The 2012 presidential election is now a year away. President Obama has caused me to feel incredibly indifferent about him. I don't think I'd say that I'm disappointed with his performance, but indifference certainly isn't enough either. From a policy standpoint, he's been a mixed bag in terms of what I agree with, but the strong inspirational leadership that he invoked during his candidacy has not translated to his presidency. That's unfortunate. While I'm not defending his constant call for Congress to work with him, I wonder if he could be more effective in his second term, the way Clinton was, when he doesn't have to worry about re-election.
That said, polls today show him winning against any Republican candidate, which honestly sucks because he's not earning it, he's just running against a pool of nonsense. I can't ever remember a pool of presidential candidates more inept than these people (though the 2008 pool was hardly great). These folks are a total sideshow, without any real substance, policy positions or in a lot of cases, real executive experience. They're a joke.
To be fair, Ron Paul doesn't belong with them, and I don't understand why he's not gaining any traction. From a sheer ideological standpoint, he's probably too extreme to ever get anything done with any congress, but what would probably make him lose against Obama is his complete lack of personality. He's super intelligent, but a president needs to also be charming and motivating for the people, for communicating with foreign leaders and to work with lawmakers. I just don't think he'd be able to swing that, and that's unfortunate.
I'm sure some people blame "the media" for this state of affairs, but that's such a bullshit copout. The blame rests squarely with voters, who want a magic bullet for everything, don't care about the complexities of economics and culture, and worse, watch Fox News. Voters don't hold their government to a higher standard at all, they just bitch and moan and don't take the time to understand anything about their own world.
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