? It's a good thing Clinton and Obama bookend Republicans or you would be having to back to CARTER to find someone to blame.
Obama saw this coming , when Brown won in New Hampshire, and yet he
he did nothing. If you think for one moment , that the backlash from
republicans will better the situation, think again. Things will go from bad to worse.
I blame the media obsession with the wingnut noise which has enabled the right to spread their lies and fear non stop for two years.
Why not.................everyone blames bush for everything that happened during his presidency. Forgetting that the Legislative Branch has been Democratic since January 2007....or that the Legislative branch is the one who actually makes & passes laws
Jack how can anything get worse. Nothing got done because we have the party of NO. By adding more Republicans to the mix we will then have the large party of NO. Obama should have immediately pushed through his policies instead of trying to make nice nice when he first took office.
President Obama only has one vote, so if the democratic candidate in his voting ditrict loses by one vote and if Pres. Obama reveals he voted for the opponent of said democratic cadidate, then what he did matters. One person, one vote. End partisan politics.
A bit, may be. As former speaker TipO'Neil used to say "all politics is local". If House Dems couldn't convince their constituents, it shows their poor messaging skills on their accomplishments, their lack of articulating abilities. At that point, they don't deserve to win.
He's not to blame if they had gone on and did as he asked alot of reform would have taken place, we would have had the public options that was badly needed. and alot of other changes.
Unfortunately, I don't think it will serve as a wake up call. The left-winger/liberal contingent in the U.S. will likely just blame it on racism. They'll continue to beat the dead horse that is George W. Bush hoping they can continue to pull the wool over everyones eyes that's realizing Obama & Co. (Reid, Pelosi) are charlatans and empty suits.
I have a rule. Any NFL fan that would demand their head coach be fired within the first three years they were hired is a moron. It takes at least that long to turn an orginization as large and complex as an NFL team around for the positive.
Any American who isn't willing to give Obama and democrats at least 3 full years to turn an even bigger more complex entity around is equally a moron.
The United States worst President in recent history was Jimmy Carter
Obama may well surpass him
As a republican – I won't blame Obama – I will continue to root for him – for 23 more months!!
Montville New Jersey
Hell yes he deserves the blame. This same President said he wanted transparency in government. He never got that accomplished, did he? This President and his party are the ones who shoved this so-called health reform down our throats when most of us Americans DID NOT WANT IT!
Obama deserves the lions share of the credit for the election results. He either doesn't get it or doesn't care that the American people do not agree with his notions on policy and direction for this country. We made the mistake of not properly vetting him in 2008, now that we know the wolf in sheep's cloth that mistake will be corrected in 2012.
I believe in the American people.
He will share in the blame, along with the 24/7 media, Tp,s, GOP, Dems, Muslims, Socialists, and an incredibly stupid electorate.
He deserves all the blame. If he thinks he can turn this country into a socialistic society, he is wrong and we Americans won't let him do so. Clinton at least worked with Republicans, Obama won't even work with his Democrats. Get rid of him and his party.
Is there an amount over 100%? He is the leader of the Democratic party and there is noone else for him to pass the buck too. Whatever Pelosi and Reid did they did with his approval, and against the will of the people.
None – Democrats have themselves for blame for not sticking together defeating the Republicans "No" agenda and passing meaningful legislation. Particularly the blue dogs – I hope they are all voted out! Republicans are like sheep , they have toed the party leadership and saying no is not a strategy. The frauds will be exposed in 2012 when America realizes they have no real solutions for the country's problems, but are quick to say no.
President Obama inherited two wars and an ecomomy that was in free fall. It will take more than 2 years to pull out of this mess. But Americans are impatient and expect "instant gratification". When they don't get it they get quite frustrated and blame the party in power - not the party that created the mess in the first place.
So the Democrats will be punished on Tuesday and the party that created the mess will be rewarded. It hardly seems fair.
I blame the fickleness and short attention span of the average American voter/citizen. It took 8 years of "hard work" (to use Bush's term) to get us into this mess, but since Obama was not able to wave a magic wand and make it all go away, it's his fault? Go figure. As P.T. Barnum said, "Nobody ever went broke under-estimating the intelligence of the American public." We're a nation of spoiled brats. We demand instant gratification, simple solutions to complex problems, and 15-second sound bites so that we don't have to actually think about the situation. The right continues to talk about the "failed stimulus", ignoring the gains in the stock market, the flat (rather than increasing) unemployment rate, and the slow but steady improvement in GDP and other economic indicators. If the right takes over Congress, we deserve the mess that is sure to follow...remember 1994?
Jack,
Obama is to blame. He lacks the spine to stand up to his own party and Pelosi.
He turned out to be that neck tattoo that seemed really cool at first but 2 years later was the worst decision ever. This is coming from a young Latino who voted for him.
I voted already with a mail in and voted all Republican!!!
Jose
Highlands Ranch, Colorado
I eagerly await a 'big win' by Conservatives and will thoroughly enjoy watching them FURTHER drive the proverbial car off the highway. There is a tsunami of 'naive words' — cut spending, cut taxes — that will have
virtually no effect what so ever on the present economic situation and unemployment. In fact, I fear that the very constituents who vote them in
(many elderly, unemployed, under-employed, uninsured) are going to find themselves deeper in the stew in a few months time when these 'new rogue' politicians are revealed for what they are – empty promises without ANY HOPE of changing things.
I fail to see he has any blame. I put it on the Republican Party and the dictatorial personality of Pelosi. He is trying very hard to do what he said he would do in his campaign. He won the election on what he wanted to do, health care, infrastructure, alternate fuels etc, but between misinformation, and McConnell seeing his job to be the failure of Obama, it is a hard fight. I personally am outraged that the oppostion has the audacity to suggest he is going against the people. The People voted for him to do these things!
How dumb can the electorate be. You give Bush 8 years to make the mess and 2 years to Obama to clean the mess up.
I think before this is over, instead of hearing a negative Obamacare, we will be saying Obamacares.
Our family ascertained from the first time we saw Obama that he was not qualified to be Pres. Unforunately Americans fall for the fast talking used car salesman.....he can read well, however listen to him when he is not scripted !!
He will go down sadly in history as they worst Pres ever. If he lasts the next two yrs as we think he might resign, that will be a surprise.
Jackson S
Nevada
Jack,
You bring my opinion of you up another notch. I believe you are as liberal as ever, but at least you are honest enough to speak the truth on this issue. Obama promised what it took to get elected – and never had any intentions of delivering on those promises. I was open minded about him at first, but the more I found out about his Alinsky links, Bill Ayers and Jeremiah Wright – the more it scared me. My son said "Dad, you should have been listening to FOX News – they reported this a long time ago". Well, I now look at FOX and CNN both.
He definitely shoulders a large part of the blame, but in helping get conservatives – real conservatives – back into politics, he may have done a great thing for our country – Totally unitentional, I know, but it's still happening.
I'd say Obama is to blame between 90% – 100%. He shouldn't have campaigned like he was the 2nd coming. If he couldn't fix (or even attempt) to fix any of these issues he should have been upfront. People had hope that things would be fixed not that we would be even worse off.
I believe the President take a big part of the blame for the direction of the country along with the the blame for the Democrates evident lose tomorrow. I am a registred Democrate, I have always voted democrate but for the first time I will not vote for any democrate local, state or if I had to nationally. We need to fix our economy and get people back to work!!! All the democrates cared about was handing out tax payers money to corporate america instead of help the poeple that they are suppose to represent. And don't get me started on our liberal Seapker of the House, she is a JOKE!!! P.S. I plan to change my party and register as an independant.
Of course he will, and when the Republicans hold up his agenda in congress he will be blamed for not being able govern. Isn't everything wrong in America today and the past 10 years Obama's fault?
I believe nearly all of the blame for Democratic defeats will lie with the President and the Congressional leaders. From the beginning of his administration, he should have realized the Republicans were never going to work with him or support his agenda. He should have used the power of the Presidency to convince Americans that he was a strong decisive leader who was taking this country in a bold new direction. He failed to learn a critical lesson from the George W. Bush presidency: you don't have to be right, or even truthful, just be decisive and ignore or dismiss your critics, but never be foolish enough to think that you can work with them. Big mistake!
How much? None at all. Let's put the blame where it belongs:
1. The Media in its quest to keep Obama's agenda "edgy and confrontational"
2. The Republicans for obstructing a sensible agenda and spinning lies to the American public.
3. The American public, for buying the lies and voting against their interests.
Good job, America!
Mr. Reagan entered Election Day in 1982, the first midterm of his presidency, overseeing an unemployment rate even higher than it is today (10.4% then, compared with 9.6% now). His approval rating in the Gallup survey was even lower than President Barack Obama's is today (42% for Mr. Reagan, 44% for Mr. Obama). And his party ultimately lost the overall national vote in House races by a whopping 12 percentage points, even worse than Democrats are expected to do this year.
Perhaps the question should be-how much of the blame is from the party of NO that did not help and has not helped in the 2 years!!!!!!!
If you knew how hard it is to park around Cleveland State Univeristy, you would realize the President drew a really good crowd Sunday. I thank him for speaking at a location that local people could reach with public transportation. This is a different kind of symbolism than when he spoke to a crowd 35,000 people in Columbus a few weeks ago.
Just looking at the polls.. My what short memories everyone has.. If people don't like what's up just remember they voted Bush into power twice and this is the aftermath. Now you want the GOP back??????? Nuts!!! It will take more than 2 yrs to recover from the Bush debacle. Realize that the GOP has done nothing but obstruct and has one agenda, not work hard to sort out this mess together but unseat the President.. Blame Obama if you want, but the GOP seem to be the ones not wanting to work together.. Give me a break with this nonsense!!
Makes sense to me. He pushed health care reform to the max. I always wondered how a person could afford the new health care if they were not working! I think they put the cart before the horse. Now it's time to pay the piper. No sympathy here. mike in pa.
Not "IF", but "WHEN" the Dems get their pink slips tomorrow, it will be because Obama personally handed them out!
Most of the blame falls on the president for his many failed promises, endless campaigning, ignoring the public sentiment and lack of a sound work ethic. But his choice of allies and supporters is not helping much either.
The blame goes to both President Obama and the Liberial Democrats, for not listening to the people.
Michael Porter
Doss Texas
The president did not create our economic problems, many years of bad policies have. However people have seem to have forgotten this fact and are buying into the same old political propaganda paid for by the people who are to blame for this huge mess.
Many would blame Reid and Pelosi but since Obama put 'em up to it, he's gotta carry the load. Fact is two of the three of them will probably be thrown out tomorrow so Obama will need to carry on by himself and it will, no doubt, be a long and lonely road. His promise of change certainly did that to the makeup of congress on November 2nd.
Gary in Scottsdale, Arizona
I believe the Democrats let down President Obama. He never promised anyone that there wouldn't be difficult times ahead. We knew that the Bush Administration left us with a deep recession, did the Democrats think Obama could wave a magic wand? I guess when Social Security and Medicare is dumped by the Republicans they will remember how Obama and some Democrats tried to save it.
Of course, saying, "I told you so, won't help the poor or retired. Btw, I really don't like you anymore Jack. Slithering to the right, doesn't become you.
Hi Jack
I think you can spread the blame around but he's the MAN IN CHARGE. There has been ZERO leadership on anything from the WHITE HOUSE. NOTHING!! That meant you had to rely on THE REID and PELOSI show to run CONGRESS.
FAT CHANCE THAT WOULD SUCCEED.
Jeff of Peoria IL
He really does not deserve much blame. He did his best with the total obstruction offered up by the Republicans. I fear that the next two years will be pointless as the Republicans will continue to block the President and have to power to do so.
He deserves part of it b/c he pushed them to do his agenda but at the end of the day, the Dems are to blame for most of their problems.
They just didn't listen to us. People have tried telling them that we couldn't afford Obama's agenda and they pushed it anyway. They underestimated how much the American people would take and now it's time to pay the piper.
The stimulus, the bailout, the healthcare mess was all done on the Democrats watch. Now they gotta own it.
I lived in Florida from 2004 to 2008 (having moved there from Northern Virginia to stop the insanity of stealing elections) so I've been around the block.
What people don't seem to realize is that IT TAKES TIME TO REBUILD a country from ruin or is this short term memory just another example of our failed education system that people cannot analyze facts!?
Two false wars, a housing crisis, wall street stealing retirements, bailouts... COME ON!
It's NOT Obama's fault! Albeit he could have done some things differently, but the US is in a MUCH better place than it was in September 2008.
It doesn't matter if he deserves the blame or not, he will get it.
I think once he got into office, he realized that without true bipartisan support, which he will never get from the Republicans, his hands were tied. Look at legislation that HAD bipartisan support across the country that cannot get passed because Senators and Representatives are not voting by what their constituents want, but by party lines.
The fact is that the President doesn't make laws – only the Congress can make laws or budgetary decisions. After the 2008 election, both Houses were numerically Democrat (if you count the Independent in the Senate as a Democrat). However, any bill or budget requires a 2/3rds majority vote in BOTH houses to pass. What people seem to have forgotten that only the House had a clear 2/3rds majority, and only if all the party members toed the party line. So most problems cannot be blamed on a single party, much less a single person.
Obama deserves a good piece of the blame since he took office. He is the President. He promised transparency and we got same old same old politics. He has made poor decisions but his biggest mistake is not improving the economy which is floundering and getting worse each day. Instead, he spends all his energy on a poor Health Care Plan and traveling around the world to talk.
Congress has done a miserable job. But has no problem giving themselves raises and more benefits while the working man has to worry about becoming unemployed. This election will be less a vote for Republicans and more of a vote against Obama and the Democrats who have squandered the publics good will they had 2 years ago.
from Central Washington – State, not DC!!
After two years?
There is still a mess left from Katrina . . . so how would any one person be able to fix – in LESS than two years – the mess left after 8 years of Republican rule?
I hold them ALL responsible; instead of working to make changes that would benefit the entire country, they play games that echo the drama of middle school. No grown ups in sight . . .
He's 100% to blame. I'm a democrat and I supported Obama in the beginning. Then his administration sued Arizona for trying to fix the illegal immigration problem. At the same time his administration failed to do anything about sanctuary cities/states who are breaking federal law. I'm voting 100% republican tomorrow.
None whatsoever.
He governed from the middle, and even that was rejected, and he was vilified and accused of the craziest things, simply because the Repugs want back in power.
This is a racist country, and I'm ashamed at how he's been treated.
Why not blame him for all the world's ills? Isn't that what you guys do every day? I think the media gets a lot of joy out of doing just that. He's not perfect but he certainly doesn't deserve all the blame he's collected. Imagine a world with McCain and Palin. That should be enough to scare anyone to death.
All the democrats are to blame, and Obama is the ring leader. The republicans had their problems, and the American people let them know it by voting in Democrats. The Dems (too stupid to pay attention to what the people were saying) thought they could simply sail on their popularity, while the Reps cleaned up their act - thus, the torch passes once again. Maybe these moronic politicians will learn that not only are we sick and tired of their b.s., which has put our country in this terrible state, but each of us has the power to change it through a single vote.
According to a recent speech, President Obama called conservatives, "Our Enemies". When ever have you heard an American President refer to 1/2 of the American Population as his Enemies? He is the most divisive President this nation has ever seen!
From Norfolk va, Of course you will blame President Obama. Who else would you blame? Yourself? Of course not. the media decided they were going to give him a fair chance, then the background "powers that be" observed he was too popular. Started tearing him down. wolf Blitzer has a ball demonizing our President. Oh well, American politics as usual. I hope those crazy tea party folks win. America deserves what it gets. We will all suffer together– ha-ha.
Yes, Obama will be to Blame.
Why?
B/c he sold us Hope & Change & has not delivered.
I don't blame Sarah Palin or George Bush for that, b/c they're not in charge.
Obama & the Democrats have been in charge, and have only blamed Repubs.
Obama was victimized by the Senate in my opinion- refusing to follow the most popular leader since FDR they let conservative cronyism hack health care reform to pieces and refused to realize there was a great opportunity to vitalize our country- too many Democrats have become corporate clones- Like the Tea Party is attempting to purge impurity from the GOP, now is the time for a counter movement in the Democratic Party- hopefully Obama will be the leader and rebuild the party for 2012- One mistake Obama made was not keeping Howard Dean as DNC chair- he really understood the grass roots people- let's have a big shake up in the DNC for starters-
The election is a referendum on Obama, or at least as much as the GOP can make it. While there are a few very poor candidates, the Dems seem to have as many, or more, good candidates then the GOP. The main advantage the GOP has is they have been pushed more then the Dems to realize polotics as usual will not cut it.
Obama this, Obama that...Obama has 4 eyes, Obama has 4 legs...I'm sure Obama is the reason why the sun sets in the evenings...now he has to fix that too.
America has lost it's flavour...money and hate rules in the America of today.
Jack,
1 divided by the Number_Of _Democrats (about .000000001)
It’s “the economy, stupid,” brought to you by unregulated greed and tax cuts for those who need it most. Billionaires. Of course the GOP has done a fine job of laying blame for destroying it at President Obama’s feet. Not all of us, however, are stupid or will ever forget who did this to us.
There's one Obama versus Hannity, Beck, Oreilly, Michael Steele, Sarah Palin, Rubio, Rick Scott, Some Witches, A crazy lady in Nevada, A job exporter in California. Bush got support. All these people say is you support Obama and the democrat goes silent with no response. I could mount a better defense for his policies that have worked and have been BI-PARTISAN. Tax cuts to purchase things to bring down inventories is what kept us out of a prolong recession. THAT'S YOUR TAG LINE RIGHT THEIR. YET NO ONE HAS USED IT.
100% blame. Look at the crowd behind the stage, not one person, including Biden, seems to be happy for being present there!!
I think without question the president is almost solely responsible for giving back Congress to the GOP. As you've already stated, campaigning for bi-partisanship, and then jamming giant partisan legislation through that was greatly opposed by every single Republican seat leaves the full blame on the President. I think in the 2008 Election, too much credit was given to Bush for the economic crisis. Now people are seeing that the Democrats have done nothing to solve the crisis, and Obama will receive all the credit for that as well, whether it's completely warranted or not. As a President, you are either the grandest hero, or the greatest whipping boy.
He is partly to blame but in no way fully to blame... The Democrats just fumbled the ball the republicans fumbled to them 2 years ago. They had all the power a political party could ask for and then started fighting amongst themselves instead of coming together and getting things done. Even on Health Care they were divided almost the whole way and then rushed a bill through because of a "Something is better than nothing." approach when Scott Brown was ready to take Kennedy's seat in the Senate...
and now it probably gets worse..... Republicans will probably take the house and make some gains in the senate but it won't be enough as it will most likely cause a major stand still as the parties posture more for the presidential elections than actually trying to accomplish some thing for the people who elected them....
I want to know how such a smart man who got elected President, can be so stupid.
When the Republican party leadership said before Obama was even inaugurated that they were going to "bury this guy" and make sure he was a "One term President" Why would anyone think that Bi-Partisanship was even possible.
My complaint about Obama is that he spent way too much time trying to get the Republicans to be come to the middle, instead of just doing what needed to be done.
100%. I have said to anyone who would listen just after he won the election 2 years ago, he will go down in history as the absolute worst President the USA has ever had. He was sorely lacking in any real world experience and was simply a prop for the Dems to gain control of the government through his charisma, albeit an inept prop.
His lack of experience, combined with the 'fooling' of the voters, are the reasons for the Dems demise.
The better question is how much of the blame will the DNC and the members of Congress that pissed away 2 years be willing to shoulder? When Obama took office there was a great willingness in the country for something to happen. Congress sucked all the joy out of that balloon in a hurry. I hope that the voters repay this lame ass Congress by getting rid of as many of the incumbent jackasses as possible. Both Dems and Repubs are responsible for the mess we are in.
None Jack, it is 100% Bush's fault.
Obama may be partially to blame because despite his much-lauded communication skills, his administration hasn't done the greatest job of being as open and clear about what they are doing as promised. He definitely suffers from the impatience of the American electorate which has no clue about how long it takes for real economic improvement to be felt (and Obama's done little to educate them to the contrary). But the real fault lies in the Democrats' Congressional leadership. The Democrats could have set a new tone in Washington when they took over by cooperating with their Republican counterparts and reaching across the aisle to get things done. Instead, they (and the Republicans) dialed up the vitriol and rhetoric and alienated much of the American electorate. I'm an independent who votes probably more Democrat than Republican, but I'm disgusted and appalled by how Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have run things and how I expect John Boehner will follow the same path. If the Dems pull out a win and hold on to the majority, Pelosi and Reid should be replaced with congress people who will find common ground with the Republicans to get down to what is ailing this country.
I blame the base of his party and the unrealistic expectations they have of him. It's almost like he battles the republicans and the democrats on legislation on every issue. He isn't going to get any help from the republicans, we have seen that, so he needs more help from his base in being more flexible.
First off, the President has only so much power. Where the legislature is concerned, all he can do is suggest they do the right thing, request the fighting and stifling partisanship be stopped. If they choose to ignore him, there's little he can do to push them toward leaving their party politics out of their decisions.
He requested many times that they work together and was ignored. If anything, the partisanship only got worse as time went on.
This is almost entirely on the House and Senate since they chose to retain the partisanship and work against the wishes of the majority of the people.
Andy, Warner Robins, GA
The term "blame" implies something didn't go according to plan. Obama knew full well that he won an election as a referendum on the Bush presidency, not on a suddenly Liberal American populace. He knowingly used this to intentionally push forward an agenda that America would ultimately reject, hoping that it was too late to reverse. That remains to be seen.
No more passing the buck for Obama. Instead of cramming health care down our throats he should have concentrated in jobs and listened to the people who elected him and the people who got "stuck" with him.
The election is a referendum on our pretend president and his administration. It's that simple. Socialism isn't the answer.
Quite a lot of it. His administration took their eye off the ball by concentrating on health care and not spending more time on the economy. They also did a terrible job of communicating with the American people and countering Republican misinformation. I wish to heck I had supported Hillary instead. I wonder how many other independents feel the same way.
When you see the number of democrats running away from there own record during this election cycle they have nobody to blame but themselves for there losses. They let the Republican's defining there record instead of selling there accomplishments themselves.
Actually, it's the other way around...the Democrats have failed the President by not being resolute in their support of legislation he proposed. Instead of using the leverage they had, they tried to finesse each issue. As Pogo said "We have met the enemy and he is us".
Jack, indeed he is responsible. He seemed to have let Pelosi and Reid have at it, with no direction. Not sure of the words, but when Pelosi said "we need to pass the bill, so we can see what's in it", that was the end.
The blame must fall on the President.
Priorities are misplaced. Healthcare, although needed, took front seat while the economy and JOBS took the last seat.
Big mistake.
People need to work, then they can pay bills, and healthcare would not be such a negative.
Too much govermental involvement and control. Only have enough laws to keep people honest, but let them earn a living and excel if capable.
Too many handouts...people forget how this country grew...by those willing to take a risk for a better life.
Jack, its not entirely President Obama's fault. Americans have the attention span of an albino squirrel and most are all so uninformed that they can get away with turning elections into a reality TV show instead of actually addressing how they will fix the literally thousands of things going wrong in our country.
The Dem's in Congress have themselves to blame...instead of trying to hammer out a reasonable and effective health care bill, what they delivered was a mess...same thing goes for the financial reform bill. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid simply didn't provide much in the way of leadership to the Dems...and they've frittered away any chance of being a strong collective force.
Sometimes I think the Dems would prefer to be the minority party...I think they enjoy complaining and blaming someone else for everything that goes wrong.
Perhaps the reason why the president hasn't been able to rally the Dems is that he himself had not yet acquired the "clout" by serving a number of terms in the Congress. You have to earn that respect within both parties, and that might have been why he couldn't persuade the members of Congress.
On the other hand, Republicans in Congress didn't support president Bush, either.
He totally deserves the blame.
He doesn't lead or inspire any confidence. He's was put in place as a puppet to serve the global banking and financial special interest groups. It's incredible to see a lame duck President in a first term in office let alone 2 years in.
Some but not all of the blame is deserved. We still have a completely inept Congress who are more about partisan politics than actually reaching for compromise and trying to better America. If the Democrats were truly doing their job, this repudiation of their control of Congress would not be taking place.
Very little, the biggest problem is with the behaviour and poor image portrayed by Democratic leaders in the House and Senate. If the Dems had some fresh leadership that wasn't just happy to be in charge the Republicans may have been shamed into sitting down with the Dems with a spirit of compromise to resolve the problems threatening our future.
Not a lot but some. Obama's only real failing in that regard is that he has not been the best at selling the govt's accomplishments and selling the lost term strategy to reduce federal debt (but certainly he's been much better than his predecessor). But by far the recession and the fickleness of the public are the major reasons for the Dems' setback.
Jack,
The president is 100% to blame for not getting bipartisan support for his agenda.. He let Pelosi and Reid run the show and neither of them are bipartisan.
Al Brown
Gorham, NH
Back & forth, back and forth. This is a country stuck in political rhetoric and do-nothingness. Forget the Tea Party, forget Republicans, forget Democrats. The system is so screwed that whoever gets in power is destined to fail. I believe Obama is a good guy with good intentions – however, the political landscape he works in is such a screw-up that whatever you do, special interest groups against policy will spin the media stories in such a way that a vast majority of the public can be convinced that north is actually south. And, in wasting tax dollars in such a way, politicians can actually claim victory by stopping progress and doing nothing.
Blame should first and foremost be placed on the shoulders of "political genius" Rahm Emmuel. It was his job to guide Obama and he utterly failed to discern that the true priority of the Administration should have been the economy, not far left liberal causes.
Next in line are Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, who likewise are more interested in their social engineering agenda than the long term economic health of this nation.
Obama and the Democrats are reaping what they sowed. The most intriguing question for the next two years will be if Obama will run for re-election and if he does, who will challenge him for the nomination.
It is Obama's fault because he got sidetracked. I know that health care reform was close to his heart, but the reform actually passed was horribly flawed, plus the process to get there bordered on corrupt, so it became a failure rather than an accomplishment.
I guess he should have focused on jobs, jobs, jobs. But he was too stubborn, stubborn, stubborn, so he spent all his time on health care.
In two more years he will likely be looking for his own new job, job, job.
Obama deserves 100% of the blame.
He has done more to alienate and divide the country than Bush could ever imagine in his wildest dreams.
Obama forced a worthless health care bill, stimulus package and Wall Street bailout bill down the American throat when it was clear that the majority of the population was overwhelmingly against all three.
Millions are out of work, the economy still suffers and he does little to improve the lot of the unemployed.
The President's greatest priority is preserving the jobs of democrats in Congress. The rest of us can go to hell as far as he's concerned.
If it wasn't for Obama people still wouldn't know what democrats actually do when they are in office.
No.
If we blame the President of United States, Barak Obama, it would demonstrate how ignorant we are as a nation. Loose regulations and free rules by the big companies have created a mess and it was ot Obama who was on charge..it was republican congress and republican president who was in charge. Not only Billions were squandered in the war with no return to show but death of 100s of thousands of more people. If that is called leadership, I think we are ignorant as a nation. Obama is investing for the people of USA by stimulating the economy, by giving investment incentives and providing healthcare to every american which should be basic right.
How can we be so rich and still so poor in judgement?
Obama is right..and he is not to be blamed.
pat
50-50. As the leader of the free world, Obama failed to lead even his Democratically held congress to bring about any of his campaign promises. He let them run wild while he caved in to the Republicans on absolutely everything – even before any negotiation. The Democrats acted like jerks and forgot (or more likely) ignored their mandate to undo the Bush administration’s disastrous policies. Now we have a situation that Bush could not have hoped for in his wildest dreams – healthcare of and by the industry, two wars over a decade old, a financial industry financed by the taxpayers and still no accountability or responsibility to perform, corporations still being rewarded for outsourcing jobs, an open border benefiting only agribusiness. All of which could have been stopped cold in a week.
None. The blame goes to the fickle American voter. Obama was elected in a wave of change and he's done his best to fix the financial crisis, stimulate the economy, and provide healthcare benefits to those without. Now he's either too liberal or not liberal enough. The Dems and Independents need to realize what voting Republican means in this election...a HUGE step backwards. Thinking that the Republicans are going to do anything but try to make Obama look unelectable in 2012 is crazy.
Obama is in a lose lose situation with the Bush Economy and a Congress that won't work together for the good of the nation. If the GOP capture control of the House, Americans will have a chance to see how constructive they participate in governing. Don't hold your breath.
It's just this simple Jack -- (None)
Obama's not really making a difference one way or another. The nation as a whole is rejecting the Democrats' agenda, not just Obama's.
Obama needs to man-up and realize that had he governed in the CENTER, which is what Americans wanted, he wouldn't have gotten his party into this mess.
It's margin call people – time to pay up!
Jack: Quit bashing our President ! Barak has done the best possibal job with the party of " NO " putting a stop to all efforts to move our country foreward. This election is not about throwing out good democrats, but rather it SHOULD be about electing the best canidates to office who will work for the people, not their own self intrests. If anyone shoudld be thrown out on Tuesday, it should be the obstructionists of which ever party they belong to. Far too long Congress has forgotten who and why they were sent to DC in the first place ! Let us hope America is wiser than to vote as the media pundits like to tell us. Stop it for gosh sakes
Mike Walker
McMinnville, Or
President Obama deserves little blame and the effectiveness of middle-class, middle-america, few to single issue issue campaigning deserves a round of applause for it's success but also a slap in the face for its back peddling of potential unionize American progression. A simple uneducated, fragile politically minded brainwashing of middle-america by candidates looking to exploit the easily impressionable american who doesn't know any better.
President Obama deserves a great deal of credit for his party's impending defeat. He was insistent on pushing his costly political agenda even though the public had very real concerns about the finincial health of our economy. He passed a huge healthcare program despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of the citizens were against it. He forced a huge bailout/stimulus package through congress when most citizens were against it. He used his super majority to force legislation down the throats of the opposition and his people.
Sorry President Obama. Your bosses are the U.S. citizens – and we get to vote tomorrow. Watch what we can do when we are fed up. We also get to vote in two years on your job....
A lot. Instead of doing what the people elected him to do he got stuck on very poor health care legislation that no one truly understands. He should have taken his time and worked toward a single payer health care system that would include coverage for Congress too. He ran these first two years half-assed and ran the Democratic party into the ground. He was too busy worrying about his legacy and getting credit for things no one else was interested in. He and Michele need to start packing. Tomorrow should make that transparent enough for them.
It is difficult to cleanup 8 years mess within 2 years. However based on what he promised and delivered I guess yes he deserves the blame.
This man has a limited intellect. He was able to fool all of the people all f the time for a bit, but his true talent is as a Con Man, but not even a good one at that!
When we have Republicans claim from the get-go that they'll make sure Obama's a "one-term president," I find it hard to blame anyone else. The Republicans have made it their top priority to obstruct Obama's every move. They've planted seeds of fear and half-truths about this man. The Republicans have made it clear from the start that all they want is CONTROL, and they don't care what happens to the American people in the interim until they get it.
I have nothing but respect for Obama for wanting to do this thankless job, and for not letting the insidious behavior of his political enemies get to him.
It was Obama's fault for trying too hard to work with an opposition party, whose sole goal is to make him a one-term president, the country be damned. Boehner and McConnell have made winning, not governing, their prime consideration, the country be damned. It would be better for the country if they went hunting with Dick Cheney.
North Dakota
So Obama will be blamed if the democrats lose. Obama has been trying to do exactly what he promised to do during his campaign for president. If the dems hadnt been so weak they could have been in better shape. They ran away from all the things Obama got done because they are afraid of the right wing of this country. They are weak wimps including the black congressmen and women who have all but disapeared, except to respond to ethics charges.
No more than you and the rest of the media that has been drumming home the message that the Dems were going to lose for the last 4 months. You all are supposed to report the news, not dictate it. Maybe if you weren't constantly telling those who voted for Obama in 2008 that their votes this time won't actually count because the "conventional wisdom" is that the Dems will lose, there might be a better turnout on Electiion Day.
Jack, If the Democrats are crushed tomorrow, I totally blame the Republicans in Congress who spent the past two years undermining our President in an effort to win, and the ignorance of the voters about the amazing accomplishments of Pres. Obama during these two years that saved our country from disaster. I am a 74 year old Independent voter fed up with the Republicans and their lies.
This is nothing more than media poppycock and America buys it. We are a nation of lazy butts expecting one man to solve everything while we watch from the sidelines and do nothing. Don't blame your President....it's your own fault...pure and simple!
I think the blame has to be shared. He is much to blame, but his fellow Dem's all voted for his ideas and passed the laws. They are accountable as much as he is.
The Democrats are going to lose big tomorrow and it is definitely a referendum on Obama. If he were doing a good job his party would not be in the position it is in.
Obama gets a lot of the blame, but no more than all the Democrats who willingly alded and abetted him in his scheme to "fundamentally change America" in a way that most Americans don't want. Obama and the Dems got arrogant and overplayed their hand and will now pay the price. Note to the GOP-Don't make the same mistake. You'd better produce.
Him and his arrogance have destroyed the Democratic party. Even my parents who have been Democrats all their lives will not vote Democratic this midterm
He deserves the blame. But only because he doesn't know how to go for the jugular the way the Republicans have done.
Instead of getting out on the stump and saying "the republicans voted against small business loans," or "John Boehner doesn't want our military to have supplies," he played the stateman by saying "a small opposition party" or "a group of senators" – never naming names.
The Republicans never hesitated to names the Democrats as the problem or specific people as blocking legislation.
Sadly the President doesn't know how to fight in the trenches.
It is 100% Obama's fault. He let Pelosi and Reid run shotgun through the congress, and all three supported his agenda which the American public openly disagreed with. He continues to blame the Republicans for all the problems....but with both houses and and the Presidency in un-stoppable control, his only accomplishment if 1.5 trillion in debt, and a health care system which will not deliver what was promised and promoted in 40 separate speeches, and will bankrupt the country. The President earned this tidel wave, so let him take 100% credit.
Here's an imortant statistic: There are more private sector jobs created during two years of the Obama Administration than during eight years of the Bush Administration. Have you heard it?
The Democrats have been MISERABLE in getting out any good message. That goes from Mr. Obama and down the line to tForhe newest members of Congress.
For me, a progressive Democrat, Mr. Obama has failed as the Administration's Main Messenger.
President Obama set the agenda for the past two years, and directed the Democratic controlled Congress to pass a healthcare reform bill at a time when most of the people in the country were trying to figure out where their next meal was coming from. How such a smart, capable politician could so badly missread the waters completely boggles my mind.
Mr. Obama has tried to do what he promised to do.
He inherited a broken economy, a broken government, a broken set of ethics, and a completely bankrupt system of morals from the bushies, the Reaganites, the ultra-conservative warmongers, and the apathetic public who had been led down the garden path to glory in war, wealth in trickle-down, and security in Wall Street.
My friend Jack: if Mr.Obama organized his forces and/or utilized his authority as president to fully counter all of the propaganda and untruthfulness in the uncontrolled advertisements of the unlimited budgets of the top 1 percent, he would be discredited as power hungry and branded as a traitor. The use of power goes only in the direcdtion of the one picked by those willing to get or keep control AT ANY COST. In my opinion this unlimited, AT ANY COST, use of power by the rich is traitorous; as it would indeed be if done by Mr. Obama.
I do not blame Mr. Obama for his restraint. He is well aware of the ignorance and apathy of the public and is not willing to sacrifice his ethics. Perhaps he still naively believes in some form of right and wrong. Perhaps he is incapable of believing that the American people would even consider returning the bush administration to power. Perhaps is is loathe to even try to counter the propaganda of the foxes.
Let's just blame Obama for everything. The weather, the two wars and the economy. This man just totally screwed up this country in 19 months. Get real Jack, we are living in the wake of 8 years of poor governance by Bush and everybody knows it.... Stop blaming Obama for the mistakes of the country as a whole well before Obama became President......Enough already!!
I agree with Obama that he paid to much attention to getting the right policies and not enough attention to politics. Having said that, there is plenty of blame to go around. Personally I blame the voters who fail to understand how obstructive the Republicans have been. Apparently you can win lots of votes by blocking every piece of legislation, doing nothing, and blaming the other guy for failing to get things done.
The President should be blamed for caring and trying to make a difference and for nothing more. It amazes that you feel that health care for every American is a "grand issue." I wonder if the same Republicans in Congress that are yelling to repeal the new health care bill are willing to repeal their own health care which is paid for by the American taxpayers. Most of the bailout money has been repaid but the media doesn't report that and the American people are too stupid to read and understand what really happened to the ecomony. They would much rather listen to Rush Limbaugh or Sarah Palin.
I remember what it was like before President Obama took office and if the Democrats don't win and finish the President's agenda then America has no one to blame but America. We will deserve the disaster that President Bush left us because we are too stupid to change it.
With all the glory comes the accountability, the day has come and it's a double play with Nancy and Harry out and then the big flyball to center field in two more years. It's the beginning of REAL CHANGE.
If I was a Democrat, and know my CEO of the Democrat Party, Mr. Obamo had no scheduled appearances of any kind on the eve of mid-term elections I would run as fast as I could to the Republican Party.
That, what he is doing is cowardly.........................
William
Vero Beach
Jack,
No blame for Pres Obama, but blame the American people that have forgotten the 8 yrs of deceit, lies, squandering of taxpayers money and war for the Bush administration. Pres Obama cannot accomplish in two years what the Bush administration destroyed in eight. he never said it was going to be easy to move our country forward!!
Could he have done something differently? Sure. People blame him for not taking ownership of healthcare, and yet there was a very good example (see: Clintoncare) of why not to. But he was supposed to devine something differently. And as for that, they don't call it "Congresscare" now do they? I place blame on the American public who have a completely faulty memory and expect epic problems to be solved *immediately*. I also place quite a bit of blame on the sensationalism the media constantly assign every. single. event. over. and. over. It seems to me that the way our leaders lead and even how our media reports though is directly relatable to how we the people react and consume. So IMO, anything we get, a great chunk of the public asked for. I just wonder what these tea party candidates are going to do when they actually have to talk to press. Or when they don't see instant results with their small old ideas. They'll get voted out next time anyway because people will be all mad again. That's apparently how our national psyche works anymore.
My question is: Does Jack Cafferty bring anything of value to the public discourse, or does he only get a paycheck just for posing questions with no answers and for listening to clueless morons gripe on the internet?
The only people that should be blamed if the Democrats lose are the American People for being eternally self-serving, endlessly short-sighted and for whom instant gratification is not fast enough.
It's a good thing we didn't have this generation of Americans around during World War II, otherwise we would have packed it in and started speaking German right right after Kasserine Pass. Not that American conservatives would have minded that very much at all.
I think a great deal of the blame goes to the reigning democrats who became exceptionally partisan after they got some power. They had promised bipartisanship and did quite poorly in that respect when some of those people they now ignore got them into office.
President Obama dragged us kicking and screaming in a direction we did not want to go in. We wanted a change from the previous 8 years, not a radical transformation of the entire country. This election is about stopping President Obama, not embracing the Republican party. He is entirely responsible.
40% the obstructionist republicans, 30% the spineless, wimpy Democrats, and 30% the president, who never intended to do what he promised, and is also spineless and wimpy. As long as the Democrats play republican lite, we will be a party that stands for nothing.
Regardless of whether Dems get crushed or not, the blame should go to Obama. He's to blame for allowing power hungry agenda driven Pelosi to put us deeper into debt just so she could prove she could pass healthcare instead of doing what was best for the country like addressing immigration reform, clean energy initatives, or jobs. I am so tired of politicians thinking about their own agenda and their own jobs instead of remembering who gave them their job and is paying their salary.
I am an independent who still supports Obama. I lay the blame on Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and the Republicans who set out to create havoc from the moment Obama was elected.
Give me one example, JUST ONE, where Republicans cooperated with the President. Give me a break, do you guys think we're stupid and not paying attention. I've been reading and watching for 2 years, and distinctly recall the Republican plan to "just say no to everything". The fact that President Obama got a health care package through is a freaking miracle considering the Republican opposition. Don't give me the garbage media claim that "Dems" had the majority either – again do you think we're stupid (no excuse me you are hoping we are!) – Many Dems are "blue dog dems" which means they vote with republicans. I cannot believe people want the GOP in control of congress, in fact, I find it hard to believe. Also, why doesn't CNN list, in a repetitive way, all of the President's accomplishments, cause there are many. However, the mantra getting repeated has nothing to do with what he's accomplished, instead, it's "Dems will get crushed". Are people not paying attention??? The Tea Party wants to turf medicare and privatize social security. Sounds like "Bush years, the sequel". What a joke.
the american people are falling into the trap of listining to propoganda from the right that lead to this mess in the first place. Why do middle and lower class americans vote to reduce the taxes of the wealthy as always promised by the Republicans. Trickle down ecomomics has been proven to have been a big lie. Just goes to show you if you repeat a lie over and over on the TV the people will believe it. Shame on America for forgetting who bought you the GREAT RECESSION of 2008 and the BAILOUT under the BUSH presidency now somehow tagged as the OBAMA bailout. Nothing but BIG MONEY propoganda.
I disagree with you Jack on the reason why Obama is to blame. The lousy economy is solely Bush 43's fault. There wasn't much Obama could do to reverse that in just two years, but he did have the chance to follow through on the promises he made to his base - close Guantanamo and Bagram, get us the hell out of Iraq, go after crooked businesses, and pursue comprehensive and meaningful health care reform. He failed on all of these promises because he opted to placate the Republican Party instead.
I could see this coming as far back as November 2006, when the then historically elected First Female House Speaker (<>) Nancy Pelosi opted not to go after Bush for the crimes he committed in office. It was then and there that I switched from long-term registered Democrat to American Independent.
I can already hear the sob stories from tomorrow's mid-term result. "Oh where, oh where did we go wrong?" The Democrats just never learn, no matter how loudly their base screams at its leaders.
All the work we did from 2006 to 2008 has been lost. The Republicans will now stonewall everything until 2012. Meanwhile, there's a good chance Obama will find himself fighting impeachment while the labor unions, the environment, stem cell research, separation of church and state, science, family planning, health care and financial reform are tossed out or overturned.
The Democrats have wimped out again, and as a result America is about to go down the fascist rabbit hole, perhaps permanently this time.
Thanks, Mr. Obama.
Obama is to blame because he promised things that his party cannot deliver. But then he had to promise the blue sky to get elected.
Jack – You can't be all things to all people but Obama was elected by folks sick of partisan bickering. If he really wanted to reach across the isle and get things done, he should not have let the Pelosi/Reed team steam roll him into passing legislation that scared hell out of 60% of the country.
The blame goes to both Obama and the Dems. If you will remember, both Obama and the Dems pushed the HC bill through without giving america a chance to digest and understand what it was about.
Pelosi made the comment – You will get to see the bill after it's passed.
Well, this didn't sit well with public opinion and now the dems along with Obama are paying for it.
Steve K
Stockbridge, GA
In the result oriented society he'll be blamed 100% for the possible loss but the question we could ask " for what reasons"?
The economy is damaged so much that patching up without a long term vision will not work.The leader needs support from all Legislators to
formulate the economic policies that will define the future of Average American.
Blame Obama? that's the republicans answer to ALL the problems in this country. what a bunch of lemmings
Even before Obama was sworn in, the Republicans took an oath of their own to cause his presidency to fail. It was stated plainly and openly. This would be the driving factor for Dems getting "crushed". If it actually happens. The other factor in such an occurrence would be because of the lack of courage, respect, and loyalty of the Dems themselves toward Obama. So, the blame or fault is not Obama's, but Congress.
Thom Richer
Negaunee, MI
Everyone from A to Z, Democrats to Republicans ought to share the blame. But the GOP deserves a lot more blame for creating roadblocks, obstructions and filibuster. And then the most divisive person since America came into being, Sarah Palin who spilled more hate and poison into the atmosphrere that ruined the social fabric of this country. A person like her should have no place anywhere.
The president doesn't deserve nearly as much blame as the extraordinarily partisan, uncompromising lawmakers of both parties who were more interested in advancing their own agendas than in doing the country's business. No matter how the election turns out, self-interest and special interests will remain paramount until 2012, if not beyond.
Sarah
Denver
He could split it between himself, Pelosi, Reid and the other thieves the Dems have in office! The majority of Americans said "No Health Care", he just about gave us the finger and did it anyway. We tell him, we don't want the illegals here, again he could care less, now he's suing Arizona...Really....he rather fight his own states just for the vote. Get this poor excuse for a president out of office!
I believe partly, but I also believe that it will be in the Dems best interest to lose the 2010 senate battle in order to win the 2012 presidential war.
To quote Harry Truman, the buck stops here. Yes the president is
very culpable for the democrats position. He could have written the
stimulus bill himself ,focusing on infrastructure, as did FDR. These
are difficult times . While the critical thinking he displayed is good,
decisive assertive leadership is an absolute must
We're all to blame for this nightmare election that is about to take place.
He's 100% to blame. The election is a vote on the Obama agenda. America has seen Obama for the raging liberal that he really is, and is having a collective rejection.
Chris from connecticut. Candidate Obama sold most of the voters on voting for him. President Obama has failed to sell us on his policies to fix our problems. He did not create them but it is his job to lead us, which I think he has not done in the first two years. For that, all the blame rest on him. I hope he can do better in the next two or we will back with the crew that got us in this mess in the first place.
Americans never seize to amaze by cutting of their nose to spite the other
fellow thinking that its not going to effect them also. Voting the
Republicans back after what they did and some "tea party" zealots instead of a smart President like Obama?
Funny Americans, Jack.
The President does not carry the blame alone, but he does carry a great responsibility in how chose to lead the country....and accepting Pelosi's bully tactics and back room deals. That was very disappointing from a man who promised change.
To those that want to blame the Republicans for obstruction.... Every President deals with the opposing side. The skill in leadership comes from knowing how to navigate those waters so that all citizens are being heard and represented. He is President of the United States...not just of those citizens that happen to be with the Democratic Party.
This is a sign to all of Washington.... If you can't do it, we will find someone else come next election. Our patience is limited....and we are paying attention. Sick and tired of party politics....and will swing our vote in any direction until we find people who remember they are civil servants....There to represent the people.
Don't blame Pres. Obama for whatever results we get in the voting tomorrow. Everyone needs to follow my lead. If there is an incumbent on the ballot; vote for someone else. If the incumbent is not challenged; vote a blank. Eventually will have all new scoundrels; that are untrained to corruption. We could get better government; ya think.
Americans are the dumbest people in the world. The economic collapse was the fault of Republicans not Obama. The Republicans were the ones who said no to everything and hindered any kind of recovery. If Americans want to vote for corporate interests against their own self intersts then that says more about them then the president. Good Luck American in the next few years.
Here we go again with the "Blame it on the Black Guy" excuse for this countries woes....
Jack, Democrats hold 55 house seats in districts that voted for John McCain. They'll probably lose 53 of them. How is that Obama's fault? Those folks are in districts that Obama lost in the first place.
The stimulus package (which didn't work) and Obamacare (which won't work) were rammed through without Republican support. Keynsian Economics doesn't work (just ask the Japanese). Obama is a leftest union hack and the american people now what a mistake they made in 08.
I love how "americans" want the government to be able to fix everything, but they want less governmental control as well. Our country is greedy, spoiled and naive. More than 90% of don't even know what running this country intails so how can we make educated decisions on policy if these policies aren't even made readily available. We have two parties that can't even work together, and we want to place blame on one???? No, if there is a "team" that doesn't work together the "Team" aka America can't win. I'm tired of these assinine politics and unreal voters. I am an American, and I'm sad to say that we are lost with both parties, we need to revolutionize and upgrade our government.
The next two years will show that the blame on Obama is misplaced. Republicans will not be able to reduce the deficit either, not when they want to extend the Bush tax cuts. If the economy does not recover, the government is stuck with a trillion dollar deficit even if no new Obama spending is included in next year's budget. It took voters less than two years to forget that the Republicans caused this mess. In two years voters will once again remember why they kicked Republicans out of power in 2008.
It's not the President, stupid; it's THE CONGRESS. If the Congress won't support the President, then why is he the blame? The Republicans may be frothing at the mouth in tomorrow's election results, but they've been the party of NO for the last 2 years and didn't really do much for the middle class and below when they were in power. Remember that a lot of incumbents are also Republicans, so if you want to vote the incumbents out, who do you call? Not Pollbusters. They only tell people what they want to hear.
Tom/San Antonio
Yes, Jack, he is to blame although Pelosi and Reid have taken the brunt of the blame for all the democrats' ills. Ironically, Obama has managed to stay above the fray even though the policies come down straight from the top. I can only guess how much finger wagging we'll see from him if the Republicans do take the house. He'll have to somehow find a way to work with his so-called "enemies" (which makes me wonder what he calls Al Queda if he considers his opposition his enemies) but I'm afraid he will expect all compromise to come from the Republicans while he rants on about obstructionism.
President Obama is certainly not to "blame" if Dems suffer setbacks on election day. Most of today's voters remind me of the dog in the movie, "Up,"...all it takes is someone screaming "squirrel" and everybody turns their head and drools. I think it's merely a defense mechanism on the part of those opposing the Dems to have to blame anybody – President Obama is a convenient target and he takes it. Healthcare took a front seat, as most reasonable folks know, because fixing the economy and producing jobs was going to take a long, long time...if healthcare had not been dealt with, we'd have even more nothing...I just wish everybody would calm down and breathe!
I think president Obama deserves about half, and I see that as fair, seeing as he not only seems to go on vacation almost non-stop or did in the past, but he also did other stupid moves like spend thousands in the people's money just to go fly to another state for a sandwich that costs around 4 dollars, if the people truly wanted someone who could spend that much money they should have just elected kids and told them they could have whatever they wanted, they just had to spend money that wasn't theirs. However, the people also deserve credit instead of just blaming Obama. I mean really not only does it seem like less Americans are voting but it seems like it is for the wrong reason. Because someone has a family it makes them better than the candidate without one? I believe we should just go back to the old days where debates happened over the radio. During this point in time if a man in a wheelchair decided to vote we would probably all say "well what can he offer he has no legs" but during the time when FDR was elected there was no issue, just because someone is different or doesn't fit the stereotype doesn't mean that cant do an equal or even better job. As human beings we should learn to ignore stupid comments that we make and just go for what sounds not the best but logical.
The blame should not be placed on the president, but onthe media. People should realize that media is big business and can easily manipulate what they show the people. Hateful right wing and anti Obama messages from Jack Cafferty also promotes the anger amoung the Americans.
I would blame it on the American public. A- only 40-45% of voting eligible people will vote? B-The American public can be sold a sack of lies.
It's sad but if you do not vote in your own interests or vote for stupidity, that is what you get.
Hey Jack, your question is fallacious. You should have asked, how much or how less was President Obama helpful in preventing the crush? It's not reasonable to think that he hurt any campaign.
Vish
Wappingers Falls, New York
I'd blame Obama for lack of communication. He has done so much for the common man in 2 years, but he allowed the bossy GOP and tea partiers and the Koch Brothers and Rupert Murdoch to define him, and with a jittery electorate, this played right into their hands. And now the common man has turned against him.
That being said, he will come out of it, a stronger president and will get reelected. I'll be proud to cast my vote for his re-election in 2012.
President Obama is not to blame. If the Republicans gain control again, I blame it on the stupidity and ignorance of the American electorate. Oh, and throw in millions of dollars in negative ads.
President Obama is the leader of the free world so he is surely the leader of the Democratic Party. He should take full blame for every one-sided bill he signed into law that had no Republican support. Pres. Obama helped create the Party of No. Because the Democrats failed in bipartisanship, the voters have no choice but to balance things out.
Obama sued Arizona. That mistake is making me vote straight republican tommorrow !
Hi Jack,
All of it is how much President Obama deserves. Rather than focusing on the real issues of jobs for Americans and getting this horrendously bad economy back on its feet, he chose EVERYTHING but.
Economic analysts from various think tanks recently polled feel we may not get this country back on track until perhaps 2018.
Happy news, isn't it?
Cheers from the broken state of California,
Wendy
Obama deserves no blame, although he is a major part of the problem being a "republicrat". This whole thing is the result of destructive policies supported by special interests. The people are becoming very angry and upset as they recognize something is terribly wrong. The special interests have directed the anger to the president and party in power, that way people have someone to blame without addressing the real problem. We will change party's and the same destructive policies will proceed unimpeded.
Hey Jack. Do you remember how in 2008 the polls had Barack Obama down, and it was considered unlikely by many news organizations that Obama had a chance? The enthusiastic voters werent considered until after the fact. You got to remember that polls are a snap shot of the entire country, not everyone is captured. Laws dont get passed and things dont get done if both sides dont agree. If democrats get crushed it would be because the Republicans managed to convince people that the President and the Democrats haven't done enough, but a lot of the promises and bills that were proposed by Dems. have been met by opposition by Republican fillibusters. We dont know who's going to show up, so the question should be what happens if the democrats dont get crushed.
The dems have had complete power in congress for 4YEARS. They cannot blame Bush or the republicans,but they will still try. The fault lies on a president who got elected only for his ability to give nice speaches. He should try to blame CNN,or their political adviser,Bill Marr. I think the best thing to do is blame the democrats for not letting HILLERY take the job.
I Don't Think In My Opinion Jack That You Can Blame President Obama If My Party The Democrats Gets Crushed! This Man Ran A Fair And Exciting Election, Came To Washington And The Whole Country Including The Media Held President Obama On A Pedestal Expecting Him To Come In And Change Things Over Night And Change Can Never Happen Over Not By Republicans Or Democrats! President Obama Is A Good President He Has Looked Out For All Americans Since He Took Office By Saving Our Country From Diaster By Passing The Stimulus Bill, Passing Health Care Which No Other President Could Ever Get Done And Now Everyone Will Have Health Care In The Country And Finally We Are Now Able To Hold Wall Street Responsible And The Goverment Can't Bail Them Out Anymore Thanks To Financial Reform! President Obama Has Done Alot For This Country In Two Years But The Main Thing Is Unemployment Is High And No Matter Who's President If You Are Not Able To Bring That Number Down And Create Jobs You Won't Be President For Long!
Scott Stodden (Freeport,Illinois)
President Obama has not had the support or even the co-operation of almost any of the GOP members of congress and certainly not all of the Democrat members of congress. As he said at the beginning, he cannot do anything without the help of congress. If anyone wants to blame anyone for lack of progress, look at "The Party of NO!"
I strongly believe the President has his priorities in the wrong order. His first and foremost priority should have been the economy. Following that priority should have been health care and the current wars. How can anyone pay for health care without a job?
The people who vote get the blame for whatever comes...
Voting is our duty and if you put "these" people in office; you get what you asked for. The people are to blame if any blame is to be given.
No Obama's not to blame. The Media is. News stations like Fox are out and out lying and even CNN won't correct someone in an interview when they lie. News stations and newspapers HAVE JUST BECOME TABLOID GOSSIP. Obama has done some great things but you'll never hear about them on the news.
No. It took Bush eight years to make a huge mess and twenty months is not enough to clean it up. The wall street bail out was Bush's baby. Where was the Tea Party crowd when Bush was running this country in to the ditch. There's an underlying issue here and it smells of racism.
Ed
Kirkland, Wa
they will be surprised tomorrow by how democrats will crush the republicans.
I don't know if blame matters that much. I had an old friend tell me "you get the government you deserve."
I can't decide if that's a blessing or a curse.
Obama is fully accountable to the will of the people. He defended status quo and promised change with bailouts to GM and the banks. He changed the focus from a reeling economy to healthcare - there is nothing this President has done to suggest he is remotely in touch with the functioning of an effective government. I am a lifelong Democrat that voted for him and sadly voting for deficit control to reel in an out of touch Congress.
Our President is not to blame, but the left and middle
media is.
They have not done enough stories about how it has
and is getting better in our economy. They have let
the right media take the debate and run with it.
Not much. I usually vote Republican, but have been turned off by the irrational direction they have been trending toward for the past few years. This is more a populist knee jerk reaction to hard economic times than it is a vote against the policies of the Obama administration. Many people seem to forget that the bailout money was authorized at the end of, and requested by, the Bush administration. Failure to spend that incredible amount of taxpayer dollars would have resulted in an economic catastrophe. Unfortunately, many people are going to vote for those who support the policies that got us in the economic mess we now find ourselves instead of those who support reasonable solutions to the challenges we now face-whatever party they may be from.
no blame::
if the american people have such short memories as to whom
got them into this mess, then they deserve what they are wishing for.
This is like saying that we should blame cancer researchers for every cancer death. Obama was handed a financial fiasco and two wars, and has done everything possible to mitigate the situation. The neocons have admittedly done everything possible to interfere with the nation's recovery. Electing a split Congress will only make things worse.
People aren't all that smart, think about it, they are voting back in those that got us into this mess to get us back out of it, lol!!!!
Hi Jack,
As an outsider from Canada looking in I think people were frustrated as time went on and the economic picture did not get better fast enough.Medicare and too many appearances on comedy talk shows did not seem to sit well with many who are worried about jobs,housing market etc
Most of the blame lies with President Obama. He stuck with bipartisanship in the face of obvious and stated obstruction. We heard the lead Republican Senator Grassley on the healthcare endorse the lie of pulling the plug on grandma. Senator DeMint flat-out called for obstruction calling it Obama’s Waterloo. President Obama failed to show leadership most Americans respected in George Bush – He was elected with lots of political capital and squandered it on unobtainable bipartisanship.
Jack:
Most of the blame for this disaster squarley belongs to the party of No!! The Republicans.
Patrick, of Tucson
2 years now. Obamo has not closed GITMO, or set up healthcare. He's been too busy holding back yard meetings, smoking and drinking beers with a cop and a professor.
All of it. Obama took his election as an excuse to run to the looney left . Everything he has pushed through congress has been against the will of the American People. Pelosi and Reid were only the attack dogs who carried out his agenda. Only 20% of Americans describe themselves as liberal, but Obama has governed as a liberal and will suffer the consequnces ala Carter and Clinton in '94.
Not to beat a dead horse, but we all know that the reason why Obama is "failing" is because the republican party is upset that an African American is the President. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the private sector has had more jobs increasing every month. For all of you that don't remember, when the President was elected, he said that "getting out of this mess would take some time...maybe even more than one term". Some of you people have the attention span of a dead goldfish. Were you listening. Look at the DOW! It is up to over 11,100. When Obama took over, Bush left it at around 6,000. And you want these idiots to take over again!?
This year is the worst political season yet and 2012 will not be better. The GOP had it set out from the beginning to use fear, smoke and mirrors to try and overturn the accomplishments of this President. Listening to an Ex-Alaskan governor that quit her job to do what? It sure wasn't to read a book. The republicans took a large pile of crap, sprinkled gold and diamonds on it and renamed it "Tea Party". Unfortunately, it still the same crap, it just sparkles more.
GOD help us all when they are back in the drivers seat, because this train wreck is going to bury us all.
No, Obama was not wrong to focus on health care rather than the economy. The problem was the weakness he showed by letting it flounder till it was watered down horribly. Then he didn't keep his promises of transparency, closing Gitmo, repealing 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell." He abandoned his progressive base that worked hard to get him elected. The news media has given star power to the Koo Koo Nuts of the Tea Party, to wit: Palin, O"donnell. To them stupidity is a virtue.
From Chicago: I can almost hear PBO as he tries to explain the losses the Democratic Party suffered and why he really hasn't fulfilled the promises he made when campaigning.
“Um, what I really meant, but wasn’t sure what to mean, doesn’t mean that I’ve changed what I thought to originally mean”.
Looking forward to the change to come in 2012!
Simple math dictates that President Obama is not to blame for the economy. When President Clinton left office USA had a surplus of $$$. Eight years later we are in a HOLE. It would be foolish to think anyone could turn the deficit we have now around in two years. My pastor uses the phrase "It's a poor dog that will not wag his own tail" The accomplishments were not clearly explained. President Obama lost the propaganda war to the Republicans. My question is where is the UNITED States of America? Looks like the Divided States of America! Zip 7316
I feel that the president had great intentions and had everyone support for change. I think part of the problem has been way too much politics and republicans not wanting him to succeed. In all my years I have never seen a president who being publicly disrespected by any member of congress constantly yet he always has taken the higher road. The last two years seemed to be nothing but fights in congress stalling on bills, and a whole of finger pointing. Now there seemed to be a whole new movement that calls themselves a tea party? Hmm I like to think America is way too smart to fall for this. Be wise vote and learn about the real candidates
I must tell you, I was a GOP supportor for many yrs. I now despise them deeply. They are the criminals in this race, they steal the nations wealth out from under our noses and then try to turn the blame on
the guy trying to clean up their mess. How do they sleep at night?
Jack, when is someone in the news going to discuss the only real solution to our nations political problems, a third or even fourth party will fix this mess. Govern from the center and throw out the extremists that have ruined our government from both parties....
Michael Nelson Dayton, OH
Why would you blame Obama for ANY of the democrats not getting elected. As a member of congress/house, you are the one with the power of your vote. The democrats had the VOTING majority and the managed to push ZERO legislation through. The democrats, if they lose any seats, will lose them because they voted for what was popular rather then what what they believed in.
You must be crazy Jack to ask such a question. Have you been sleeping on what has been going on in the last two years? I am a Republican but this Republican party is not the same as the Barry Goldwater party. The President has come up with great ideas to get this country moving again but everywhere he turned he was greeted with the word "NO" by the Republicans. I am ashamed of this Republican party and I have voted for over 50 years. The likes of my senator McCain are running the show and believe me we in Arizona are certainly not proud of him. He says we should learn to get along – what a hypocrite. He is the one that says "Put Country First". He should try. They have been out to get the President since the day he was elected. They don't care about country first. It is all about lining the pockets of big business and the fat cats. They ignore the working class. Shame on all of them! They don't have any compassion for anyone.
I was wondering just how far you and wolf would go with this nonsense of Obama taking the blame. Did he vote down any legistration?He offered help for them republicans,but they wanted to drag their feet. Cant wait till the republicans really show thier stripes
It's not Obama's fault that the country turned out to be more anti black than red or blue. And when he's not fighting that bigotry he has to fight stonewalling republicans. History will show that he accomplished more than any other president in two years.
The problem is not Obama. It is the American's need for instant gratification. It took many years after the Great Depression for the economy to recover and this recession was nearly as bad. But, for some reason, Americans think Obama was supposed to be able to fix it in less than 2 years against a bunch of Republicans who said "no" to everything just because they knew it would get them back in control.
Why blame the President. The democrats in Congress should take all the blame. President is head of Democratic party but he is not the party. Everyone should accept their own fate. Congress did not consider the people they are suppose to serve.
Jack,
President Obama has accomplished more in these months for our country than your Bush did in 8 years.
Regardless of your pushing your bias, your republicans are to blame for lack of accomplishments, improvements with their obstruction, propaganda, fear mongering and continuous bowing to Wall st.
When you have a politic al party that has goals of win at any cost, destroy our president, prevent any improvement, accomplishments, I would think even you would realize they do not represent us or our'
country.
The blame game? Seriously? Conservatives will take seats because people perceive complex and specific problems as something that can be solved with macro solutions (raise/lower taxes, small/large government). And are gullible enough to believe that the next guy can solve these problems.
Hello....is anyone home....the Republicans had no intent of working with Obama.
Both parties are to blame.
We need term limits. Get the career politicians out of office.
None. President Obama came into office with the Republicans hoping that he would fail. They did nothing to help him get things done. He has kept us safe, ended the war in Iraq, passed credit card reform, financial reform, passed a health care plan that assists 30 million people to get health insurance & he gets no credit for that. You can do better than quoting a London newspaper. They don't live here. Obama practiced bi-partisanship until it hurt & it didn't make sense anymore. Maybe his Cleveland event was half empty because the other half were making phone calls & knocking on doors. And besides he has a job. Clinton doesn't. Remember he's kept us safe.
Bush had NOTHING to do with the housing meltdown which has dragged the economy DOWN. Obama's stimulus pkg, Obamacare, Cardcheck, Cash for Clunkers, etc. has been a horible reaction. The American People aren't stupid. They voted out the big spending Rebublicans in O8 and the big spending Democrats in 2010. Look out Obama in 2012
Finally, something Obama will have to take credit for: A complete failure to convince the American public his policies are working. It will be hard to blame Bush, but I have faith that Obama will find a way.
If the Republicans take over, we will have no one but ourselves to blame for voting them back in. We will have no healthcare for our children, people will be kicked off healthcare plans for pre-existing conditions. Taxes will go down for the riches 1% while the deficit sky rockets. Global warming will remain a mystery, and no more unemployment checks will go out for those lazy Americans who couldn't find jobs because most have been shipped over seas...Women's right to choose will be put into question and gay people can go back into hiding...The Democrats aren't perfect, but they are definitely the better of two evils. If the Democrats are kicked out...the Government will suffer and/or stalemate. I feel sorry for what Obama will face in the coming 2 years. Tea Party crazies and Republican nay sayers...
The fault is not getting the truth out and letting Repubs run rampant over the facts. They did a much better job of spreading their lies than the Dems did of spreading the truth.
The blame also falls on the voters. What short memories they have!! They overwhelmingly voted to oust the Repubs that got the country into this mess, then only 2 years later are thinking the Repubs can save us from it, with the same ideas!!!
Obama made promises of a fair healthcare reform and bipartisanship. He did absolutely nothing to increase the role of both parties in writing legislation and his healthcare reform is so flawed, it actually will result in worse care at a higher price unless repealed! Pelosi, Reid and other far left liberals in Congress are not far behind in blame!
No Jack .....Obama isnt to blame....Why are people still beating around the BUSH??? How dare people forget that everyone except the working Americans got rich under Bush!!!!!!!!Hello Jack
Obama should not be blamed – he's been working tirelessly for you and I but we never know about it because the media only points to the negatives, gives air to the biggest idiots who make the most noise. You pander to the lowest common denominator. You never point to the positives, to the accomplishments, to those things that are a step ahead for the little guy, for the children, for the earth or for our future. It is the MEDIA who should be held accountable – especially if the Tea Partiers are the ones who have the last laugh. Shame on you. Even you, Jack. None of the mainstream/cable news media serves the thinking folk one bit.
If the Democrats get crushed tomorrow, how much blame does President Obama deserve?
Why are you expecting the Democrats to get "crushed" tomorrow? In most races the Democrats are ahead of their challengers, normal Republicans and TEATARDS.
Sounds like you "Liberal Media" types are trying to throw the election that hasn't even happened yet.
I already voted and I didn't vote for a single Republican and voted only for DEMOCRATS.
I am working to give Obama what he needs. A SUPER MAJORITY
Jenna
Roseville CA
If Obama governed from the center and worked on the economy first instead of pushing big socialist/liberal agendas then things would be much better for the economy and the democrats
Why is everyone rushing to blame Obama? Is everyone's memory so short that they don't remember the financial crisis created by the Republicans? Obama and his team are not given enough credit for avoiding a finacial meltdown and a recession that could have been a depression. The economy was heading over the cliff and they have at least stabilzed the economy. I think people have unrealistic expectations. They have done as much as possbile in two years. the economy is at least growing again. Patience is a virtue.
It says something about main stream media when Tony thinks the Democrats didn't get any legislation passed, and everything that it says isn't good. Hey Jack, did you notice his post? Sad, isn't it.
No.
And if you think Pelosi and Reid seems bad for the country, wait until
you get Boehner and these unintelligent Tea Partiers in leadership positions.
When the Dems shoved a HC bill down our throats – that was the start of this.
Blame The President, yes – if the GOP takes the house. Because that is exactly what he wanted. In order to win in 2012 he needs the republicans to share the blame for what will continue to be a very, very slowly growing economy.
I love how the mess our country is in is still belamed on Bush and the Republicans. Maybe if Clinton would have dealt with Al-Quadia 9/11 would have never happened & we would not be in two wars right now – so I belame Clinton for our mess.
By the way this is not my opinion but it is what I think of when I see people still belaming Bush – yet Bush and the Republicans never onced belamed Clinton for being soft on terrorism.
Of course he is to blame. It is his ultra-liberal policies supported by his fellow Democrats that people will be voting against when they vote for Republicans. As for your other observation about where President Obama has campaigned, he only goes to places where they will plug in his teleprompter for him.
I'm with Dan...get the career politicians out of office...Term limits...or pay raises based on what results in congress have done for the people...great point Dan!!!!
If the Democrats lose more than is usual for midterms, I'd blame the Democratic senators and congressmen who wouldn't work together during the last two years. By staging hissy-fits rather than supporting Obama's initiatives, they disgraced themselves and damaged the party.
When both houses of Congress have approval ratings around 15%, the President may not be the one to blame! However, he didn't help things by folding on issues like the public option, which most people wanted, or by making back room deals with insurance companies, drug companies, and banks! And he never focused on JOBS, despite my frequent letters telling him that it was all about JOBS, JOBS and JOBS!!!
Well, I unsuccessfully tried to get a pro-Obama comment made, so let's look at Wolf Blitzer: why doesn't he actually listen to the people he's interviewing rather than just read his notes? Bill Maher had just finished saying Christine O'Donnell might get a job with "Fox," and seconds later Wolf asked him if she might get a job as a "pundint" [sic] at Fox. I've seen Wolf do this often in the past.
Your question is at the heart of what is wrong with this society.
Why does anyone or anything have to be to blame? Blame is but deflecting ones own shame.
As long as we as a people find it necessary to blame one another instead of reaching out and helping each other, there will always be this divide.
Blame Obama? Obama is the one person fighting the hardest for the democrats. If the senate and house democrats hadn't been so wimpish in the face of the rantings and ravings of the tea party, they wouldn't be in this position. I blame Harry Reid more than anyone. He refused to get tough on republicans in the senate and allowed them to procedurally outmaneuver him at every turn. Reid personifies everything that is wrong with the democrats–they are afraid to play as dirty as the republicans because that would be, well, just rude. Once again, democrats play nice, republicans play in the mud.
Way to go Jack! You seem to have picked up on what the rest of the country has observed & experienced for almost 2 yrs. You truly have a steel trap mind. Barry, the ultimate community organizer, is what he has always been, an empty suit & glad to see you finally noticed.
He shares some of the blame but most of the blame falls on the shoulders of a "Do Nothing Congress". They got elected as a group and then everyone of them went off in their own direction.
Of course it is Obama's fault. He is the leader of the Democrats, their success is his success, their failure is his failure. His arrogant, conceited, condescending, petty, leftwing politics are responsible.
When we elected Obama in 2008 we believed his rhetoric, he had no record to run on, but we believed his promises and upbeat optimistic vision.
Now Obama has a record, and we don't like it, and his rhetoric is now divisive, pandering, and accusatory. Put a fork in him, he's done and he ain't coming back.
We can’t get rid of Obama until the 2012 election but we sure as heck can hamstring him… vote Republican tomorrow.
This vote is a referendum not on what the Republicans have done but clearly about what the democrats have not. The democrats are NOT forecast to lose such a vast number of seats because people in so many districts suddenly felt that their representatives weren't dealing with their district's local issues but because the party wasn't giving them what they expected. This collapse didn't happen in 2006. It's happening in 2010 and the reason is the discrepancy between the smoke and mirrors Obama gives in his oratories and real life in the US. Obama is the face of the Democrats now and those who talk about how good or bad the democrats are talk only of Obama. For every 100 mentions of Obama there might be one of Reid or Pelosi. The US identifies the Democratic party with the visions of Obama and now they're going to punish his party for his empty rhetoric. big talk may win you a nobel prize 2 weeks after entering the presidency and while engaged in 2 wars. But that's Sweden. Americans have already served notice that Obama's due for some punishment as he became the first president in 60 years to personally back a democratic loser in Massachussets. Following that every candidate he's stumped for has gone on to lose. Obama believes that going on Stewart and Seacrest is the answer but the American public is sick of talk – even very finely crafted talk – and want results in their lives: not quotable soundbites however pretty – and tomorrow the nation will tell him so with their ballots.
Moe
Bergen County NJ
Jack, I blame the prisident for losing sight of the core issue of jobs, the economy and joe six-pack issues. Health care, while admirable, could wait. Corporate and financial bail outs, while perhaps necessary, were not sold to the great unwashed very well. There was too much political good will wasted and too little attention paid to those who elected him. What a damn shame.
I think people and critics in general are giving President Obama way too much credit for the state this country is in. The Republicans and Democrats are responisble for this mess. and it's truly a shame none of them can work together.
None. It's a tough year for the party in charge.
Obama did what was right and tried bi-partisanship when he let the house and senate lead on ideas to fix the economy. If you filter the grandstanding and soundbites there was no pragmatic idea which could address the issue in one swoop so the fallback on painful piecemeal approach. He stabilized the economy and job losses as his first priority. Once that was accomplished nothing could be done about the pace of recovery without spending huge amounts of tax payer money or incurring trillions in additional debt considering the size of the economy and the hole we were in. Healthcare was a success since no administration in the past has been able to reform this area and it will now get incrementally improved as years go by with technology and commonsense ammendments. Obama focussed on the economic social systems which are necessary to support unemployed citizens. Leave out the noise and the administration has been addressing the situation as best as anyone could keeping in mind the long term impact of every dollar spent. It has not increased the size of government and neither has it increased taxes. It has increased regulations on financial markets which is a natural response to protect the country from another one.
I think President Obama should take most if not all of the blame. It is he who is being held responsible by voters for all that ails our country. I’m sure he could also take on the responsibility of a Democratic Waterloo on November 2. This president has broad shoulders.
Fort Lee, NJ
There will never be cooperation between the parties again. That ship has sailed. There are no TV rating$ in the parties working together for the common good.
Jack, its partially Obama's issue, but he had 4 enemies, Republicans, dysfunctional Democratic party, economy, and a generally stupid electorate. No wonder we rank so poorly against other countries as far as education when we can't get people to see the President as a Christian and American.
Of course its Obama's fault. Our anger is focused on his socialistic policies and direction.
It isn't President Obama who should take the blame, but the Democratic members of Congress who have not had the guts to get on board with what the country really needs and do their job. Too many of them have been trying to cover their own butts to be reelected, while if they had worked hard to effect the change we need, they'd be in a good reelection position for that. No guts, no glory!
Many of the people who enthusiastically supported President Obama two years ago have not reaped the benefits they expected. No improvement in unemployment rates, no economic growth, and high mortgage foreclosure rates. What they have seen is unprecedented growth in federal deficits, bailouts for big businesses and Wall Street, and failed economic stimulus programs. It is not surprising that apathy is rampant among rank and file Democrats. I blame President Obama for promising change in Washington politics and not making good on that promise. I think the outcome of this election and future elections will hinge on candidates and officeholders who can demonstrate true bipartisanship.
Jack,
The President doesn't deserve any more blame than any other Democrat, and half the Republican base.
It isn't about left or right, it's about the middle. No one, not the Liberal Left or the Tea Party Conservatives are listening to the middle of America.
If you don't listen to the largest voter base, you're going to find yourself out of a job and wondering what hit you.
We'll see this same thing again in two years when the Uber Conservatives have found out that they haven't connected with the middle, either.
I've always been a Republican, but recently I've changed my political stance to 'Independent' because neither side is giving the man and woman in Middle America what they feel that government should be.
It's about the middle Jack, and as soon as people wake up to that fact, and we get more middle-centric politicians going to bat for the American public, and not the whacked out left, or the corporate right, then our country will start to right itself...if we make it that far.
Honestly, I don't think we will.
The Democrats have pushed Obama's agenda for the past 21 months. If the Democrats lose then the blame is obviously Obama's. When is this guy going to responsibility for his actions?
Republicans and Tea Party outfoxed OBAMA. The arrogant party of US has not told Americans as to how in next two years will they drop the unemployment to below 4% without raising taxes on rich. Nor has any democrat stood up to ask, for their own sins. We simply hope that republicans don't start a war on Iran for not being able to find anything.
I think Americans have a very poor memory. Too many of us aren't thinking about how we entered the current recession- two wars, tax cuts for the rich, and an unregulated wall street! How can we vote against the Democrats and the President? We have healthcare that's not socialism, we have credit card protection, the stimulus that did help the country financially, and we got a tax cut just to name a few things! How can the American people take healthcare away from a child? How can we return to the policies that left so many of us behind? How can we go backwards? Why are so many people selfish and too eager to only think of themselves? The policies of the Republicans will only create a longer recession and leave more people in desparation. Pres. Obama has been trying to solve this problem for less than 2 years, the policies need time to work. Please vote for democrats tomorrow and remember where we were less than 2 years ago!
All of it Jack. He led the country and his party down the primrose path and at every opportunity presented to him to unite the country he chose to jerk the wheel hard left. He'll obviously say otherwise but the voters haven't "misunderstood" his message and I suspect they will clarify that on Tuesday.
IF, is the operative word, Jack.
IF, there are more Democrats than Republicans,
IF, the Democrats get off their duffs and go vote tomorrow like President
Obama told them, and not wait to see IF, the Republicans pundits are
right, then the Democrats wouldn't get crushed in the first place.
We will see IF this is true tomorrow, Jack.
If the Dems get crushed then the people get crushed. It just that simple. Nothing new here. Americans are always voting against there own best interest. Dumbed down, feeble minded people who do not want to tell the truth or take responsibilty for anything. They want to pretend its the deficit, or taxes or some other bs when the truth is they too want President Obama to fail. We all know the reason, STOP PRETENDING! President Obama should consider not running again. He has already accomplsihed more in 22 months than 2 presidents could accomplish in 16 years (any two). The backward ass people want their country back. I hope they get it back
Blame it on 3 things:
1) The inability of 50% of the U.S. population to imagine anything beyond their own noses
2) The unwillingness of 50% of the U.S. population to see the greed that lies behind G.O.P. rhetoric
3) The brilliance of the G.O.P. and their corporate owners in recognizing #s 1 and 2, and Dems failure to acknowledge #s 1 and 2
I'd say mostly blame yourselves if the Dems fail. Many of the races are extremely close and the side with the people who are too lazy to vote is the side that's going to lose.
Obviously if you don't support the Dems you'll be congratulating yourself over their loss.
Answer-Half responsible. America is experiencing FAST FORWARD-President Obama term and REWIND-8yrs retired President Bush. My message is not to bASH no one only to voice my view is that America is not being honest with themselves which bring to a conclusion is how can they give a fair/honest vote. America has mild depression not recession which can be solved with mild medication????
None. If and when the GOP has the majority in the House and Senate, they will likely see what its like when the shoe is on the other foot. The Dems will require them to have 60 votes to pass anything in the Senate and the House will delay, dilute, and deaden all of their efforts.
Obama task to bring sanity to the country and spear head an economic revival is to monumental for just two years in power. Also Reid and Pelosi are two people who are nothing but a thorn to the Democratic party.
For the next 10 years I'll blame on the last irresponsible and greedy administration, that left for this term an unbelivable disaster, that almost dragged us and the role planet to a ditch, and I'm glad that this president is trying to help us , the people, as he came from our middle class, he knows "how many houses he owns" and how much it costs to live day by day !!!