The decline and fall of Barack Obama: five key factors that drove the midterm revolut

[Stephanie]

Nile Gardiner is a Washington-based foreign affairs analyst and political commentator. He appears frequently on American and British television and radio, including Fox News Channel, CNN, BBC, Sky News, and NPR. The decline and fall of Barack Obama: five key factors that drove the midterm revolution

By Nile Gardiner World Last updated: November 7th, 2010

SNIP:


The midterms were a referendum on President Obama's policies (Photo: GETTY)
Last week’s midterm elections were without doubt a stunning political revolution, which will transform the political landscape in Washington in the second decade of the 21st Century, and possibly for the next generation.

The Republicans increased their seats in the House of Representatives by the biggest margin since 1948, with a significantly bigger win than 1994, gaining 61 seats. They surely would have taken the Senate as well, had all of the seats been up for re-election, instead of just 37. At the gubernatorial level the GOP now controls 29 governorships compared to just 19 for the Democrats. Republicans also picked up 680 seats in state legislatures, the highest figure in the modern era according to figures provided by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The midterms were largely a referendum on Barack Obama’s policies and his leadership, and represented a remarkable reversal of fortune for a president who just 21 months ago seemed unassailable. His party’s heavy defeat at the polls represented an overwhelming rejection of the Obama agenda as well as the liberal ideology that drives it. I outline below five key factors which played a major role in bringing about the political revolution which took America by storm.

1. America is a conservative nation


As Gallup’s recent poll shows, the United States is an overwhelmingly conservative nation, and increasingly so. Conservatives now outnumber liberals by an almost 2.5 to 1 ratio. 48 percent of Americans now identify themselves as conservative, compared to just 20 percent who are self-described liberals. Barack Obama has been the most left-wing president in modern US history, with a liberal constituency that comprises just one in five Americans.

Poll after poll has shown that Obama’s Big Government vision is fundamentally out of touch with the majority of American people, who want to see the role of the federal government reduced, public spending reined in, the budget deficit brought down, taxes lowered, and red tape cut. The Obama administration’s quintessentially European-style approach to the economy, as well as its hugely expensive and bureaucratic health care reform plans are strikingly at odds with America’s tradition of small government, free enterprise and individual liberty.

2. US voters are unwilling to accept the idea of American decline

As I noted in an earlier post, the American people rejected the idea of US decline at the midterms, and in essence voted in favour of America remaining the world’s superpower:

The overwhelming repudiation of the Obama administration’s failing policies sends a clear message to the world that the American people will not accept the decline of the world’s most powerful nation. After the immense damage of the last two years, the midterms have offered the United States an opportunity to reverse course and get back on its feet.

A central weakness of Obama’s leadership has been his disdain for the concept of American exceptionalism, the idea the United States is a special, great nation in history, with a unique mission to lead the free world. His approach, both at home and abroad, has been to advance American decline, whether in the form of spiraling public debts, or weakening influence abroad. It is hard to lead a country at a time of tremendous challenges and threats if you don’t even believe in your nation’s greatness, epitomised by Obama’s willingness to bow before foreign leaders and apologise for America’s past.

3. The Tea Party sparked a political revolution


read the rest and comments
The decline and fall of Barack Obama: five key factors that drove the midterm revolution – Telegraph Blogs

 

[Toome]

Interesting article. I agree with most of the points; however, I don't think the US is a "conservative" nation if the definition of "conservative" is meant to be "Republican." (I don't believe Republicans are conservatives. They may think they are, but they really are a variation of the Democrats.)

I agree that Obama is a liberal so far to the left that he makes basic, run-of-the-mill Democrats look like Rush Limbaugh.

I think the real issue is why Obama was elected as the explanation of why the mid-term elections resulted. It boils down to two broad reasons: he wasn't George Bush and he's black. I think Americans got caught up in the whirlwind of making history by electing a Black man to the White House. Agenda didn't matter; it was the very idea of adding the US to a list of other nations with Black leaders that drove a major portion of that train. The other reason was that Americans were swept up by the notion that ANYTHING associated with George Bush was a BAD thing. Didn't matter what it was: if it had anything remotely associated with President Bush, it was deemed as undesirable, and bad for the country. Didn't matter if it was actually GOOD for the country: it was still perceived as bad. It wasn't so much a matter of Obama winning the election, which he did in convincing fashion, as much as it was that McCain was NOT the man who could win against Obama because McCain was seen as a Bush clone (even though Americans were quick to forget that the Number One critic of Bush policies during the Bush years was John McCain) and because McCain was seen as the traditional, hardline conservative, WHITE politician who represented the old, traditional ways that stood in the way of progress for Black Americans. Not saying that McCain is racist; just saying that he was perceived as representing the thing that Blacks needed to overcome in order to finally make true progress.

The honeymoon soon ended when Americans woke up from their collective hangover and realized that a hardline leftist was calling the shots from the Oval Office. Perhaps it was initially perceived that this was the work of Pelosi, Reid and others, but Obamacare pretty much established that the intent of this President is to force social change, redistribute wealth and appease the rest of the world even if it means shamelessly degrading American pride and prestige.

The mid-term elections is NOT a return to conservatism. It is a rejection of Obama's view of the world, that's all. It is an attempt to bring about gridlock because most Americans view gridlock as a better alternative to a decidedly liberal or decidedly conservative agenda. And here's where Republicans have the opportunity to screw it up big for the 2012 elections (which I think they will do): and they'll do that by misinterpreting the mid-term elections as a mandate for a conservative agenda. (Again, "conservative" as Republicans define it!) The mid-term elections do not validate Sarah Palin as a top contender, although I think Republicans will misread it as that. While I think that Palin may have some potential, she's far from the political heavyweight Republicans need as a serious contender. But that Pandora's Box has already been opened and cannot be closed.

I agree that the elections spell trouble for Obama, but I don't see it as a crisis. If Obama is able to handle this the way Bill Clinton did with the '92 mid-term results, then he stands a good chance at re-election. But I don't think he will do that because Bill Clinton, like him or not, was a masterful politician, and there's not one like him in either party. I don't think we'll see a master like him for quite a while. The other reason is because Obama is simply too stupid to read the tea leaves and make the appropriate adjustments. He's too rooted by his own ideology that he will essentially shoot himself in the foot.

Unless the Republicans screw it up and win it for him. And they are quite capable of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

 

[WillowTree]

I can summarize what went wrong in way less words.

In the future obie wan and the demonRats should avoid


demonizing their "enemies"

demonizing white people

demonizing rich people


class warfare

economic warfare

and race warfare




That should help

 

[Toronado3800]

Conservatives now outnumber liberals by an almost 2.5 to 1 ratio

Ppl who like the sound of being "Conservative" out number liberals 2.5 to 1.

To really get this number you have to define Conservatism and test individual ppl's political beliefs. Don't just ask them what they are.

By Conservative you mean "Constitutionally Conservative"? I guess?

 

[Truthmatters]

When you dont label ideas and just present them for the people to approve or disapprove they approve of liberal ideas

 

[Mr.Fitnah]

When you dont label ideas and just present them for the people to approve or disapprove they approve of liberal ideas

Do you approve of the idea of Congress being prohibited from raising money while in session?

 

[Oddball]

When you dont label ideas and just present them for the people to approve or disapprove they approve of liberal ideas

Virtually everybody approves of "free" shit that is paid for by everyone else.

 

[Big Fitz]

When you dont label ideas and just present them for the people to approve or disapprove they approve of liberal ideas

When you don't tell them the real price of free shit, they want everything. But when informed they are footing the bill, they get conservative instantly.

Thanks pollyanna. Would the representative from the land of Oz please sit down?

 

[Toronado3800]

When you dont label ideas and just present them for the people to approve or disapprove they approve of liberal ideas

because folks like free stuff.

Agreed. Still makes them in favor of the program. Showing the uneducated masses the light is the job of the various political parties/puppets.

A party promising hand outs has that advantage.

The other party has an equally powerful advantage of appealing to "the common man who IS above average and paying more than his fair share of the load.

 

[Mr.Fitnah]

When you dont label ideas and just present them for the people to approve or disapprove they approve of liberal ideas

Virtually everybody approves of "free" shit that is paid for by everyone else.

And the shoe drops

 

[thereisnospoon]

Interesting article. I agree with most of the points; however, I don't think the US is a "conservative" nation if the definition of "conservative" is meant to be "Republican." (I don't believe Republicans are conservatives. They may think they are, but they really are a variation of the Democrats.)

I agree that Obama is a liberal so far to the left that he makes basic, run-of-the-mill Democrats look like Rush Limbaugh.

I think the real issue is why Obama was elected as the explanation of why the mid-term elections resulted. It boils down to two broad reasons: he wasn't George Bush and he's black. I think Americans got caught up in the whirlwind of making history by electing a Black man to the White House. Agenda didn't matter; it was the very idea of adding the US to a list of other nations with Black leaders that drove a major portion of that train. The other reason was that Americans were swept up by the notion that ANYTHING associated with George Bush was a BAD thing. Didn't matter what it was: if it had anything remotely associated with President Bush, it was deemed as undesirable, and bad for the country. Didn't matter if it was actually GOOD for the country: it was still perceived as bad. It wasn't so much a matter of Obama winning the election, which he did in convincing fashion, as much as it was that McCain was NOT the man who could win against Obama because McCain was seen as a Bush clone (even though Americans were quick to forget that the Number One critic of Bush policies during the Bush years was John McCain) and because McCain was seen as the traditional, hardline conservative, WHITE politician who represented the old, traditional ways that stood in the way of progress for Black Americans. Not saying that McCain is racist; just saying that he was perceived as representing the thing that Blacks needed to overcome in order to finally make true progress.

The honeymoon soon ended when Americans woke up from their collective hangover and realized that a hardline leftist was calling the shots from the Oval Office. Perhaps it was initially perceived that this was the work of Pelosi, Reid and others, but Obamacare pretty much established that the intent of this President is to force social change, redistribute wealth and appease the rest of the world even if it means shamelessly degrading American pride and prestige.

The mid-term elections is NOT a return to conservatism. It is a rejection of Obama's view of the world, that's all. It is an attempt to bring about gridlock because most Americans view gridlock as a better alternative to a decidedly liberal or decidedly conservative agenda. And here's where Republicans have the opportunity to screw it up big for the 2012 elections (which I think they will do): and they'll do that by misinterpreting the mid-term elections as a mandate for a conservative agenda. (Again, "conservative" as Republicans define it!) The mid-term elections do not validate Sarah Palin as a top contender, although I think Republicans will misread it as that. While I think that Palin may have some potential, she's far from the political heavyweight Republicans need as a serious contender. But that Pandora's Box has already been opened and cannot be closed.

I agree that the elections spell trouble for Obama, but I don't see it as a crisis. If Obama is able to handle this the way Bill Clinton did with the '92 mid-term results, then he stands a good chance at re-election. But I don't think he will do that because Bill Clinton, like him or not, was a masterful politician, and there's not one like him in either party. I don't think we'll see a master like him for quite a while. The other reason is because Obama is simply too stupid to read the tea leaves and make the appropriate adjustments. He's too rooted by his own ideology that he will essentially shoot himself in the foot.

Unless the Republicans screw it up and win it for him. And they are quite capable of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

No..republican is a political party....Conservative is an ideology. One MUST seperate the two.....not areturn to conservatism, but an awakening to the idea . Most people who voted for Obama or sat out the '08 and /'09 elections were right leaning centrists.
The USA is socially right leaning centrist and fiscally conservatives. Most of us are focused on kitchen table issues
It has been established that this is NOT a liberal country.... A Palin pres bid is not in the conservative mainstream. I fact she is far more effective as a mover and shaker.
Clearly Obama is not Clinton. Obama's first concern is his legacy. Obama's sees himself as a superior intellect. The fact that we just would not go along with his plan for the nation, irks him to no end.

 

[thereisnospoon]

Conservatives now outnumber liberals by an almost 2.5 to 1 ratio

Ppl who like the sound of being "Conservative" out number liberals 2.5 to 1.

To really get this number you have to define Conservatism and test individual ppl's political beliefs. Don't just ask them what they are.

By Conservative you mean "Constitutionally Conservative"? I guess?

How come none demands a definition of what is a liberal?
I am sick and tired of the double standard game played by the Left....Just
as it is accepted when a liberal says he is a liberal, so should it apply to conservatives as well.
The way I interpret your angle is how the Left continually attempts to marginalize their opposition.

 

[william the wie]

I've seen several threads dealing with the demise of Obama but the biggest threats to the liberal establishment are:

The increasing use of non-partisan reapportionment is leading to a fiscal conservative and socially relatively liberal social agenda being the winning combination in elections. Combined with the more radical base of the Ds vs. the Rs the D brand is becoming dated as the candidates who win the D primaries become less centrist.

The number of states that are making third parties more or less permanent parts of the ballot is also increasing. (CA is going the opposite direction.) This makes the economic liberal position increasingly untenable.

Migration away from liberal strongholds is also marginalizing the Ds while not necessarily helping the GOP. So the Ds are likely to be on a downhill slope with the GOP being forced to adapt or die.

Obama is simply the last stage of 19th century leftwing radicalism but that does not mean the GOP is going to do well.

 

[Toronado3800]

Well, what the heck is liberal then? Liberal interpretation of the constitution? Liberal = hippie? Liberal = likes social security? Conservative = likes social security because it has been there our whole lives?

Liberal means I liberally read the constitution to come up with some idea the President can in effect declare war on his own?

Liberal & Conservative do no describe the political parties we are stuck with.