Does Barack Obama want to be re-elected in 2012?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Few Americans consider themselves bigger than the presidency but Obama might be one of them. The man in the Oval Office, argues Toby Harnden, may already be preparing for a role as a post-president in a post-American world.

When David Plouffe, President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign manager, wrote recently that his former boss was "not concerned with his re-election", there was predictable scepticism.

After all, it has long been a truism that every politician wants to cling to power and a reality that presidential campaigns are planned years in advance. Pronouncements about not looking at polls and concentrating on getting things done are, moreover, standard fare from poll-driven, election-obsessed politicians and their apparatchiks.

In this case, however, Plouffe may inadvertently be onto something. Almost everything Obama does these days suggests that he doesn't care much about being re-elected. Strange as it might seem, perhaps he wants to be a one-term president.

Obama was elected in 2008 at an extraordinary moment in American politics. Suddenly, this charismatic figure, elected to the Senate without serious opposition in 2004 and without any executive experience, was catapulted into the White House.

His presidential bid had been based on the power of his life story and his ability with the spoken word. Doubtless he was as surprised as anyone else that he pulled it off. Governing has been altogether more difficult for him and there are signs he is already tiring of it.

Obama's intervention on the so-called "Ground Zero mosque" issue is a case in point. There was no need for him to get involved - the Islamic community centre two blocks from the 9/11 site is unlikely to get built and there was no political advantage in his making a statement.

What he said about religious freedom was typically Obama - high-minded, principled and legalistic. He is, after all, a former constitutional law professor. What his words lacked were any real empathy with what Americans felt and practical considerations about resolving the issue - never mind the political downside for him.

Doubtless he has been advised to prove he is "connected" to ordinary Americans by doing things like be seen attending church and taking "regular" holidays. But Obama seems happy to act as a European-style secularist, vacation in Martha's Vineyard and send his daughters to one of America's most exclusive private schools.

Obama does not suffer for self doubt. He has long seemed so convinced of his own virtue that to question his motives is illogical. Increasingly, his pronouncements carry the tone of one who believes those who disagree are stupid or bigoted.

Before departing for Martha's Vineyard last week, Obama spent three days on the campaign trail raising money and support for Democratic mid-term election candidates. Don't give in to fear," he said in Milwaukee. "Let's reach for hope."

It was a message that worked once but is unlikely to appeal this time, with America in the grip of a recession, unemployment still stubbornly close to 10 percent and blame-it-on-Bush rhetoric wearing very thin.

Obama is, however, at his best in these settings. He has the crowd hanging on his every word and he is not dealing with grubby political realities or objectionable opponents. Perhaps they are a reminder for him of simpler times.

They might also be a glimpse of the future. For Obama, the crowning moment of his presidency have been speeches abroad - the statement in Strasbourg that America had been "dismissive and arrogant", the address to the Muslim world from Cairo, the acceptance in Oslo of the Nobel Peace Prize.

In Berlin in 2008, Obama cast himself as a "citizen of the world". He has dismissed the bedrock notion of American exceptionalism by describing it, also in Strasbourg, as little more than narrow patriotism. Elite opinion among liberal Ivy League types - of which Obama is the embodiment - holds that we are already living in a post-American world.

There are few Americans who see themselves as bigger than the presidency but Obama could well be one of them. In 2008, Obama showed little appetite for the down-and-dirty aspects of political campaigning.

When things got tough against Hillary Clinton, he all but conceded the final Democratic primaries and let the clock run out. Against John McCain, he developed a campaign plan and refused to deviate from it. McCain was level in the polls when the US economy imploded, handing Obama a relatively comfortable victory.

Obama is the first black American president, an established author, multi-millionaire and acclaimed figure beyond American shores.

It seems highly unlikely that Obama will decide not to run in 2012. But he might well be calculating that a embarking post-presidential role as the leading global thinker in the post-American world as a Republican successor enters office is more attractive than being sullied by the political compromises and manoeuvrings necessary to win.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/7958031/Does-Barack-Obama-want-to-be-re-elected-in-2012.html

[alienlovechild 75]

After all, it has long been a truism that every politician wants to cling to power and a reality that presidential campaigns are planned years in advance. Pronouncements about not looking at polls and concentrating on getting things done are, moreover, standard fare from poll-driven, election-obsessed politicians and their apparatchiks.

Obama does not suffer for self doubt. He has long seemed so convinced of his own virtue that to question his motives is illogical. Increasingly, his pronouncements carry the tone of one who believes those who disagree are stupid or bigoted.

Obama is the first black American president, an established author, multi-millionaire and acclaimed figure beyond American shores.

It seems highly unlikely that Obama will decide not to run in 2012. But he might well be calculating that a embarking post-presidential role as the leading global thinker in the post-American world as a Republican successor enters office is more attractive than being sullied by the political compromises and manoeuvrings necessary to win.

Nonsense. Obama will run for a second-time because once you've reached the top, you hang on until the voters force you out or you can't run for a third term. LBJ was in far worse shape with the Vietnam and opposition from his own party. Obama isn't close to being challenged by his own party.

He's ptetty arrogant which isn't surprising when you've gotten so much power and adulation without really breaking a sweat compared to other presidents. It happens to all modern presidents to varying degrees. The part about his lack of self-doubt shows resolve but it's not working to reveals little ability to adapt his leadership style to get the job done.

He ca do all that elder statesman jazz after he's in for 8 years as he's not that old.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

I just want to see if by chance his approval ratings are below 50% still, if he keeps his promise.

He said that if his approval ratings are below 50%, that he would not run for re-election.

[^_^ 5,021]

He said that if his approval ratings are below 50%, that he would not run for re-election.

link?

[Obama 2012 1,714]

not "50%" but in the tank (which they are now)

[^_^ 5,021]

Are they in the tank?

Source: The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research

[SMOKE 1,426]

Are they in the tank?

its early. he has multiple dumbasses & no-win situations around the world to deal with right now. plus the rethuglicans are just getting geared up.

[^_^ 5,021]

its early. he has multiple dumbasses & no-win situations around the world to deal with right now. plus the rethuglicans are just getting geared up.

i dont disagree that his ratings could be in the tank in the future. im disagreeing that they are right now.

[justashooter 430]

Governing has been altogether more difficult for him and there are signs he is already tiring of it.

What his words lacked were any real empathy with what Americans felt and practical considerations about resolving the issue - never mind the political downside for him.

Obama does not suffer for self doubt. He has long seemed so convinced of his own virtue that to question his motives is illogical. Increasingly, his pronouncements carry the tone of one who believes those who disagree are stupid or bigoted.

It was a message that worked once but is unlikely to appeal this time, with America in the grip of a recession, unemployment still stubbornly close to 10 percent and blame-it-on-Bush rhetoric wearing very thin.

In Berlin in 2008, Obama cast himself as a "citizen of the world".

It seems highly unlikely that Obama will decide not to run in 2012.

[웃 910]

I just want to see if by chance his approval ratings are below 50% still, if he keeps his promise.

He said that if his approval ratings are below 50%, that he would not run for re-election.

link?

He also said if the economy wasn't turned around by 2012 he would not run for re-election. We're at $13.364 trillion in debt as of today. Two years from now probably be around $16 or $17 trillion, give or take $500 billion to $1.2 trillion dollars....

[slim 1,525]

It's funny that JAS posted that link. While I'm not going to directly compare Obama to Hitler, I think we can compare the americans of today with the germans of that era. We're a fickle mob who'll chew on any ####### that's force-fed down our throats and if the time is right... we'll swallow all of it and ask for more.

The fervor that swept Germany in the late '30s sure sounded a lot like the "hope and change" that people here so willingly embraced without knowing what it was or what it meant. All they knew was we had a charismatic new leader who was a great orator and they were "part of the team."

The sad thing is many Germans didn't realize the team they now found themselves on was not necessarily the team they wanted to be on. But, by that point, it was too late.

I hope we don't figure it out too late.

Obama isn't stupid. He realize the real power in this new millenium is not running the US, it's running the world. If we're stupid enough... we'll encourage him to do so. I hope we can differ from the Germans in that we can be smart enough to take pride in what we have - not what we want.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

At this point I am more concerned he may declare that the elections would disrupt his agenda at restoring America after Bush ruined it and that the elections need to be postponed. Eliminating the elections would, at this point, seem to be the only way he could stay in office beyond 2012.

But who knows. If the Rebublicans drop the ball after their sweeping victories this fall, he may actually get enough votes to get re-elected. It really, now, will be up to the Republicans if he gets re-elected.

[TBoneTX 45,319]

At this point I am more concerned he may declare that the elections would disrupt his agenda at restoring America after Bush ruined it and that the elections need to be postponed.

Si, man (sigh, man)...

[HAL 9000 96]

It's funny that JAS posted that link. While I'm not going to directly compare Obama to Hitler, I think we can compare the americans of today with the germans of that era. We're a fickle mob who'll chew on any ####### that's force-fed down our throats and if the time is right... we'll swallow all of it and ask for more.

The fervor that swept Germany in the late '30s sure sounded a lot like the "hope and change" that people here so willingly embraced without knowing what it was or what it meant. All they knew was we had a charismatic new leader who was a great orator and they were "part of the team."

The sad thing is many Germans didn't realize the team they now found themselves on was not necessarily the team they wanted to be on. But, by that point, it was too late.

I hope we don't figure it out too late.

Obama isn't stupid. He realize the real power in this new millenium is not running the US, it's running the world. If we're stupid enough... we'll encourage him to do so. I hope we can differ from the Germans in that we can be smart enough to take pride in what we have - not what we want.

Maybe those conspiracy videos about the Masons can now include Obama as the latest member? Maybe all this Democrat/Republican friction is part of the cover story, as was the Change and Hope, and all that jazz?

Or maybe there's more simplicity to this... such as obstructionists standing in the way of progress in this country?

[JohnSmith2007 353]

Or maybe there's more simplicity to this... such as obstructionists standing in the way of progress in this country?

Or maybe some people have honest objections to the solutions that he is offering and they don't want to go along with it. Who is to say that Obama is offering anything that will progress us to a better place. Some people just don't believe that progress will happen if he is given what he wants. That isn't obstructionists, it is a difference of opinion on the correct way to go. Painting people that disagree as obstructionist is just another form of name calling and marginalizing those of different viewpoints. What you see as obstruction others see as preventing a worse outcome. Unless you are advocating giving the government dictitoral powers then compromise is needed.