Obama is a celebrity

[ygetoff]

So okay judging what some of you have written already you either voted for Obama because A.) He is black (Yes I have people told me this was the only reason and have regretted this) or B.) Because you hate Bush.

So apparently, so long as he is not Bush you're okay with it? I didn't like Bush either, but we had worse presidents in our history. We had FDR who drove America into a great depression, and then we had JFK who actually went to war with Cuba giving Castro $54 million dollars and Vietnam, losing both wars. The only thing people remember from JFK was that he was shot in the head. I have asked people about JFK and that is all they remember about it. Pity.

To be honest, Obama to me is not doing well at the moment. We are in a recession and yet he spends 100 million dollars on his inauguration...more than any other president has done? We could have took 90 million of that to every person in America, but it was spent on an inauguration that wasn't even that good. I got bored after the first 5 minutes. I want my money back for that.

Don't get me wrong, I hate McCain as well, but for all the bullshit Obama kept spewing I had better see results. I mean, 3 hours after the inauguration I didn't get my check in the mail. I still in debt with car payments and my job still sucks with the pay. (No, this has nothing to do with him being black before anyone says anything. I have plenty of black friends who feel the same way.)

Where is the change he promised? I want the change to happen right now.

In essence we are screwed no matter who gets to be president and that is how it is for all recent elections since Clinton. The only difference is who is going to stab you in the back the least.

The only question I have for everyone is: If Obama screws up more than Bush, will you still say he was the greatest president we ever had? Remember that a president cannot just wave a magic wand and make all the problems go away.

Oh and BTW, Obama won with 52% of the votes so not everyone likes Obama.

Actually FDR got us OUT of the Great Depression.
And it's really not realistic to think that one man can save the economy in 3 hours.
And he actually did deliver one some of his campaign promises, on his first day in office he moved to close Guantanamo Bay and he signed an executive order limiting the influence of lobbyists and making government more transparent.
Plus, why is it that your "worst presidents" list is all democrats, one of which (FDR) you are completely wrong about, and the other, with whom you are completely undervaluing his contributions? What about the other bad presidents?

 

[ygetoff]

I wanna start off by saying that in this previous election I wasn't stoked on either candidate
But Obama was elected as a celebrity not a president...
People were excited for a African American president who looked good and was a great public speaker and that's why (I believe) most people voted for him
I don't think most people realize how very little experience he has
I don't pretend to know everything about politics but I do know that he is becoming a celebrity
He has his own action figure and I believe his daughters are going to appear on Hannah Montana
It seems like he's two steps away from getting a reality show in the white house
I just think that we need a president in the white house not a celebrity
Am I the only one who feels like this?

Pretty much.
His race also played a factor in that Blacks voted for him cause he was black....and so did a lot of other races (including white)
I had people tell me that since every other president was a WASP, that he deserved it. That whole "change" bullshit. Nothing but Racism.
Infact, he didnt even win by that much. If McCain had a better VP, he would of won, hands down.

You really have no evidence supporting your "he was voted for because he was black."
If that is true though, how come Hillary Clinton isn't president right now? Wouldn't people have voted for her because she's a woman?
And Obama won by around 52% of the popular vote, which is a pretty large margin. I don't think that the addition of black voters to his side would have made such a huge difference.
Plus there's the fact that Obama managed to win in a few traditionally red states, meaning that he actually had appeal to republicans, enough to change their minds.
EDIT: sorry for double post

 

[Jack_the_Knife]

Obviously take whatever I say with a grain of salt, if the FDR avatar doesn't clue you in. Also, being a resident of Illinois, I've had the privilege of being able to support Obama's US Senate campaign as well.

I don't know why you're all so shocked that "African-Americans"(as their demographic in most polls would be labeled as) voted for a Democrat, regardless of his race. I'm getting this whole, "Jesus christ, it's a realigning election!" vibe from this thread.

Besides the whole "Good-looking, charismatic, embodiment of our hopes and dreams, wielding promises to make them a reality with a non-threatening partner(either: wife or Joe Biden)" thing the President has going for him, he does have a healthy dose of pragmatism, as well as a little over a decade's experience in legislation.
Other reasons people voted for him in a nutshell:

1)Welfare reform
2)Healthcare reform
3)Promised to do something responsible about the cornucopia of wars the U.S. is involved in(end them)
4)Investment in alternative energy sources
5)McCain pretty much repeatedly shot himself in the foot(feet?) with
a) Choosing Sarah Palin as his nominee, after frequent attacks on his presidential rival for supposed inexperience
b) The war-prolonging thing
c) Voting frequently with Bush
d) Outdated "opponent is a closet-commie"/21st century equivalent attacks
e) His ads [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mopkn0lPzM8] (For all of you with political ambition, when it comes to ads, don't make your rival look awesome)


As to his international popularity, besides him being a "not old white guy", he does share a name with a town(city?) in Japan and his promotion of diplomacy and attempt to heal foreign relations did him some good, and it does us Americans some good, since we tend to get a lot of flak for...you know...Bush.

Also, don't forget that much of the inauguration funds come from private donations.

 

[DethFan666]

Hopefully he can fix our terrible economy.

 

[GloatingSwine]

I don't think most people realize how very little experience he has

More than you'd think, since he comes from Illinois, and the Illinois senate bears no small resemblance to a scorpion pit.

Seriously, if he wasn't a spectacularly politically capable person, he would have been minced there.