Would Obama 'Reach Out'?

T

TahoeHorn

1,000+ Posts
Senate.gov

If elected Prez, do you think Obama will "reach out" to Republicans by supporting more bipartisan legislation and acts?

I don't. His platform is partisan. He was one of, if not the, most partisan voters in the Senate. The Roberts confirmation vote seems to me a good indicator of which Dems would (and do) compromise to move government along. Obviously you have to look at a lot but everywhere I look I see a partisan. The Coburn thing is a rare exception. What do you see?
 
It's difficult to ask legitimate questions on this board. Many posters view questions only through the prism of how they think the answers reflect on their issue or candidate.

Let me clue you in on a few things:

1. It isn't a trial.
2. Very few if anybody is going to be convinced of anything.
3. It's a forum to find out what people think and let people know what you think. It isn't much more.
 
I don't understand this line of thinking. The senate votes show what he believes in. This does not show his ability and willingness to compromise. The question is whether he is pragmatic enough to make the compromises required to get things done. He says he is. We will just have to wait and see.
 
I think the Dem majority in Congress coupled with the mandate to get out of Iraq forces him to ignore the Republicans. He gets us out of Iraq and dismantles the domestic spying infrastructure and Gitmo (hell, maybe he gives it back to Cuba). That takes at least a year of hard work.

He gets to year two. The Democrats are on the warpath and want to end the tax cut for the rich to "help the middle class". This resonates because of the recession, so the Republican minority in congress gets streamrolled again. Obama balances the budget and draws comparisons to Clinton's fake surplus.

Obama sees a VERY SLIGHT surplus and wants to use this for his social programs. He also wants to do whatever he can to "keep guns out of the hands of criminals", which is more difficult now that the Second Amendment has been incorporated. He gives FFLs the cold shoulder and plays up whatever gun legislation he can, even if it will be struck down in short order. He throws up a huge universal healthcare package which the Republicans throw their full might against. The Republicans have a better shot of winning concessions here, but I look for them to be run over.

In short, I see Obama stomping on Republicans from day one and never letting up. I seriously doubt that he makes any serious effort to reach out, since his platform is antithetical to everything that the GOP stands for.
 
W has set the bar very low for bi-partisianship, so I think Obama will certainly surpass that mark from what I know of his time in the State legislature. I think he will be a pleasant surprise in that category. I'm afraid Hillary will be more like W because she has so many bitter axes to grind with the other side of the aisle.
 
I don't care which party is in power as long as the policies pursued and implemented are center, or slightly right of center. I don't have much use for either party's fringe elements.

I think it would be great if we could have a President that could put together an effective governing coalition. This has not happened since Reagan when he was able to form a coalition with the Blue Dog Democrats.

I certainly hope Obama is not pushing the idea that there is some kind of surplus to spend if he rolls back some of the Bush tax cuts because that is an entirely false statement. Medicare will go revenue negative in 2010 and Social Security will go revenue negative in 2017.

The entitlement programs as currently structured are unsustainable. Any tax, spending, or program eligibility changes that do not involve the entitlement programs will be as effective as rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
 
"Why would we want to reach out to Republicans? You guys have ****** ideas."

That whole ending slavery thing was a horrible idea, horrible.
 
Too many people on here overestimate the power and impact of the president. We have a congress and Supreme Court for many reasons. One of which is to keep any single person from destroying our country.
 
Tahoe, you're better than this. You know his voting record is no indication of how well he would work with Republicans.
 
if it's a lay-up then why do we need Obama?

Come on challenge me. Give me one issue that Obama can reach across party lines and unite the country. Better care for our vets will get everyone from Buchanan to Jesse Jackson.

Give me one issue that Obama can break a party deadlock
 
TexonLongIsland your dumb "act" is boring me. You are not interested in the answers.

I think Obama will reach out when it's necessary as the POTUS and that was the question presented as the thread topic. I don't have a crystal ball on what those issues will be, but then, you don't really care. I don't know who you are voting for, but you've made it clear it won't be Obama.
 
We won't know anything for sure about Obama's ability to build coalitions until he moves intothe Oval Office.

Many Democrats thought that Jimmy Carter would be an excellent President but he turned out to be an umitigated disaster. He alienated the Congress pretty quickly after gaining office.

Reagan built his coalition by building a strong relationship with Tip O'Neill in the House and after he showed the Democrats that he could count on the Blue Dogs for support to push through bills. The changes that were made to Social Security in the 80's are why we are not in an even bigger financial hole right now. That was the last time that a major entitlement program was reformed.

My fear with an Obama or Clinton Presidency would be that they would get together with Pelosi and Reid and outdo the Republicans on spending money like drunken sailors.
 
"dumb act" ?!?!? We know what the issues are.

I'm asking you to give us one issue ( I won't hold you to it) that Obama could conceivably reach out to Republicans. Your claim is Obama could unite this country.

I'm not an Obama supporter. I want to be educated. If you can't tell me, then it's you playing possum, not me
 
Ok, how about a president that at least ******* did something, at least tried.. to fight back against Muslim extremism...

Look, Bush is a tad liberal for my taste... but at the very least, he tried.
 
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