When Barack Obama swept into the oval office, many expected big change. Now, halfway through his term, there is a big change, but certainly not the kind our president ever expected. According to a new CNN poll, if George W. Bush faced off against Obama in a race for the presidency today, it would be close to a dead heat.
Of all the wacky things that have transpired this campaign season, this one takes the cake! When Bush left office, few people were sad to see him go. While liberals had criticized his administration from Day 1, even most conservatives were fed up with him by the end of his tenure.
Yet, here we are two short years later and now this! The poll does not mean that people have decided to let bygones be bygones or that Bush has been forgiven. No, what it indicates is that, for far too many Americans, the Obama presidency has been an utter disappointment. It's not that George W. Bush has gained in popularity; it's that Obama has lost so much.
With the growing prospect that the GOP will regain control of, at least, one segment of Congress, it looks like Obama's best days in the oval office are behind him. The next two years will be far more difficult.
On the surface, this would seem to indicate that the current president has little chance of winning a second term. But I wouldn't cross him off the dance card yet. It's certainly not that I expect him to rebound in any way, shape or form; it's more that the GOP could come up with a weak and/or crazy candidate.
The next two years should be interesting...to put it mildly.
Of all the wacky things that have transpired this campaign season, this one takes the cake! When Bush left office, few people were sad to see him go. While liberals had criticized his administration from Day 1, even most conservatives were fed up with him by the end of his tenure.
Yet, here we are two short years later and now this! The poll does not mean that people have decided to let bygones be bygones or that Bush has been forgiven. No, what it indicates is that, for far too many Americans, the Obama presidency has been an utter disappointment. It's not that George W. Bush has gained in popularity; it's that Obama has lost so much.
With the growing prospect that the GOP will regain control of, at least, one segment of Congress, it looks like Obama's best days in the oval office are behind him. The next two years will be far more difficult.
On the surface, this would seem to indicate that the current president has little chance of winning a second term. But I wouldn't cross him off the dance card yet. It's certainly not that I expect him to rebound in any way, shape or form; it's more that the GOP could come up with a weak and/or crazy candidate.
The next two years should be interesting...to put it mildly.
This all comes down to our knee-jerk reactions when voting. Exactly the same thing happened in Australia (and I think the UK too).
ReplyDeleteWe were so desperate to get out of Iraq that we were willing to vote for nearly anyone who had charisma and who promised to get us out of there.
The problem was that we all voted in NEW teams on the basis of a single policy. We forgot that the old teams had years of experience in the other parts of government; economics etc.
The new teams were full of ideas but didn't understand the realities of government.
In Australia, our new PM became so unpopular that he was replaced by his own party. A couple of months later, we had an election - and nobody won.
Our hung government was eventually resolved by the "independent" candidates rather than the people of Australia.
Of course, the balance of power in Australia is too perfect now and it's unlikely that any motions will be passed. We'll just have to limp along until the next election.
Interesting? I hope that's all it is, these people scare the crap out of me.
ReplyDelete