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Friday, January 23, 2009

Politics Barack Obama: Getting Shit Done

Posted by on Fri, Jan 23, 2009 at 8:56 AM

New from the St. Petersburg Times, the Obameter: Tracking Obama's Campaign Promises.

d0c9/1232728316-snapshot_2009-01-23_08-29-59.jpg

It's followed by 26 webpages of individual promises, just waiting to be kept (conveniently sortable by the categories above).

Barack Obama is off to an excellent start (this'll help too), and I think he is going to get shit done, posthaste. Despite lots of reporting on how ambitious and politically cold-blooded he was in Chicago, I think of him as a principled man, one who believes in doing what he says he'll do. I also imagine him thinking, "I'm a black man, and I'm the president of the goddamn United States. There is no time to waste." I don't imagine him thinking about his second term.

Thanks, Patti.

 

Comments (27) RSS

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1
This is my new favorite thing.

It's better than reading about how much Mad Rad sucks.
Posted by AJ on January 23, 2009 at 9:03 AM
2
No. 502: Get his daughters a puppy: In The Works
Posted by M on January 23, 2009 at 9:04 AM
3
@2: Compromise-- his mother-in-law is allergic, so they're getting a kitty.
Posted by AJ on January 23, 2009 at 9:07 AM
4
@3 No sir, Promise Broken. A cat is NO substitute for a dog.
Posted by heywhatsit on January 23, 2009 at 9:11 AM
5
Cool site! I'm still a little twitchy over the loss of the election tracking sites (or, the loss of their relevance). This is a nice substitute.
Posted by violet_dagrinder on January 23, 2009 at 9:11 AM
6
I'm sure I'm losing teh interwebs by asking, but did anyone do the same thing for Bush? I'd be really interested to see what the final tally was. (By 'interested', I probably mean 'vaguely sick to my stomach'.)
Posted by MSB on January 23, 2009 at 9:15 AM
7
@4: well duh. cats are far superior to dogs.
Posted by guy on January 23, 2009 at 9:19 AM
8
@3 Is that true? Where did you read that? Agreed that if it's true, Promise Broken.

If it is true, I've got $20 on Charles posting another Cats v. Dogs missive.
Posted by Julie in Eugene (formerly in Chicago) on January 23, 2009 at 9:21 AM
9
I heard they were trying to decide between a Portuguese Water Dog and a Labradoodle. Haven't heard anything about a cat though.
Posted by keshmeshi on January 23, 2009 at 9:23 AM
10
We've only got 4 years to save the world!
Obaaaama
Tick tock tick tock tick tock
Posted by Rob on January 23, 2009 at 9:23 AM
11
@10 fricky fricky
Posted by lily on January 23, 2009 at 9:29 AM
12
Ambitious, cold blooded, and principled fully coexist in Obama. WE HOPE.

How else you think "yes we can" fix the economy, bring peace to Middle East, use smart and soft power to gradually reduce production of terrorists, restore functioning well regulated markets, create full social justice and fully integrate into the American Dream folks who today aren't studying or going to a good school ? This guy wants his face carved onto Mt. Rushmore after achieving these things and I hope it happens.

Posted by PC on January 23, 2009 at 9:30 AM
13
He still hasn't cured my lower back pain or helped me lose weight. Also I still can't find my favorite hat.

I say impeach him.
Posted by this guy I know in Spokane on January 23, 2009 at 9:31 AM
14
@9. I hope they don't get a labradoodle. Where I come from, those things are synonymous with "yuppie douchebag who spends $1,000 on a designer dog".
Posted by Julie in Eugene (formerly in Chicago) on January 23, 2009 at 9:35 AM
15
Julie, did you forget that Obama is an elitist?
Posted by AJ on January 23, 2009 at 9:42 AM
16
Anyone wanna have some (tedious but doubtless rewarding) fun?

Go back to 2000 news reports and do this for Bushie & co.
Posted by breklor on January 23, 2009 at 9:55 AM
17
I love this site! I might spend way more time here than I should.
One of my favorites:
No. 152: Create a Civilian Assistance Corps that would organize private sector professionals to help in times of need

Makes so much sense! Effective government helping people help each other.
Posted by Enigma on January 23, 2009 at 10:21 AM
18
Wait, hold on. His Mother in Law lives w/ them? HAHA, that sucks BIG TIME! Suddenly, I am envious no more.
Posted by Tee hee on January 23, 2009 at 10:24 AM
19
@15. Damn. You're right, I forgot about the elitist thing. They'll probably give it a diamond collar and have it eat filet mignon out of the White House china.
Posted by Julie in Eugene (formerly in Chicago) on January 23, 2009 at 10:28 AM
20
BREAKING: Reports are coming out that Buttons a shorthair tabby has boarded a D.C.-bound plane at O'hare. Buttons, as you may recall, was on the First Pet shortlist but was long considered a longshot as she was the only cat listed.

More as this story develops...
Posted by AJ on January 23, 2009 at 10:32 AM
21
I hope they enjoy the china that the former First Lady bought for them.

I suggest using it to feed the dog on.
Posted by Will in Seattle on January 23, 2009 at 11:13 AM
22
I can't find "Toss W and his cronies in jail."

Is that one in the works?
Posted by Urgutha Forka on January 23, 2009 at 11:34 AM
23
Where's the Bush-ometer? Or the Clinton-ometer? Or the Reagan-ometer? Why is it important to hold a president accountable for his campaign promises now?
Posted by joeyp on January 23, 2009 at 11:52 AM
24
@23,

I don't know if anyone had a specific way to track Clinton's accomplishments, but I do remember the beginning of Clinton's first term. The media were constantly on him, talking about his first 100 days with the implicit judgment that, if Clinton's first 100 days weren't as successful as FDR's, he's a failure.

The "liberal" media at its best.
Posted by keshmeshi on January 23, 2009 at 12:14 PM
25
That is so cool! The guy has been our president for 3 day [plus a few hours] and he's already kept 7 campaign promises. Did Bush keep 7 campaign promises in his whole tenure? I'll have to bookmark this site so I can check after 100 days [I hope they keep it current].
Posted by schweighsr on January 23, 2009 at 1:00 PM
26
488 promises with "No Action"?!!

What's taking him so long?
Posted by NapoleonXIV on January 23, 2009 at 1:08 PM
27
But another tracker identifies 895 promises. I smell a cover-up.

And what about implicit promises? For instance, on Obama's first day in office, Seattle Center had unlimited cookies, for free.

Today, just 4 days into the Obama Era ... no cookies! Is Obama so busy untangling the Gaza mess and the BCS mess that he has no time to address this breach of trust?
Posted by RonK, Seattle on January 23, 2009 at 5:27 PM

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