Friday, May 28, 2010
2012 doubts
Up until this evening, I have been skeptical of the chances of President Obama losing his re-election bid in 2012. My skepticism was based on the quality of the campaign he ran in 2008, the predisposition of the media to treat his administration more kindly than the previous one, approval ratings (ex-Rasmussen) that are down from the stratospheric levels of a year ago -- but still better than W's numbers throughout most of his two terms, and the lack of a clear-cut challenger at this point.
Tonight, however, I am having serious doubts for the first time regarding President Obama's chances in 2012.
Earlier this evening, I was walking through a parking lot at the local Whole Foods Market, where I was shocked to see a Toyota Prius displaying the following bumper sticker:
If you've lost the Whole Foods-shopping Prius-driving voter, you've lost liberal America, and you're in trouble with your base.
18 Comments:
By 
, at
Fri May 28, 10:25:00 PM:
If you've lost the Whole Foods-shopping Prius-driving voter, you've lost liberal America, and you're in trouble with your base.
But you are assuming the driver of that car disliked the prospect of "Obamunism."
By , at
Fri May 28, 10:29:00 PM:
Toyota Prius, Whole foods,college town... are you sure this is a negative bumper sticker?
By 
Escort81, at
Fri May 28, 11:00:00 PM:
The one and only TigerHawk blogger is in a college town (I will be there tomorrow afternoon, about an hour away, for Reunions); I'm in a regular inner-ring suburb.
The hammer and sickle part of the bumper sticker led me to infer, possibly erroneously, that the sticker was critical in nature. If not, the CPUSA is more popular in my neighborhood that I thought.
By Kurt, at
Fri May 28, 11:09:00 PM:
Well, you never can tell. Part of the genius of the sticker is its ambiguity, so the prius-driving whole foods shopper feels safe putting it on his (or her) car. I would also read the hammer and sickle as being negative, but I wouldn't expect all of the other whole foods shoppers to recognize that.
On the other hand, this prius driver may just be am example of what David Brooks (at least, I think it was him) dubbed "crunchy conservatives" years ago. After all, I was impressed by the mileage on the first prius I saw when I was shopping for cars 10 years ago. I thought of taking it for a test-drive, but opted not to because I wanted more power than a four-cylinder car could provide (proving, I suppose, that I'm not really one of those "crunchy cons," even though I do shop at whole foods every now and then).
By , at
Sat May 29, 12:41:00 AM:
By Assistant Village Idiot, at
Sat May 29, 01:09:00 AM:
That the bumper-sticker could possibly have been meant as a compliment is immaterial. It will have the same effect either way sitting on a Prius at Whole Foods. The other customers will cringe.
It may get keyed.
By Donna B., at
Sat May 29, 01:12:00 AM:
I saw a Prius with a "Drill, Baby Drill" bumper sticker on it a few weeks ago.
Strange times, eh?
By , at
Sat May 29, 08:58:00 AM:
This is obviously a false flag operation, a plant. Some evil genius came up with this ! Karl, Karl Rove is that you ?
Perhaps the reality of the foolishness that is the wan has finally intruded into the world of academia.
By , at
Sat May 29, 09:19:00 AM:
"Please Don't Tell Obama What Comes After a Trillion."
After the Democrats lose the House -- and they will -- it'll get ugly.
Obama is no Bill Clinton. Obama doesn't have a centrist bone in his body. He won't do "triangulation." He knows better than every single one of us.
Obama only represents about 25% of us -- that's his base. He's alienating big blocks of Democrat support: white working class males, suburban soccer moms, anti-abortion Reagan Democrat Catholics, and Jews. He's been making it clear that there are whole regions of the country he doesn't give a rat's ass about. Recent plays to Hispanics (re Arizona) and gays (don't ask, don't tell) may backfire. The young won't give blind support.
You can stay mayor of Chicago with just hardcore support of blacks, municipal unions, and Progressives -- it doesn't work for the country at large.
The Democrats choice for House minority leader after November 2010 will be an interesting tell.
"1/20/13"
By , at
Sat May 29, 11:57:00 AM:
If you've lost the Whole Foods-shopping Prius-driving voter, you've lost liberal America, and you're in trouble with your base.
Yeah, because only Liberals care about good mileage. Too funny.
btw, Obama's approval rating is still several points ahead of Reagan's at the same point in his first term. just saying....
By Christopher R Taylor, at
Sat May 29, 01:59:00 PM:
Obama wouldn't have won in 2008 against a decent GOP candidate. That's what it all comes down to: who will the Republicans offer? Because if they put another McCain or Dole up there, Obama wins again, comfortably.
By , at
Sat May 29, 05:17:00 PM:
"Obama's approval rating is still several points ahead of Reagan's at the same point in his first term. just saying"
True that.
Back in 1982 the economy had yet to rebound ... but it did ... and Reagan's numbers went up. Reagan was at 70% approve in 1986. Democrats gave up on questioning Reagan's competency.
I don't see the economy in strong rebound in 2011-2012 -- far from it. Reagan wasn't doing things to lose ranks of his party's traditional base -- quite the opposite.
I can't imagine a scenario that gets Obama back to 70% approve. I see likely scenarios that drive his support down to a hardcore 30%.
"Obama wouldn't have won in 2008 against a decent GOP candidate."
2008 was a referendum on Bush -- the GOP got pounded for past sins. Obama ran as the anti-Bush.
Independent voters were decisive. Republicans can't win the White House without winning the Independent vote. McCain -- or Giuliani -- were the only GOP candidates who had a shot. McCain couldn't find a way to distance himself from Bush.
In 2012 the Republicans can still lose, if they pick the wrong candidate.
"Right ... Left" no longer fits the electorate ... it fits those who've dominated the two parties.
By , at
Sat May 29, 05:27:00 PM:
Anon Atty here.
Agreed. Obama has lost the support of independents, without whom he cannot win. Provided the GOP doesn't go insane and nominate Palin, Obama is destined to be a one-term president.
In my upper middle-class suburb lots of moms had gone fashionably blue in 2008, hosting Obama house parties. Not anymore. When half their husbands are out of work or worried about their jobs it really tends to focus the mind on matters economic.
Obama will go down in history as one of the worst presidents in history--an empty suit elected as a cry of desperation.
By , at
Sat May 29, 07:04:00 PM:
The "S.O.L." bumper sticker (featuring the omnipresent Obama "O") I saw last week in Pittsburgh had me laughing out loud!
By , at
Sat May 29, 10:57:00 PM:
"Obama will go down in history as one of the worst presidents in history--an empty suit..."
Yes. I've been saying for over a year now that he will end up as the most reviled president in history.
Remember, he promised perfection. Disappointment, at best, was all but guaranteed.
By Gary Rosen, at
Sun May 30, 04:09:00 PM:
"Obama wouldn't have won in 2008 against a decent GOP candidate."
Disagree. I'm not saying McCain ran a great campaign, but the election outcome was sealed when Paulson announced "we need $700B or the economy is going off the cliff". McCain was leading up until then, with a big assist from Palin. After that, panic drove the election to the Dems, and any Dem would have won over any Republican.
By Larry Sheldon, at
Sun May 30, 04:53:00 PM:
I'd say the verbiage, the location and the car-type all point to a grave danger for our country.
But there is no clear indication that we will even bother with elections.
I expect an Executive Order any day now....
By , at
Tue Jun 01, 09:47:00 AM:
As a resident of P-ton, I suspect that the owner of the Prius was just bumping his hopes up to the next level.
