Conservative
Type 40
Iowa, hoe to Walter 'Radar' O'Reilly, is none to pleased with Obama it seems...
In Iowa, disappointment with Obama runs deep
In Iowa, disappointment with Obama runs deep
WILLIAMSBURG, Iowa — In Iowa, a rural state of outsized political importance, retired nurse Pauline McAreavy is among thousands eager to vote against President Barack Obama after four years of disappointment.
McAreavy holds a personal grudge against the president that dates back to 2008, when she hosted Obama's supporters for three weeks in the Midwestern state that nurtured his improbable White House dreams.
She never got a thank you note for her small role in helping land Obama in the White House, but McAreavy's antagonism goes deeper, the product of broken promises and accumulated disillusion with the "hope" promised by the man who has billed himself an "adopted son" of Iowa.
"Obama gave us this 'no red, no blue state' America," said McAreavy, 78.
"I was fooled, I kick myself everyday," she said. "I said: 'In four years I'll get you buddy -- and I'm going to.'"
Sweeping in front of her house in Williamsburg, McAreavy recalled how she had thought Obama would bring a politically divided country together and that electing the first African American president of the United States would be "wonderful" for this country.
"He didn't, he tore us more apart. I did feel maybe the world didn't like America, but the world hates us more now than they did before!" she said.
The Obama boat is leaking.
Even young people, among Obama's most ardent supporters in 2008, appear disillusioned.
Sam Tracy, who delivers beer in Marengo, said he plans to abstain from voting, disgusted by the political impasse in Washington.
In 2008, the registered Independent proudly cast a vote for Obama in an election that made the history books.
"Based on what we were coming from, there was a lot of enthusiasm for Obama, but now that he's in office, the shine has worn off," Tracy said.