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 Offline sooz06
 Post subject: "What if Obama Loses?"
PostPosted: 01/09/12 7:18 am • # 1 
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This series of articles is the cover of the current issue of The Washington Monthly ~ I have not read any of the linked articles yet ~ but the title question is simply horrific to me ~ not because I think Obama walks on water [altho he has accomplished more in 3 years while confronting near total obstructionism than any prez in decades], but because I deeply believe any of the GOP/TP candidates would be disasterous for us as a nation ~ Sooz

January/ February 2012
What If Obama Loses?
Imagining the consequences of a GOP victory.

By the Editors

It's a common complaint—we've certainly made it over the years—that too much political campaign coverage focuses on the horse race. The packed debate schedule in the current GOP nomination battle has put a bit more focus than usual on the substance of what the candidates are saying, which is good. But even so, most of this coverage has wound up being about whether a given policy position might help or hurt a candidate's chances of winning. What's most important has been left largely unexamined: if one of these candidates actually becomes president and advances his or her policies, what would be the consequences for the nation?

Part of the reason this question is seldom addressed is that it's genuinely hard to do; it requires thinking three steps ahead and accounting for numerous variables. But there's also a widespread assumption that extreme positions taken in the primaries will fade in the general election as candidates “move to the center,â€
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 Offline oskar576
 Post subject: "What if Obama Loses?"
PostPosted: 01/09/12 7:28 am • # 2 
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"What if Obama Loses?"

He loses.
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Sidartha
 Post subject: "What if Obama Loses?"
PostPosted: 01/09/12 8:16 am • # 3 
If Obama loses, I'll become a christian so I can legitimately say "God help us all!"
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 Offline macroscopic
 Post subject: "What if Obama Loses?"
PostPosted: 01/09/12 10:52 am • # 4 
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there are a lot of assumptions here, many that i disagree with.
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 Offline jimwilliam
 Post subject: "What if Obama Loses?"
PostPosted: 01/09/12 11:18 am • # 5 
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The one good thing about all these debates is, if Obama loses, it's because the electorate actually wants what the candidate is handing out.  It would be mildly interesting but, after Egypt, Libya, etc., watching nations implode is getting rather passe' - so 2011. 
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jeannept
 Post subject: "What if Obama Loses?"
PostPosted: 01/09/12 11:31 am • # 6 

Although there is a lot a President can do, I think this question is pretty well meaningless without consideration of who controls the senate and house.  Even if dems control the house and the senate we have no idea what the pres can get away with.  Remember all the bad that passed through right after 9/11 with little reaction from the dems?  Another issue would be will the pres cave in on things he has said he wouldn't. 



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 Offline jimwilliam
 Post subject: "What if Obama Loses?"
PostPosted: 01/09/12 11:35 am • # 7 
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If the Gop takes the presidency, it's very likely they will also take both houses of Congress.  It will mean a continuation of the 2010 mind set.  I think you will get all three Democrat or all three Republican this year.
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Sidartha
 Post subject: "What if Obama Loses?"
PostPosted: 01/09/12 11:41 am • # 8 
I've been saying all along: this is going to be an election decided by "who stays home". With all that's been going on, I'm left to ask myself this... who has to hold their nose tighter when they cast their ballot - democrats, republicans or independents?
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jeannept
 Post subject: "What if Obama Loses?"
PostPosted: 01/09/12 11:42 am • # 9 

If the gop controls all 3 then I think we are in for big problems and a lot of supreme court cases.  I would hate to see that.  I don't necessarily want the dems to control all 3 either.  I just wish they would work together but that's not gonna happen any time soon. 
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Sidartha
 Post subject: "What if Obama Loses?"
PostPosted: 01/09/12 12:03 pm • # 10 
I'd settle for an evenly split congress and a democrat super-majority in the senate with a second term for Obama.

Let's just "git 'er done!" - eh!
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 Offline macroscopic
 Post subject: "What if Obama Loses?"
PostPosted: 01/09/12 12:07 pm • # 11 
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jeannept wrote:

Although there is a lot a President can do, I think this question is pretty well meaningless without consideration of who controls the senate and house.  Even if dems control the house and the senate we have no idea what the pres can get away with.  Remember all the bad that passed through right after 9/11 with little reaction from the dems?  Another issue would be will the pres cave in on things he has said he wouldn't. 


PRE-CISE-LY
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 Offline macroscopic
 Post subject: "What if Obama Loses?"
PostPosted: 01/09/12 12:11 pm • # 12 
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jimwilliam wrote:
If the Gop takes the presidency, it's very likely they will also take both houses of Congress.  It will mean a continuation of the 2010 mind set.  I think you will get all three Democrat or all three Republican this year.
rubbish.  if you look at the polling numbers, the democrats are holding steady, and the GOP is losing ground.  imo, the Senate stays Democrat.  but even if it doesn't, because of the F-ING RETARDED filibuster rules, there is no way to get the more grevious measures past the Senate.

the House is a different story, but how many times has the House really lead this session.

no, jim.  i think this is bollocks.  the chances of the GOP making a meaningful sweep to power this year are basically nil.
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 Offline sooz06
 Post subject: "What if Obama Loses?"
PostPosted: 01/09/12 12:12 pm • # 13 
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I still haven't read the articles in the op, which I definitely will do ~ but I'm thinking the House GOP/TP could well be the deciding factor ~ Congress has the lowest approval rating ... ever ~ and we've seen enormous buyer's remorse from the 2010 election, which has me thinking a significant number of the freshman class will not be reelected ~ especially if they return this week with the same lock-step mindset ~ I think there's a good chance for the Dems to reclaim the House majority ~ or at least close the gap ~ the Senate is a different and tricky problem ~ I would like to see the Dems retain the seats in play this year and maybe pick up a couple more ~ but I'm with jeanne on this: I don't particularly like the idea of any party controlling all 3 ~ that just shuts out a massive segment of the population ~ I too would love to see more serious policy-making and governing [vs hostage-taking] from the GOP/TP ~ but again, I'm with jeanne in that I don't expect that to happen any time soon ~

Sooz



Last edited by sooz06 on 01/09/12 12:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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jeannept
 Post subject: "What if Obama Loses?"
PostPosted: 01/09/12 12:12 pm • # 14 
I wonder, too, if Obama wins, will the repubs be as bad as they have been or will the fact that he can't run again make them more apt to work a little harder on real issues.  I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for improvement either way.
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 Offline macroscopic
 Post subject: "What if Obama Loses?"
PostPosted: 01/09/12 12:12 pm • # 15 
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Sidartha wrote:
I've been saying all along: this is going to be an election decided by "who stays home". With all that's been going on, I'm left to ask myself this... who has to hold their nose tighter when they cast their ballot - democrats, republicans or independents?

the "excitement factor" is almost identical right now.  if Romney wins the nomination, the Democrats will have the edge.
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Sidartha
 Post subject: "What if Obama Loses?"
PostPosted: 01/09/12 1:17 pm • # 16 
If Paul wins, it's a slam dunk for Obama.
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 Offline oskar576
 Post subject: "What if Obama Loses?"
PostPosted: 01/09/12 1:39 pm • # 17 
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Sidartha wrote:
If Paul wins, it's a slam dunk for Obama.
Nope.
The Dems have managed to steal defeat from the jaws of victory before.
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 Offline macroscopic
 Post subject: "What if Obama Loses?"
PostPosted: 01/09/12 2:26 pm • # 18 
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Sidartha wrote:
If Paul wins, it's a slam dunk for Obama.

Paul polls better head to head than anyone other than Romney.

no- if SANTORUM wins, it is a slam dunk for Obama.
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