Comments on: Obama Ratings High, But Caution Advised

By: Kris

Kris — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 01:25:20 +0000

Erik, I think there might be some truth to what you’re saying, and it would in fact be pretty savvy. A little while back Ames, I think, posited that Obama might push forward with certain Bush legal arguments so they could be firmly struck down by the courts.

By: didionsmommy

didionsmommy — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:21:52 +0000

i, too, want to see the positives. for eight years, we had an executive branch that said “eff you” to congress and to the courts … even when the other two were siding with it or crafting legislation for it … the bush admin went ahead and did what it wanted, when it wanted.

change — done according to the rules — takes time … if congress was to come up with strong, specific legislation that would prevent a repeat of bush, that is a good thing.

at the same time, i have to fight the swell of cynicism that says any incoming president is going to refuse to give up all of the power bush accrued.

too, while we wait for meaningful change, real people are in play, suffering real consequences.

***
as far as the media spinning the survey results … i admit i have been busy today and haven’t heard or read much outside of the nyt article … i don’t know what the media expect or want … as much as i don’t like attitudinal surveys for their subjectivity, it’s kinda hard to argue with these results …

one thing i took out of the post was the fact that congress only has a 26% approval rating … keeping that in mind, 45% believing democrats are reaching out and 31% believing republicans are not is impressive.

By: Erik J

Erik J — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 22:43:59 +0000

I don’t know much about … well, much, but I am reminded here of something FDR said: “I want to do it, now make me do it.”

If Obama doesn’t continue the state secrets and wiretapping and whatnot, nobody has any standing to get the courts to fix it; and if it’s not in the news, Congress doesn’t have any motivation to fix it. Maybe I’m just optimistic, but I suppose we’ll have to wait and see.

By: Ames

Ames — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:15:17 +0000

It is disappointing to see Obama take more of Bush’s policies than I expected. Not to forget, of course, that Gitmo is gone (he’s tied his hands on that), warrantless wiretapping is on the way out, and torture’s been coimpletely gone since 1/20.

The answer here is Congress. Congress CAN tie the President’s hands on a nmber of these issues, and while Obama may prefer to push forward with some Bush tactics rather than question them, a mounting Congressional backbench revolt could force him to think otherwise, or simply fall into line. He’s less likely to assert the “unitary executive” defense, and vigorously pursue Bush’s agenda, than he is likely to just continue some Bush policies rather than reinvent them out of inertia alone.

Also what’s funny is that the “high approval” message is NOT the message the media are going with.