The problem is few blinked when he should these tendencies in the past (... clinging to their god and guns) and the elitists even applauded. Now the same group are looking at each other and saying, "He can be referring to me". Then you have others that don't mind this man calling them "stupid". They got exactly what they voted for, Obama didn't try to hide it. Now many are realizing he wasn't just joking around. That or they are just not listening to the facts or science and are just scared about what they have done.

Wellll....I agree that his guns and god comment could have been taken as calling them stupid.  It definitely was not one of his finest moments (but then they are few and far between).  But this one was more succinct. 

About the only ones that were not offended by his comment are the truly stupid.  They do not realize he just called them lazy and stupid.  He did not qualify his statement with "republican voters" (which would not have surprised me from a more intelligent man), so even the idiots that voted for him got tarred with that brush.

I will be gone for the election.  That is why I voted absentee.  It will be interesting to see what goes down upon my return. 

I'll be here, but Virginia isn't a big player in this battle.

Well, only one disappointment - and there was nothing we could do about it - reid.  At least the witch is gone.

Pelosi or O'Donnell?

The REAL one, not the play one from 30 years ago.

Is he really?

I believe so.  Like a sports superstar, he has never had anyone criticize him or his work, so he has this mistaken image of himself as some sort of Svengali.

Time will tell whether I am right or wrong.  But I seriously do not see him being able to change because he is not smart enough to.

Time has already shown, has it not? Why is the far left squawking at him as loud as the far right? What do you think just happened in the lame duck? Why is the health reform bill based on a market based solution? Why did the financial reform bill exclude certain liberal ideas in its final draft? He surrounded himself with Clintonites from the start. He pushed through the more liberal parts of his agenda when both houses were controlled by dems and now he will push through his more centrist agenda. Even before he was elected when the far right was calling him a socialist and the most liberal person in congress all one had to do was read his web site to see all of his agenda.  Look who he just selected as chief of staff....Daly is the guy Clinton used to get the dems onboard with NAFTA.  Do you think it might have something to do with the trade agreements he stated as being important to get passed when he was running for election? I could go on and on but if it isn't evident by now then you're just to far to the right to see where the center is.

And BTW he didn't call people stupid he said they were scared. And he's right. The Stock market nosedived because people were scared. People who actually believe some of Glenn Beck's conspiracy theories are scared. People who are buying gold coins from companies like goldline (as opposed to playing gold in the market) are scared and definitely not thinking clearly.  

You give him more credit than is due.  This was not a masterful plan by him, but just a simple ideologue agenda.  He was elected not for being a socialist (he did not run that way), but because of the Economic meltdown (Bush Assured he would win with his original TARP).  He "fell" into the presidency on a whim (a majority hated Hillary).  So what you seem to be attributing to him as guile and smarts, is actually just a perfect storm of events.  In other words, even Kerry would have looked like a tactical genius (probably more so since he at least has some brains).

And you best go back and look at his advisers.  Some are Clintonistas, but most are not.  They are basically know-nothing educators (and I use that term loosely) that have all the book sense in the world, and NO real world knowledge.  That is why all his policies have failed (note, I did not say they were not passed, just that not one has accomplished or even tended to move in the direction promised).

As for what Obama did - I can call you a few cards short of a deck (just for demonstrative purposes) - Did I call you stupid?  technically no.  But the intent is there, and yes Obama did. When he goes off script, he is as stupid as they come (Forrest Gump had more on him).  But his history is catching up to him,  His Guns and Bibles quote is his legacy and will probably be his political epitaph. 

You accuse me of being too far right to see the center.  I accuse you of falling for the misinformation of moving the center left.  You think the center is what the left was 10 years ago because we had a center president (Bush) from the right.  I know the center, and Obama is nowhere near it.  He can talk it, but he cannot walk it.

You make a good case for him, albeit transparent.  I trust, given your civility and calmness, that you actually believe it, and are not just a parrot in the press (In other words, a reporter).  But you missed the boat here.  In time, you will see the emperor has no clothes.  You seem smart enough to be able to separate the chaff from the wheat.  And as I stated, time will tell.  You honestly think Obama will be re-elected (barring an assassination or conviction).  I do not discount that possibility.  The republicans can run an unelectable candidate and he can win.  But all else being equal, it will be because they goofed up, not because he did anything brilliant.

His agenda will continue to hurt the economy and nation - and after 4 years of unemployment and soon, inflation, he will be dumped just like Carter.  But the republicans need to find a Ronald Reagan, or the next president will suffer the same fate.

Scared does not equal stupid.  Scared can mean cautious, and that is what is happening.  He equated scared with stupid by saying they were acting "stupidly".  No, they are being cautious.  The Proof?  Check out the latest from the IRS - he played chicken with the economy again (not a stimulus just a deflator of growth) and his own bureaucracy is ill prepared to handle his gamesmanship.  That is not a sign of a "smart tactician", but of an incompetent administration.

What you're missing is the fact that I only commented on the point of whether or not he is amidst pulling a Clinton and also stated that he is not as far to the left as many think. I neither praise nor ridicule the man. His ideology is definitely not close to the center but i never said it was, nor is it  close to mine in many respects. However I don't play the game of constantly bashing someone because their political ideology is different from mine. You may think I give him more credit than is due but you give him none as far as I can see. You don't simply fall into a presidency on a whim.

You may believe that his agenda is killing the economy but to put things in perspective do you think McCain would have pulled some miracles out of his ass? Look back at what economists were saying in 2007-2008 when the real estate bubble was starting to burst. They are very much inline with what is going on right now as far as when the recovery would take hold, how long it would take, and how slow job growth would be. Many of these long term forecasts that are now showing to be almost spot on were made not only before Obama was elected but before the primaries.

As far as scared...Scared means scared... How people react to being scared varies however some do react in irrational ways. Some are solid as a rock. some are cautious, and others act irrationally. I don't agree with Obama's statement. I think the swing back to the right was simply bound to happen because many voters do not like to leave either party in control of everything. 

I guess we can agree we have a difference of opinion on whether he fell or not and leave it at that.  Yes, People do "fall" into the presidency - elected not because of what they stand for - but because of perfect storm of events.  Carter had watergate.  Obama had the housing meltdown.  Neither was a planned event by the elected.  They just happened to run at the right time to take advantage of it.

We are going far afield here, and I would love to engage you in a long and lengthy debate on Mccain, TARP, Fannie and Freddie, but will refrain for now (if you would like to continue, I will be glad to).  Suffice it to say the short answers are - McCain would not (nor did I have any confidence he would nor vote for him) and I can somewhat agree with you on the long term forecasts - which proves that Obama's policies did nothing except hurt (if they had helped, then the long terms would be wrong).

I agree with you again to a point.  The swing back was, while not inevitable, not totally surprising.  However the magnitude was the gotcha.  The magnitude is the repudiation.  It did not happen in 90, 98, 0r 02.  It did happen in 94 and 06 - but to a much smaller degree.

That's what you get when the choice is between two legislators as opposed to Governors. It's hard to sift through how voting records are spun to get as clear a picture as the record of a governor.

If they have hurt then the long term would be wrong also? A lot of what he did is meant for the long term and to soften the blow so only time will tell.  My personal opinion is that govt has very little effect on short term economic conditions.

In rough times things are harder to predict. I don't blame Obama on the magnitude of the swing. I would credit the TEA Party with that one.

Kinda.  Although his grammar is sorta stupid, for a brilliant law school grad & all.

While being a governor is no guarantee of a good president (Carter was and many would point to Bush II as well), it sure helps a lot.  Clearly the current president is clueless about running anything (whether you agree with his politics or not).

I patiently waited to answer this, but now.........

So $4 trillion of debt is no harm?  We basically just squandered that money and left a very onerous debt to our children and grand children.  The bad implications of his mistakes will not be immediately seen, but they will be seen.  That is why you do not see it in the forecast.  He wasted all that money for nothing.

Ok, Chicken and the egg. The Tea Party campaigned against what Obama was doing.  So whether the voters voted for the Tea Party or Against Obama, the net effect was the same - they do not like his policies.