27 Comments

• maloney | Aug 02, 2011, 11:26 PM EDT

  mm73..boy are you in for one hellofa surprise in 2012.

• MarkMary73 | Aug 02, 2011, 05:13 PM EDT

  What a partisan screed! President O'Bama will win in a walk against the woeful gang of crazies, toadies, wing-nuts, and out-of main-stream hypocrites that the republicans are offering up as candidates. It was republican wall street and banker greed that brought the storm and now their sycophants in Congress are complaining about the flood. To quote my favorite republican, Abe Lincoln, , "You can fool some of the people all of the time, all of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all of the time." The "people will see that the do-nothing but protect the rich and powerful republicans are continuing to try and run our country into the ditch and they will be repudiated at the polls in 2012.

• jamieLM | Aug 01, 2011, 11:31 AM EDT

  A lot can happen between now and Nov. 2012 and one never knows about voter turnout - who and how many. I think it's premature to be able to accurately predict the winner of a presidential election, especially before the Rep. nominee is known. All the predictions are wishful thinking. Death and taxes are still the only things one can count on. LOL

• bogsidebunny | Aug 01, 2011, 04:20 AM EDT

  Obama is a corrupt, bully from the Chicago political machine. He's an expert at reading teleprompters, but What he isn't is a leader.

• jamthecat | Jul 31, 2011, 10:37 PM EDT

  If the Democratic party would actually run a Democrat instead of this Republican in Dem's clothing, Obama would be out. But they won't. And something the Dems seem not to notice is, progressives like me are tired of voting for the lesser of two evils then being spat upon by whoever's in the White house, so we will, in all likelihood, not vote for Obama in 2012. I'm already planning to vote Green.

• maloney | Jul 31, 2011, 09:40 PM EDT

  obama may very well not make it to the 2012 elections and if he does he will have to contend with his gun running fast and furious. As we speak proof is coming out that Holder and the white house knew about the scam and have lied about it.

• McNamara31 | Jul 31, 2011, 08:29 PM EDT

  In addition to our political banter regarding the positions of the Republicans and the Democrats the other mountain of a problem facing the US are the lobbyists and the money required for anyone to run for elected office.If we as a people do not succeed in getting the money out of our politics this country will continue its descent as China and India continue to rise. The 2012 election will be the first since the Supreme Court passed “Citizens United” and decided that corporations and unions may now directly and expressly advocate for the election or defeat of candidates for federal office. When corporate money enters a field already so distorted by Fox News and lobbyist money the American people will have an even more difficult time deciphering truth from political manipulation and deflection. One glaring example of the strength of lobbyists can be seen in America where GMO’s genetically engineered foods are not “allowed” to be labeled and those same foods are banned in in a good portion of Europe. The strength of the Monsanto Corporation lobby (who has bought up most of the seed manufacturers in the world) and has genetically engineered these seeds to have pesticide engineered right into the cells of the seeds/plant and in America you don’t even have the visibility “by label” to know which crops and products were grown this way. So as the American attention span is being intentionally diverted by Palin’s latest bus tour or Snooky in Italy American baby formula (except organic soy formula) can contain these engineered products passed thru the FDA by tons of lobbing money. And in addition to health issues this huge multinational corporation will own (by patent) and control a large portion of worldwide crop production because they have also modified these crops to have only one growth cycle forcing the farmer to return to Monsanto each year for seeds.

• Tropiholic | Jul 31, 2011, 08:28 PM EDT

  I will be delighted to vote for President O again in 2012. I'll continue to work hard and donate what money I can to his campaign. Obama 2012!

• peterson | Jul 31, 2011, 03:29 PM EDT

  After all the "screw ups" that obama has made, he does not deserve another term.

• eiriamach | Jul 31, 2011, 02:46 PM EDT

  Thanks Mayoman, I hope you're right that Bachmann could run because I too think Obama would have no problem winning against her. I'm not sure that Romney could beat him either, especially if the Dems see Obama's inaction as strategic. Will the Dems know how to capitalize on the GOP's self-destruction? That's the question I ask.

• maloney | Jul 31, 2011, 02:32 PM EDT

  The Republicans can't lose no matter what they do. The Tea Party and conservatives can screw up all they want. obama has done and will do much worse than the repubs could ever dream of doing. The Repubs will control all 3 branches of the govt after the 2012 elections.

• mayoman | Jul 31, 2011, 02:27 PM EDT

  eiriamach: Thank you. You make some excellent points. Your commentary is very thoughtful and perceptive indeed.

• eiriamach | Jul 31, 2011, 01:34 PM EDT

  Obama taught constitutional law. He knows that if he invokes the Fourteenth Amendment too soon, the Tea Partiers, who already, with no evidence whatever, call him a tyrant, will be screaming bloody tyranny through 2012. And the politicized, GOP-puppet Supreme Court five could over-rule his executive order. Raising the debt ceiling by presidential fiat must be his last resort. Besides, this fracas makes great political fodder for the 2012 election. GOP intransigence is unpatriotic, dismissive of worries around the globe about the impact on every nation's economy; it's transparent, arrogant, narrow self-interest on the part of the wealthy, who will not suffer while they turn a deaf ear and a blind eye to the suffering of millions with inflation and escalating interest rates for generations. Letting the decision go back to the president will deal the coup de grâce to the GOP but will energize the Tea Party. The President wins because executive order would have no spending-cut conditions, but winning re-election will be a different story. The hours are ticking away on congressional responsibility to raise the debt ceiling-- yes, Congress' responsibility-- not the President's. It's not just "division" of power, but balance of power, and throwing it off balance to fix federal spending disrespects everyone's oath of office and leaves Washington DC more broken than ever. it's a win-now, lose later choice for Obama.

• lad1912 | Jul 31, 2011, 01:10 PM EDT

  I am an American who has voted Democractic for as long as I can remember - but to see what is happening to my country is just disgusting - I wonder what I am leaving for my children. I think some serious Feng Shui needs to be conducted at the White House - it seems everyone who moves in becomes completely incompetent. We have been faced with the worst financial crises in history and there is no end in sight. Maybe we should all just move to the moon and start over.

• mayoman | Jul 31, 2011, 01:08 PM EDT

  Dowd and O'Reilly are right. If Mit Romney is the Republican candidate, the GOP wins. If Bachmann is nominated, the people will select the lesser of two evils: President Obama. What the Democrats need to do right now is seriously consider a challenge to President Obama. If it isn't already too late.

• GeorgeDillon | Jul 31, 2011, 01:01 PM EDT

  TomSwinford: Another dumb post, in which you address a point I never made. If you had read my post with a minimum of comprehension. you'd find no reference in it to whether Reagan was a conservative or not. Hence your response is senseless. I made no judgment on Reagan, my point was about the Democrats and media back in 1980, the first election I remember. I recall that they flooded the airwaves saying Reagan could never be elected. In fact it was that kind of propaganda which gave rise to the hubris of John Anderson in running as a Third Party. I didn't vote in that election, because I had been a Ted Kennedy supporter. I despised Carter, Reagan and Anderson. The only one of the three I changed my opinion of in the subsequent decades is Carter, who now strikes me as a good man.

• Nicomax | Jul 31, 2011, 12:40 PM EDT

  If we were to cut spending to a level to match current revenue, which at 15% of GDP is at its lowest level since 1950, would it be OK to gut a huge portion or the defense budget that many view as pure waste, especially those useless wars in the Middl-East?

• Nicomax | Jul 31, 2011, 12:13 PM EDT

  McNamara31, I agree with you, what other options do we have to Obama, save perhaps for a challenge from within his own party. patrickesq, you make noteworthy points re. the constitutional limitations on the presidency. I have not given up on Obama but the man has got to play hardball against the team that invented the game. And now we learn of hypocrisy on a new scale. Michele Bachmann who despises the federal govt and denounces it daily, supports the Ryan plan which would privatize social security and gut medicare and medicaid and would eliminate entire federal agencies. Well it happens that Bachmann has been feeding at the public trough all or most of her professional life. As a congresswoman she has the best healthcare and retirement program that taxpayer money can buy - but would happily deny America's seniors (over 30% have no income other than a modest social security check)of the simply dignity of living without fear of hunger or illness. Bachmann's husband also lives on the public trough, through medicaid and medicare payments to his practice, part of which is to convert gays back to straights by prayer. In short, the Bachmanns are not just living off the public trough, they are wolfing off of it.

• seagreen | Jul 31, 2011, 11:30 AM EDT

  O'Reilly and Dowd, is that like Madden and Cosell? Whatever Obama"s situation, the US is finished. There are plenty of rich people of course, but the general population is screwed, and it going to get a lot worse after the covers are taken off all of the supressions that are keeping the lid on. If China calls in the mark monetarily, hang onto your hat ! Have a couple of youg college grads in the family? Tell them to get bi, or tri lingual quick and get out while the getting is good.

• patrickesq | Jul 31, 2011, 11:26 AM EDT

  With all due respect for your cited Irish journalists, their opinions as to the outcome of the election in 2012 are off base. While the American people can make bad choices, such as electing the tea party ideologues and Mr. Bush for a 2nd term, they usually correct course when they are convinced of the havoc they have wrought. I 2010 the people voted for a divided government with the result that the Republican House of Representatives has pushed their ultra conservative agenda to the extreme to the detriment of most Americans. The President's powers are limited by the constitutional division of power among the Congress, the President and the Courts. So the Republicans have used their Congressional power to block, attack and roll back everything the President has done or is trying to do to improve our economy and the lives of most Americans. In their current effort to wrongfully blame the President for our debt crisis, which Congress created during the past 10 years, they have jeopardized the economic well being of every American by refusing to agree to any revenue increases to help reduce our deficit. In 2012 the American people will remember which Party is seeking to gut the Clean Air and Water Acts, allow more degradation of our environment by big corporate interests, weaken consumer protections against corporate greed and gouging, and in general putting the interests of the wealthy and corporate powers above that of ordinary citizens. In short I believe the American people will see the light and President Obama will be reelected.

• newcanaan | Jul 31, 2011, 11:07 AM EDT

  The country can not afford 4 more years of this incompetence

• Redrowan | Jul 31, 2011, 10:58 AM EDT

  I think that if I had a high stakes poker game , I would want Obama sitting directly across from me. His acquiescence on jobs, the BP oil disaster, and now the debt ceiling, balanced budget and a broken economy as seen by the latest GDP numbers hidden among this mess is disgraceful. His lack of leadership now surpasses Jimmy Carter. The Domestic mess is bad enough but the enemies of this country must be licking their chops at having this vacillating impostor in the White House. China builds it's naval strength and Putin wants a return to the good old days in Russia. Many presidents surrounded themselves with intelligent men and women to help in decision making, where are his advisers? Or, is he relying on his own total lack of knowledge on economics and world politics. If this country defaults he will be holding the bag and he may be the last Dem you see elected to the Executive branch for a long long time.

• McNamara31 | Jul 31, 2011, 10:10 AM EDT

  Since being elected Obama has encountered the greatest attack ever launched by the GOP including a 24 hour major media machine (fox) who set out to scare the uninformed about his every action, his origins and his intentions. Whether it was his first attempt to encourage school children early in his presidency that the GOP framed as spreading socialism to the debt ceiling debate that all worldwide see as manufactured to bring down Obama the nonstop slanderous barrage has had its effect even on his diehard supporters. But I ask what’s the other option? Fox manufactured intellectual lightweights like Palin or Bachman with their simplistic answers to very complicated problem. Rick Perry who has been holding prayer rallies in Texas to "use" religion to get potential votes while pushing bill’s he presently supports to allow college students to carry “guns on campus”. Or Mitt Romney who made fortunes similar to the way Gordon Gecko did in the movie Wall St by breaking down companies and selling off assets. Is he you're new job creator? When I look at the field as it stands today Obama still stands first in line. However, if Medicare and Social Security are adversely affected then you may see another democratic candidate run against him in 2012.

• tomdoh345 | Jul 31, 2011, 10:08 AM EDT

  If Obama had any guts ( did not earn nicknames "Great Capitulator" and "Casper Milktoes" for no reason , he would invoke the 14th Amendment. FDR, IKE, JFK, Truman and Reagan would have put up with the Obstructionist Tea Party. Many people in the US would like to see the Tea Party members of the House and Senate jailed on charges of Treason and Obstruction of the Government. John MaCain ( who probably would have been President now if he had not let the extreme right wing of the Republican Party force Palin on him as VP ) has called the Tea Party members of the House "Hobbits" in the world of real people trying to get Real Government Work done.

• tomdoh345 | Jul 31, 2011, 10:07 AM EDT

  George, you must surely know by now that the Republican myth of Reagan the conservative is the purest kind of baloney. Reagan was, above all, a pragmatist - and politically a moderate. He talked a good line of old fashioned values and small government, yet in his 8 years in office he increased taxes multiple times, more than tripled the national debt and enlarged the federal government. I am dismayed at Obama's lack of backbone. Before the GOP, at every critical moment, he has blinked. The result will be severe cuts in spending with no increase in revenues. For the record, amongst the G-7 countries the U.S. is tied with Japan for lowest taxes (our highest earners are the lowest by far) and amongst the 34 OECD countries (the so-called "Developed World") the U.S. is third from the bottom in taxation as a percentage of GDP. Taxes are much higher in very successful economies like Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark. The republicans in general and their less rational elements in particular continue to perpetuate the lie that we are over-taxed. We are not - at least not when matched against our bloated expectations of what we want from government. The GOP answer is to completely gut the entitlement programs but Americans overwhelmingly have said no to this - so we have little choice but to increase revenues to pay for the services we demand. The only real question is how to fairly and rationally do this.

• hooligan6a | Jul 31, 2011, 09:48 AM EDT

  We need a strong leader and I don't see one on the horizon I think we will have to put up with Obuma for an other term. He will crash and burn on his 2nd term. I think we are in for some bad years ahead. If only Zell Miller would come out of retirement.

• GeorgeDillon | Jul 31, 2011, 08:55 AM EDT

  Liberals like Roberts always tell the Republicans to go with the most centrist candidate. That's why we got President Dole and President McCain. And I'm just about old enough to remember Roberts' predecessors warning the Republicans that Reagan couldn't be elected.