Slog

News & Arts

The Stranger Suggests

Critics' Best Bets
Music Arts & Food


Line Out

Music & the City
at Night

Saturday, October 6, 2012

The Fall and Rise of Barack Obama

Posted by on Sat, Oct 6, 2012 at 1:37 PM

You should read this Politico story about President Obama's response to this week's debate. He knew that he did a bad job as soon as the debate was over, but it wasn't until the next day that he realized how bad it was:

At first, Obama didn’t think his performance was a complete disaster. But he began Thursday morning by watching excerpts of his own performance and was especially struck by his own tentative, grim demeanor — especially when he and a more relaxed Mitt Romney were broadcast in split-screen. It was worse than he thought, according to one person close to the situation. He was subdued but positive on a conference call with staff.

But by the end of the day Thursday, he knew what he had to do:

His mood was radically different Thursday — not just calm but buoyant, loose, focused. It reminded several aides close to the president of his response to Hillary Clinton’s stunning comeback win in the New Hampshire primary in 2008. It’s a cliché in his camp that Obama only feels really motivated when his own destruction is in sight, but the magnitude of his lousy performance clearly motivated him as he plunged back into campaigning.

Go read the whole thing. It maybe says something about the current state of journalism that I feel the need to applaud Politico for not naming this story "How Obama Got His Groove Back." Good job, you guys.

 

Comments (24) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment
Cato the Younger Younger 1
I wasn't so pissed he didn't push his own accomplishments as I was he didn't fucking stand up for working class people like me. He didn't fucking fight for me; even if it is nothing more than a performance for the TV masses.

BTW..what in the HELL does he mean when he agrees with Romney and Paul about Social Security? It's time we put his feet to the fire that Social Security is fucking off limits unless he's willing to lift the payroll cap that's currently on it.
Posted by Cato the Younger Younger on October 6, 2012 at 1:55 PM
rob! 2
The renewed energy has been apparent in all the audio/video clips of campaign stops that have been aired since the debate.

Everyone who reaches the rarefied heights of the U.S. presidency, whatever we think of them, has unique personality characteristics that helped get them there. Sometimes those characteristics contribute ultimately to ruination, like fundamental dishonesty and paranoia did for Nixon; sometimes to mediocrity, like the incuriosity of George W. Bush; and sometimes to greatness, whether aided by the martyr's refulgence or the long view of history.

Let's hope Obama's defining feature is that of the all-nighter A student or the clutch-hitter: boundless focus and vigor when the chips are down.
Posted by rob! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZBdUceCL5U on October 6, 2012 at 2:04 PM
gloomy gus 3
@2, I join you in hoping that. It could make for fabulous political theater.
Posted by gloomy gus on October 6, 2012 at 2:16 PM
Supreme Ruler Of The Universe 4
The dream is over.


--Yoko Ono
Posted by Supreme Ruler Of The Universe http://www.you-read-it-here-first.com on October 6, 2012 at 3:17 PM
Catalina Vel-DuRay 5
Cato, what I think he might have been reaching for in that Social Security comment was something like "we all agree that old people shouldn't eat cat food, and that's why I support Social Security", but Mitt, in his Willy Loman on meth act, stepped all over it.
Posted by Catalina Vel-DuRay http://www.danlangdon.com on October 6, 2012 at 4:17 PM
Last of the Time Lords 6
@1, not so much during the debate but he's willing to cut it while is in in the Oval office

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rep-bernie…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CCl-pNBT…

Start the video at :44 secs. And this is the guy who may replace Tim Giethner during Obama's second term.

Cato is right though: We have to make Obama make a strong case to leave what is left of the social safety net in place and frankly he hasn't been as strong as he should be.
Posted by Last of the Time Lords on October 6, 2012 at 4:26 PM
Daddy Love 7
Maybe it was Midol.

Bt I thought Obama did fine. And he'll be better next time. It's just a freakin' debate.

Winning!
Posted by Daddy Love on October 6, 2012 at 5:05 PM
disintegrator 8
@4: John sang that, not Yoko...

Duh.
Posted by disintegrator http://bottlevariation.blogspot.com on October 6, 2012 at 5:09 PM
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn 9
Bored political reporter is bored.
Posted by Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn http://youtu.be/zu-akdyxpUc on October 6, 2012 at 5:26 PM
10
I'm starting to think Kevin Baker's right about the guy. Look, I'm resigned to giving my money and vote to a centrist who doesn't care about the things I believe in in order to keep Romney, a guy who despises everything I believe in, out of office. What bugs me is that sometimes he doesn't even seem to care about being reelected.
Posted by Joe Glibmoron on October 6, 2012 at 5:51 PM
11
I'm sure the unemployment rate going below 8% is helping Obama get his groove back as well.
Posted by Patricia Kayden on October 6, 2012 at 6:18 PM
sirkowski 12
I branded that version of him Obama Ninja in 2008.
Posted by sirkowski http://www.missdynamite.com on October 6, 2012 at 6:57 PM
matt 13
Hey seriously read that article if you haven't, particularly disheartened Obama supporters. It gets better.
Posted by matt on October 6, 2012 at 7:04 PM
Catalina Vel-DuRay 14
Cato dear, upon listening to that part of the debate again, I revise my earlier comment: President Obama said that Social Security needed "tweaking" along the lines of what Reagan and O'Neill did in the 80's.

In that context, that makes perfect sense: The Reagan/O'Neill "tweak" was to increase the contribution to allow for the baby boomer generation, and I think they also raised the cap at which contributions are shut off. (I have, purely through luck, been above that cap on several occasions, and I think it's dumb. Everyone should have to pay into Social Security, no matter what their income, or how they got it)

Admittedly, he did ramble a bit after saying that, but I still say that Romney was creepy and methy.
Posted by Catalina Vel-DuRay http://www.danlangdon.com on October 6, 2012 at 9:52 PM
Some Old Nobodaddy Logged In 15
This seems to me the heart of their differences: Obama is a real human. He has his up & down days. Romney is a pre-packaged portion. He's a commodity being sold. A machine that only knows how to campaign.

I'll vote for the human over the robot any day.
Posted by Some Old Nobodaddy Logged In on October 6, 2012 at 10:18 PM
Urgutha Forka 16
His debate performance wasn't THAT bad. Sheesh. The 24-hour news cycle has obviously run out of shit to talk about again.
Posted by Urgutha Forka on October 6, 2012 at 10:59 PM
Doctor Memory 17
Hey, remember when Walter Mondale spanked Ronald Reagan soundly in both of their debates? Remember how much difference that made?
Posted by Doctor Memory http://blahg.blank.org on October 6, 2012 at 11:16 PM
18
I wouldn't mind a robot if it were a reliably liberal robot.

The trouble with these things are, they aren't debates, they're performances. This particular performance had no director, one of the two actors had memorized a lot of lies and fed a shitload of speed, and the other actor didn't think he had to be an actor. I hope he learns his lines for the next performance.
Posted by sarah70 on October 7, 2012 at 1:35 AM
OuterCow 19
@18 That is just so fucking spot on.
Posted by OuterCow on October 7, 2012 at 3:58 AM
lauramae 20
I get that in a superficial world of reality shows, and the inexplicably famous Kardashians that Obama not being bubbly is going to be interpreted as losing. Interesting that the "liberal" media isn't mentioning that just about every statement and position Romney made with such actor perfect sincerity during the debate was different than what he says to his supporters.

The erasure of how he really sees the world was allowed to stand. Of course, Obama should have also pointed this out during the debate.
Posted by lauramae on October 7, 2012 at 10:07 AM
Merchant Seaman 21
Get real rmoney is moving up in the polls, Obama is in trouble, this better turn around fast or get used to a worse version of shrub...
Posted by Merchant Seaman on October 7, 2012 at 10:32 AM
22
This is the first campaign I remember where it seems to be accepted by everyone (except the Dem campaign) that as long as you seem to be a "strong" person, it doesn't matter what you say. Romney presents conflicting lies every time he speaks, but because he does it so rapidly often (both speak and lie), no one can keep track. Obama'd better get over being shocked by Romney's lies, realize that politics aren't fair, say what he's done, why it's good (even if it isn't--just flat out that it's good), and sound like a leader, or Romney will win on chutzpah and confusion alone.
Posted by sarah70 on October 7, 2012 at 5:05 PM
23
I must say that this : " I feel the need to applaud Politico for not naming this story "How Obama Got His Groove Back." Good job, you guys."
is the only thing that has cheered me up during this debate debacle.
Thanks so very much
Posted by despues76 on October 8, 2012 at 2:10 PM
24
The problem with Obama isn’t the near $6 trillion in borrowing in just three years, the radical growth in the size of the federal government and its regulatory zeal with 10,225 new regulations costing business 43 billion annually, ObamaCare gutting Medicare by 716 billion in addition to costing 1.7 trillion on the backs of the middle class tax payer and enforced by the IRS, the green jobs sweet-heart deals where they took our 90 billions and failed, the vast expansion in food stamps to the tune of 49 millions on them, unemployment pay-outs, 11 billion in permanent disability pay-outs, 1.6 Billion in free Obama Phones, the reversal of the Chrysler creditors, politically driven interference in the car industry, the bright 18% car industry sales figures were cars sold to the government, the failed efforts to get card check, failed cap and trade extortion nightmare, the moratorium on new drilling in the Gulf, S. Dakota, ANWR the general antipathy to new fossil fuel exploitation coupled with new finds of vast new reserves that dwarf the all foreign oil reserves combined, the new financial regulations, the killed pipe-line, an aggressive EPA oblivious to the effects of its advocacy on jobs, the threatened close-down of energy plants, the support for idling thousands of acres of irrigated farmland in California due to environmental regulations derived from a mud shrimp and smelt fish, the constant talk of higher taxes, the needlessly provocative rhetoric of “fat cat”, “millionaires and billionaires,” “corporate jet owners,” etc. juxtaposed, in hypocritical fashion, to Martha’s Vineyard, Costa del Sol, and Vail First Family getaways, the 17 day Hawaiian vacation, golf, golf and more golf, not to mention gun Fast and Furious gun running obstruction through executive privilege, BP oil spill paralysis, suing Arizona, on and on and on. And despite the shellacking Obummer took on his first presidential debates, his answer is this month’s unemployment is 7.9%, 14.4% for Blacks and 11% for Hispanics (real numbers not reported, obviously closer to 18%), despite the nearly five trillion dollars in Keynesian pump-priming, the near zero interest rates, the expanded unemployment and food stamp support, and the government takeovers and subsidies of businesses and just weeks ago, we surpassed the entire Euro-Zones dept combined. There is a scary sort of deer-in-the-headlights look about Obama and Biden that is quite disturbing, as if they are thinking, “This was not supposed to happened to us. Geithner, Goolsbee, Orszag, Romer, Summers assured us that all this borrowing would turn things around — but they are all gone or leaving, so now we are alone? What to do? Hmmm. More them/us class warfare rhetoric? Embrace more of the California/Illinois/New York blue-state model? More European Union emulation? A national high-speed rail jobs program? Bring back Van Jones and “millions of green jobs”? Borrow another $5 trillion? Maybe negative interest rates? Seventy-five million on food stamps? Four years of unemployment insurance? A new Department of Jobs? Call in Jimmy Carter for advice about 1979? $100 billion more in green subsidies to progressive caring companies? Take over Ford? Another tax speech from Buffett? QE-3, 4 & 5?”
We have all heard ad nauseam that an eight-month-old Republican-controlled Congress has stopped Obama’s legislative agenda for three and a half years.
No worries, all is well. Just keep whistling past the grave yard.
Ignore the polls, they are all wrong.
Ignore the weekly unemployment numbers and the jobs numbers, they lie too.
Ignore the repeated revisions, for the worse, to the weeks previous numbers. They are even bigger lies.
Ignore the inflation numbers. Prices have not gone up.
Ignore the despair you see around you. Those are just upside down smiles.
Ignore the constant vacations, on our dime Barry indulges in.
Ignore how he plays the average American, the working stiff, as the fool.
Ignore the trillions he has urinated away with no benefit at all to anyone but his pals.
Ignore the blatant arrogance.
And…
Ignore the last two special elections.
They are not warning alarms. His ship is not sinking.
Nov 6th 2012 will be a landslide, You can bet the farm on that.
And we will soon after be rid of this nightmare of incompetence and destruction.
All will be well soon as he’s long gone.
Obama’s problem is it’s not 2007 anymore. Obama is a known quantity now. Obama was elected based on a manufactured persona, a lie, put forward by the DNC and the fawning media. Hope and change was sold as a UNITED STATES and he’d close Gitmo, get us out of war, make us alternative energy independent, fix our world reputation, establish immigration reform from day-one and more. Did he succeed? Just look around the world and you tell me. What’s worse, you blame Bush. Doh! And who is Barack Hussein Obama? Obama is the 1st president in the history of the USA who is not a cultural American, and it shows. No other president, except Jimmy Carter, has ever run down his country to the world as Obama has. Obama has denigrated the people of America shamelessly, and he has no idea of who we are because he is not one of us. Obama was raised far outside of mainstream American culture. His upbringing was by socialists who indoctrinated him from day one to be a hardcore marxist ideologue. Obama was taught to loath the middle class and to use radical rules to attack it. Since before he was elected Obama has been tearing down the USA and the middle class which he fooled into voting for him. Obama was billed to be all things to all people. A pseudo-mythical messiah-like figure that rose mysteriously with no background yet was a towering intellect who could solve all our problems. Obama is a man of slogans, and was “going to hit the ground running”, and “ready to lead on day one”. He was going to be the post racial president who would unite the USA and lead us into a new era of enlightenment and renewed respect in the world of nations. Only now we know this all to be a farce. To those of us who took the time to investigate Obama while the fawning media failed to vet him it comes as no surprise that Obama is a failure. Anyone who tried to point out his radicalism, his criminal associates, terrorist friends, his racist church where he sat for 20 years listening to hatred of America and Americans was branded as a racist. And now we know that Obama is a shallow self-serving man of little experience who constantly resorts to demagoguery of those who oppose his radical agenda. He makes denigrating generalizations of broad swathes of the population and makes it clear he is only the president of those who voted for him and support him. We are much worse off as a nation than we were before Obama and have more than a year of this arrogant fool to endure. The best thing we can do is to vote out every democrat and take away any political power this “president” has. Let’s all watch this impostor spew more on class warfare, absurd war on women all the while vacation and golf and travel the world in Air Force One at our expense while we continue without an inspirational leader and scratch our heads in wonder at the absurd Political Correctness that got us such a ludicrous president.
More...
Posted by rubbermeatpuppet on October 12, 2012 at 6:36 PM

Add a comment

Advertisement
 

Want great deals and a chance to win tickets to the best shows in Seattle? Join The Stranger Presents email list!


All contents © Index Newspapers, LLC
1535 11th Ave (Third Floor), Seattle, WA 98122
Contact Info | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Takedown Policy