Election Results: The Presidential Race
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-11-07/election-results-presidential-race
In his victory speech last night, President Barack Obama spoke of reaching out to Republicans to address issues that can only be solved together. He won a second term after a tough race against GOP challenger Mitt Romney and record-breaking campaign spending on both sides. Many say he prevailed over Romney, at least in part, as a result of changing U.S. demographics: a rising number of Latino voters and the declining impact of white voters. Obama faces a Congress that remains divided and a still-struggling economy. Please join us to to talk about the challenges ahead for both Democrats and Republicans.
Guests
James Thurber
professor and director of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University, and author of "Obama in Office: The First Two Years."
Andrew Kohut
director of the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.
Michelle Bernard
founder and president of the Bernard Center for Women, Politics and Public Policy.
Comments
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@Eric Zehnder
You are one of the reasons I wish DR Show had an "Ignore Poster" button. Another reason is Jokr. I'm not sure which of you I would click it on first.
Hey Moderator: I thought we were supposed to get a new and improved MB this fall. What's happening with that?
Lola Mae Belle wrote:
"I think the the Presidential Election was won by Obama because the American public chose to embrace people values not money values."
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More like 50% of American voters wanted to keep getting free stuff and didn't have the intellectual honesty to vote for the candidate with the knowledge and ability to reverse the Obama induced recession.
Nice to see such an unbalanced panel the day after the election. Diane and Obama and all the Democrats seem to be sending the same message to the GOP - the beatings will continue until morale improves. How dare those Republicans actually stand their ground and not just give in to the president's demands ? Didn't they learn anything in the past four years ? And so, it will continue, or so it appears.
Honestly, the problems the nation faces are far less serious than the politicians and pundits will suffer. They need the conflict to prop up their constituency and to keep their promises. Did Obama really say that Hispanics should vote for him so he can reward his friends and punish his enemies. The one thing the Democrats have stood for since Andrew Jackson is the spoils system. Here we go, America, four more years.
The most significant statement made on the show was the obvious fact that moderate Republicans are an endangered species (and liberal Republicans are extinct). That, and the Comments of the “usual suspects” here, demonstrate what’s wrong with today’s Republican Party (no longer “the Party of Lincoln”, or even Barry Goldwater).
And by way of illustration we have the inane claim by Phil A. Buster [cute name, by the way] that we’re in “the Obama induced recession”. Sorry, Phil, but the economy collapsed during the reign of Bush the Second, precisely because of the same policies Romney and the Republicans still champion. Deny it all you want, but the facts show the economy improved under Obama, with unemployment going from a high of 10% (in October of 2009) to under 8%, and falling. Maybe fear Romney would indeed “reverse” that helped defeat him. It’s one reason I voted for Obama.
P.S. - And I get no “stuff” (free or otherwise) from the government. Except, of course, the protection and benefits our military, police, fire departments, sanitation departments, health departments, public roads, public hydroelectric dams, and other such things, provide.
Bill_R on November 8, 2012 @ 5:11 pm wrote: “Did Obama really say that Hispanics should vote for him so he can reward his friends and punish his enemies.”
No.
No more than he said “you didn’t build your company”, or Romney boasted of liking to fire people.
However, Romney did indeed ‘write off’ 47% of the people as freeloaders unwilling to take personal responsibility for their lives. Take a look at the source for that statistic (The Tax Policy Center). You’ll find that 47% consists of, among others:
Retired people
Veterans on military pensions
The working poor (who pay no Federal income taxes precisely because of those tax cuts Republicans revere Reagan for).
And, oh yes, wealthy people who make their millions managing hedge funds (and other financial activities), and who have the knowledge and resources to manipulate the tax system to avoid paying taxes. In other words: Mitt’s kind of people are part of the 47%!
The fact that the man could (in secret, of course) make such a bigoted, ignorant, and utterly false accusation (unless you agree veterans, etc., are ‘freeloaders’) is prime evidence of the wisdom of America in rejecting Mr. Etch-A-Sketch for President!
Etaoin Shrdlu wrote:
"It’s one reason I voted for Obama."
No it isn't. The reason you voted for Obama is because you swallowed hook, line, and sinker, falsehoods that were fed to you like this:
"precisely because of the same policies Romney and the Republicans still champion"
and this:
"the facts show the economy improved under Obama, with unemployment going from a high of 10% (in October of 2009) to under 8%, and falling. "
That is a half-truth. Compare gas prices, UE, growth rate - all were better as Bush left office. We were headed toward recession. In fact, it was so deep the V shape should have been as sharp as any recession we've ever experienced since the great depression. It wasn't. The economy continued to hermorage jobs, UE soared, and the economy tanked.
By the way, a fact you conveniently ignore? U6 is still at SIXTEEN percent. This is the Obama recession.
ecgberht wrote:
I'll take that as a compliment. Between you and 'partisan politics', you're pretty much the only reason I check the comments anymore. It's entertaining to see you guys straining to keep a grasp on your own version of reality while the rest of the commentors throw heaps of facts and logic upon you.
johnandere on November 8, 2012 @ 9:27 pm wrote: “That is a half-truth.”
Well, better half of the truth than your complete absence of it!
I see you still haven’t given up playing the game of “gotcha!”: taking parts of my words out-of-context so that you can spin them as you wish. Let’s recap, shall we?
I was responding to Phil A. Buster’s false claim about there being “the Obama induced recession”. (November 8, 2012 - 4:53 pm)
Sorry, eggie, but the facts support precisely what I said: “the economy improved under Obama, with unemployment going from a high of 10% (in October of 2009) to under 8%, and falling.”
But don’t take my word for it (since I certainly don’t take yours). Here’s the link to the unemployment statistics: http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000. Just choose a time period from 2008 (before Obama was even elected) to now.
You’ll note that unemployment was rising starting in 2008. (Remind me again who was President then?) And reached its peak in October of 2009 (10%). You’ll also note it’s been declining since and last month was at 7.9% (“under 8%”, as I said).
Sorry, but the facts are plain. Obama didn’t “induce” the Great Recession, but his policies have improved our economy. (The best Romney could do was make the unsupported claim that he’d have done better. A claim that had the “advantage” of being totally unprovable!)
And yes, fear that a return to the policies of the Bush the Second Administration, the policies Romney touted, would simply make things worse (“inducing” further economic collapse, instead of recovery) is indeed “one one reason I voted for Obama”. (I’ve since listed some of the others. http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-11-08/whats-ahead-republican-part...)
TO BE CONTINUED
PART TWO
And I note that in order to evade and avoid these facts, you talk about other matters entirely, employing the Republi-Con losing campaign tactic of hurling mud to see if any will stick. (It didn’t.)
Gas prices? They’re now about where they were in September of 2008 - you know, back when the economy was in free fall thanks to Bush’s policies. News flash! When an economy is in recession prices tend to go down. But at least they haven’t reached the high Bush achieved in the Summer of 2008! (Only you would try to give Bush “credit” for the consequences of an economic collapse, while denying he played any part in causing said collapse!)
Source: http://gasbuddy.com/gb_retail_price_chart.aspx (Select the 5 or 8 year charts.)
Unemployment? Been there, done that! (See above.)
Growth rate? By what standard? (And what proof?) The only thing “growing” when Bush left office was the unemployment rate (as far as I can tell). And, somehow, I think that would be “drag on the economy”.
The rest of your assertions make absolutely no sense at all. Though, I suspect you “stumbled into the truth” (as John McClaughlin says). You did admit that “We were headed toward recession”. During Bush’s final years, that is!
So, tap dance as much as you wish. Do your “dog and pony” show (devoid of any proof, of course). The majority of voters didn’t buy Republi-Con “snake oil” this time, and neither do we!
Oh, and one interesting statistic about the Election Results: It appears Romney may have received approximately 47% of the popular vote.
Breathe the irony.