Obama could be the Democrat's Ronald Reagan

[BluegrassDem]

I read an interesting article in the bookstore by Phil Klein talking about how Barack Obama has the ability to move the country left in the same way that Ronald Reagan moved the country right. The reason why is cause Obama is very charismatic and very likable, similar to Reagan. Just as Reagan was able to get a lot of Democratic voters, Obama will able to do the same cause of his appeal. The difference between Obama and the Clintons is that the Clintons are not idealogues. They are more interested in keeping power. For example, Bill Clinton gave up on health care reform cause it was in his own political best interests instead of trying to move the people closer to his position. With Obama, he would be more dangerous to the right wingers cause, unlike the Clintons, he would use his appeal to move the country left.

It was a very interesting perspective, and one I've not really heard recently. But I really think this is true. Obama is very appealing across the political spectrum, while Hillary is not. Obama is in a very unique position if he won the presidency to move the country's needle further to the left than ever before. I don't think Hillary would have that capability. In the end, Obama is good for the long term benefit of all progressives.

[William769]

1. And we all know what kind of President Ronald Reagan was.

:puke:

[TeamJordan23]

6. You cannot deny the impact of the Reagan presidency in America. nm

[William769]

8. I'm not denying it, because we are still living it.

And one day the nightmare will be over.

[Perry Logan]

32. I deny it. It was all fake, all hype.

The Right has moved heaven and earth to make it seem like America became more conservative. But it's all been a fraud.

[BeyondGeography]

34. Don't kid yourself, liberals have been playing defense ever since 1980

Reagan changed the ideological conversation in this country, making greed good, putting private gain ahead of whatever communal instincts may have arisen from the 60s and identifying the Right with an unapologetic view of American power and the Left with weakness. His popularity at the grass-roots level (think "white people") also made the Republicans drunk with power, which affected their reaction to Clinton and produced the excesses of Bush 43. Thanks to the latter, Reagan's impact may finally be waning, but he will go down as a transformational figure in American politics.

It's the grass roots impact that have led some people to compare Obama with Reagan. People like, trust and are inspired by him, which gives him crossover appeal, leading those who might not embrace him ideologically to be receptive to his message. We'll see what it adds up to, but to trash any and all things associated with Reagan is foolish.

[melody]

2. I'd like to see an end to the idea that Reagan was a good symbol of anything

I see your point and the point of the writer, but RR started us down this road to where we are now. He opened the flood gates. He was no hero. I think we need to start stripping away the Teflon.

[TeamJordan23]

3. Do you know if the article is available online? nm

[BluegrassDem]

7. Please, let's stick to the point of the article...I know Reagan sucked

I don't wanna get into a Reagan pissing match. That wasn't the point of the article. The point of the article was that Reagan had moved the country in the right (wrong) direction. The article was saying that Obama would be a nightmare for conservatives and a boon for the progressive movement cause he would use his appeal to move the country further to the left. That's all. The article had nothing to do with Reagan's presidency, how he governed, or anything like that.

[UrbScotty]

4. Except he'd actually be GOOD (nt)

[jillan]

5. I was thinking more of Robert Redford in the Candidate.

sorry.

[illinoisprogressive]

9. in Illinois, he use to move his gop rivals to the left on legislation and succeeded

Like you said in the last sentence of the 1st paragraph. he is known to do that easily. He would get his legislation thru with most of what he wanted in a gop controlled state senate by getting them to move to his position.

[William769]

10. My advice to the Obama camp would to be run as far and as fast as possible

from that name or analogies associated with it. Anything attached to that name is pure evil.

[illinoisprogressive]

11. the point with Reagan is that he moved the country right and for a generation

like him or not. that was the impact of his presidency.
In order to finish off the conservative era is to move the country left.

[William769]

14. And my point is using that name in any way shape or form

on the left won't work period.

[TeamJordan23]

15. He was pure evil. But majority of country thinks Reagan was a better Pres. than Bill Clinton.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/post_war_presidents_jfk_ike_reagan_most_popular

[William769]

18. You know what? be my guest. Keep using using Reagan's name

and associating it with Obama nothing would make me happier.

And to put the final nail in the coffin in this thread for you, check out this link. http://mediamatters.org/items/200511220001

And if you want to try to smear media matters, be by guest and good luck with that.

[TeamJordan23]

22. WTF?? I brought up a Rasmussen Reports poll. You are talking about random Gergen story. I thought

you had a little bit more intelligence. Maybe I was wrong. Check out all the various polls:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_U.S._Presidents

Reagen outperforms Clinton on nearly all of them.

[William769]

23. Keep digging that hole, I'm loving it!

[TeamJordan23]

25. Nice, just ignore the polls that you don't like.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_U.S._Presidents

BTW genius, the article in the OP talks about the impact that Reagan had on America (although it went to the RIGHT). And how Obama can do the same (but move it to the LEFT). No Democrat thinks Reagan is god, but you must be ignorant to think he didn't have an impact and influence on this country.

Putting aside your hatred for Obama, maybe you can show your intelligence and realize the point of the article.

[William769]

26. I have a new shovel if yours breaks.

And if you haven't figured it out yet, you never will. :eyes:

[Demeter]

31. The Majority of the Country Is Misinformed, Purposefully

to keep the truth from leaking out and starting a revolution.

[TeamJordan23]

12. Flashback: Obama talking about being how you should want to be a 'Great' President on Meet the Press

MR. RUSSERT: You told Vogue, Men’s Vogue magazine, that if you wanted to be president, you shouldn’t just think about being president, that you should want to be a great president. So you’ve clearly given this some thought.

SEN. OBAMA: Yes.

MR. RUSSERT: And what would, in your mind, define a great president?

SEN. OBAMA: Obviously, most of the time, it seems, that the president has maybe 10 percent of his agenda set by himself and 90 percent of it set by circumstances. So, you know, an Abraham Lincoln is defined by slavery and the war, FDR defined by the Depression and, and World War II. So I’m not sure that I can categorize what is, is—are those ingredients in each and every circumstance.

But I think, when I think about great presidents, I think about those who transform how we think about ourselves as a country in fundamental ways so that, that, at the end of their tenure, we have looked and said to ours—that’s who we are. And, and our, our—and for me at least, that means that we have a more expansive view of our democracy, that we’ve included more people into the bounty of this country. And, you know, there are circumstances in which, I would argue, Ronald Reagan was a very successful president, even though I did not agree with him on many issues, partly because at the end of his presidency, people, I think, said, “You know what? We can regain our greatness. Individual responsibility and personal responsibility are important.” And they transformed the culture and not simply promoted one or two particular issues.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15304689/page/3/

[illinoisprogressive]

13. FDR is my favorite pres. And i think Obama has the capacity to move the country like him

[burrowowl]

16. Jesus H. Christ

NO RAYGUN!
HELP! No brain, destruction of public education, death of at least 200,000 Guatemalean Indians, etc.
Like RayGun! NOOOOOO!
If so, don't vote for him!

[TeamJordan23]

17. Please reread the OP. I think you are totally missing the point. nm

[William769]

19. Making my point though isn't it?

:rofl:

[burrowowl]

21. If Obama wants to be identified as

RayGun-like, so be it.
If I were Obama, I would say hell no!
The Op Ed is disgusting.
That the Amerikans fell for RayGun is damn scary!
And Obama isn't moving the Country to the LEFT!
He is a tad DLC and if that is Left, I'll eat my shirt!
Stop listening to the MSM!

[TeamJordan23]

24. He's got one of the most progressive voting records and was against IRW. If that is how the DLC,

acts, I think they would be embraced a little more from the left, don't you think?

[burrowowl]

28. BS

He is for liquified coal!
Give me a break!
Also,change, no policy statements, just change!
I want somethin substantial, GD!

[Lasher]

20. The Myth of Reagan's "Enormous Popularity"

March/April 1989

Reagan left office bolstered by the oft-repeated media myth that he had been far and away the most popular of any president since World War II. But bearing in mind Mark Twain's observation that a lie gets half-way around the world before truth puts its boots on, the US public deserves to know what the polling data actually says.

According to Gallup polls taken throughout his presidency, Reagan was not one of the more popular presidents in the post-Roosevelt pack. At various points during his presidency he rated lower than the other presidents during comparable periods of their terms in office. For instance, during the first two years of Reagan's presidency, the public was giving President Reagan the lowest level of approval of all modern elected presidents. Reagan's average first year approval rating was 58%-- lower than Dwight Eisenhower's 69%, Jack Kennedy's 75%, Richard Nixon's 61% and Jimmy Carter's 62%.

<snip>

Even the notion that the American public likes Ronald Reagan the man (as opposed to some of his policies) has been grossly exaggerated. Overall, his "likeability" percentages have ranged in the low-to-mid seventies, reaching a high of 81% in November 1985, and a low of 50% in August 1983. No other modern president's likeability indexes have generally fluctuated in the mid-to-upper seventies for all of Reagan's modern predecessors.

For example, 84% of Americans liked Ike in February 1956. In August 1964, 89% of Americans liked Johnson. Even in the summer months of Carter's final, unpopular year as president (just before his defeat by Reagan in the 1980 election), Carter scored a higher Gallup personal likeability index at 76% than Reagan's 73% during the comparable period of his Administration.

For anyone who cares to look at the actual polling data, the facts show that Reagan was definitely not the most popular post-war president, and during many comparable periods he was among the most unpopular.

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1192

And please note, the above article was written before Clinton's presidency. Clinton was more popular than Saint Ronnie of Reagan.


http://www.pollkatz.homestead.com/

And you know what? I never liked the asshole. Saint Ronnie's legendary popularity is a myth, promoted by the well funded stink tanks that have been working hard to make it seem he was not a total idiot.

[TeamJordan23]

27. I think Reagan was evil, but unfortunately, a lot of polls ranking presidents show the opposite.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_U.S._Presidents

[Lasher]

29. I believe the question is about Reagan's popularity at the time he was president

I noted your source upthread and found it interesting. But your Wikipedia article supplies reflective rankings by today's scholars and others. That's not the same thing as the relative popularity of presidents while each was in office. I supplied exactly that, seeking to dispel the Saint Ronnie of Reagan myth that he was an unusually popular president. He was not.

[Alamom]

30. Abraham, Franklin, John, Ronald...........Who "is" Sen. Obama?

The "need" to compare him to a former president continues.


Would the real Sen. Obama please stand up?



edqu

[ToeBot]

33. Pass, I'd like another FDR though. But I don't really pick up that vibe from Obama.

He seems more of the Slick Willy type, not FDR.

[papau]

35. I don't pick up any "slick" anything from any Dem running - but Obama says he's "small step" change

so I do not see a "FDR" era in our future if he wins.