Checking in with the Obameter
Checking in with the Obameter
Checking in with the Obameter#1
Posted: 12/20/09 at 5:38pm
I know there are certainly things to criticize Obama for in his first year in office, but one can't say he hasn't been keeping the bulk of his campaign promises. And considering he made hundreds more than Clinton or Bush, this is pretty impressive.
The Obameter Scorecard
Promise Kept 72
Compromise 18
Promise Broken 9
Stalled 35
In the Works 197
Not yet rated 182
The Obameter
re: Checking in with the Obameter#2
Posted: 12/20/09 at 6:08pmI disagree. I believe he has been a near total disappointment.
re: Checking in with the Obameter#2
Posted: 12/20/09 at 6:13pmCount me as another who feels he has been a disappointment. If this new Healthcare Bill passes with no public option contingent he has lost my support. It is nothing more then a gift to the insurance companies that have already been raping us.
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/3/05
re: Checking in with the Obameter#3
Posted: 12/20/09 at 6:15pmHe has served up a big plate of nothing.
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/10/03
re: Checking in with the Obameter#5
Posted: 12/20/09 at 8:19pmVery disappointed.
re: Checking in with the Obameter#6
Posted: 12/20/09 at 8:50pmI'm mostly disappointed that, like Bush before him, he turned out to be better at campaigning than he is at governing.
re: Checking in with the Obameter#7
Posted: 12/20/09 at 8:57pm
Also, the math seems very Fox Network. The only way to look at this list and come up with Obama keeping "the bulk of his promises" is if you count the "in the works" and "not yet rated" columns as "kept promises." The experience of the last year would indicate that's an unwise assumption.
Check out Bill Moyers:
watch and weep
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/19/08
re: Checking in with the Obameter#8
Posted: 12/21/09 at 2:46amHuge disappointment. Never liked him. But, this mess we're in is going to require more than people standing by and waiting for the out of touch politicians to do anything. We're going to have to re-create our country if we want the things that need to be done. Obama is the subject of ridiculous right wing criticism, and he did inherit a clunker of a situation, but he's completely dropped the ball, on healthcare especially.
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/3/05
re: Checking in with the Obameter#9
Posted: 12/21/09 at 3:14am
Afghanistan.
That's all that need be said, and it should engender rage.
I have no time nor tolerance for apologists.
re: Checking in with the Obameter#10
Posted: 12/21/09 at 8:32am
A total disappointment and I don't need a scorecard to tell me so.
And Q...I don't agree with him on Afghanistan but that is one promise he kept. During the campaign he did say he would step up military efforts there so that really isn't any surprise.
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/3/05
re: Checking in with the Obameter#11
Posted: 12/21/09 at 8:49am
Erik - you're absolutely right. My sentiment is more in line with approval rating, not an objective analysis of his record. He has indeed done what he said he would - much like he hasn't supported gay marriage, like he said he wouldn't.
I guess it's great that he's done what he set out to do - and it's just my luck that I haven't supported him from the beginning.
Joined: 12/31/69
re: Checking in with the Obameter#12
Posted: 12/21/09 at 11:08amQ could you elaborate? Onbama campaigned on the fact that Afghanistan was the "right war" and Iraq the "wrong war." I think he said something like 400 times that he planned on "Finishing the job" in Afghanistan. He has stood by that throughout.
re: Checking in with the Obameter#13
Posted: 12/21/09 at 11:18amA waste of a President. At least with Bush in office we got some amusing SNL sketches.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
re: Checking in with the Obameter#14
Posted: 12/21/09 at 11:58amWe are getting some SNL yuks with Fred doing Mr O
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/3/05
re: Checking in with the Obameter#15
Posted: 12/21/09 at 12:29pmJoe - that's what I was correcting - my sentiments have to do with dissatisfaction over the things that have been done - which is why I didn't like him in the first place. My entry in a thread about him keeping his word has no place, because he has kept it. My issue is that I didn't like what he said in the first place. The fact that he's kept it only means my antipathy has deepened.
re: Checking in with the Obameter#16
Posted: 12/21/09 at 12:35pmCount me in with the those who consider him an utter disappointment.
Joined: 12/31/69
re: Checking in with the Obameter#17
Posted: 12/21/09 at 12:48pmOK Q thanks. I'm a little jumpy from living among Republicans who say things like "Health Care? Obama never said he was going to reform helath care!"
re: Checking in with the Obameter#18
Posted: 12/21/09 at 1:48pm
"Also, the math seems very Fox Network. The only way to look at this list and come up with Obama keeping "the bulk of his promises" is if you count the "in the works" and "not yet rated" columns as "kept promises." The experience of the last year would indicate that's an unwise assumption. "
Those are stats from a non-partisan, Pulitzer-winning site.
That he has kept 72 promises and only broken 9 and compromised on 18 is indeed a bulk of promises kept on those issues that have reached completion.
That he is working on a great bulk of them in his first year is pretty impressive. And, again, he made hundreds of more promises than Bush and Clinton.
I realize all of you are disappointed in him. He's certainly disappointed me on certain things, including his wussing out on healthcare. But, he's done more for gays than any President. He's doing what he said he would do about Afghanistan. He's passing SOME kind of healthcare reform where a hundred years of Presidents weren't able to touch. (And the flaws in this bill can be fixed once the chicken littles see the sky won't fall if we try to help our citizens). And, judging from that list, he IS "doing" despite how the media, whether 24-hour corporate news or blogs are telling the story.
And, I think some perspective would be good for us: He's got 3 more years to do even more. Be angry at him and push him to honor his promises--I absolutely agree.
re: Checking in with the Obameter#19
Posted: 12/21/09 at 2:17pm
I agree with just about everything jerby said. Like everyone else, I'm frustrated. However, I think this administration's shortcomings have been political rather than substantive. At the end of the day, I don't think a public option or medicare expansion was ever going to pass; I think the White House figured that out early, but handled that fact poorly. They didn't want to spend political capitol on something that wasn't going to pass, but they did a poor job of handling their own left wing.
They also handled the DOJ memo on DADT very poorly. The White House could have deflected it by renouncing its language, while defending their need to enforce the law until it's repealed.
Also, despite the high unemployment, the economy has been saved from a total meltdown.
re: Checking in with the Obameter#20
Posted: 12/21/09 at 3:06pm
But, he's done more for gays than any President.
Yes, and that was an awfully low bar for him to jump. He hasn't really done that much, and when you factor in the Rick Warrens, the Donnie McClurkins, the deafening silence on the marriage ballots/legislation across the country, etc, I think it kind of zeros out anything he might have done, which again, really ain't much.
re: Checking in with the Obameter#21
Posted: 12/21/09 at 3:17pmIf in 2012, you prove to be right about him, I will stand with you against him and agree that I was wrong about him. Then and only then if.
re: Checking in with the Obameter#22
Posted: 12/21/09 at 3:20pmOkay, but that doesn't change the fact that at this moment everything I said stands.
re: Checking in with the Obameter#23
Posted: 12/21/09 at 3:24pm
He has done about what I expected, but not what I hoped. I am still hoping that next year he fulfills some of the campaign promises about gay rights.
I have a sneaking suspicion that things were MUCH worse than what first thought when running (especially the economy) and much of his efforts have been focused on preventing the US economy from totally seizing up. I think what was done was imperfect, but had to be done to prevent greater harm from occurring (and notwithstanding the fact that Wall Street needs to be held responsible for its shenanigans and has not been, while Main Street has, and will continue to suffer).
I generally agree with MB and Jerby. I told Republican friends that Obama would surprise (in a good way) some Republicans, and disappoint the progressives once in office. He has not gone as far as I would have liked on some issues, but where I expected on many.
I can understand those who are very very disappointed in his leadership, or lack of leadership, on those issues he promised to address, especially when fundamental right are being denied. I understand the logic behind his statements that he needs Congress to get involved to make the changes permanent, but that does not help out those who are currently being discriminated against. And the DOJ's initial missteps on DOMA and DADT only add salt to those wounds. But, I am hoping that those errors get rectified soon. If not, he will not likely get my vote in 3 years.
re: Checking in with the Obameter#24
Posted: 12/21/09 at 3:29pm
PRS: Enjoy being right about this snapshot in time then. That in his first year, yes, he pissed us off while ONLY getting a Hate Crimes bill passed, advancements in HUD and HHS, posthumously awarding Harvey Milk with the Presidential Medal of Freedom and inviting gay families to the White House Easter egg roll.
Updated On: 12/21/09 at 03:29 PM
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