Question Barack Obama; Is it just me...

[DaGaffer]

...or are everyone's expectations for him waaaaay too high? I was just listening to the radio and that dickhead Bono was banging on about him giving hope for us all blah blah. Now admittedly anything coming out of Bono's mouth should be ignored at all costs anyway, but it seems most people are treating Obama like the Second Coming. Anyone else think that a couple of years from now we're all going to be rather disappointed? Hopefully no-one could actually be worse than Bush, but I for one aren't expecting Obama to break out the loaves and fishes any time soon.

 

[old.Tohtori]

Expectations are high for one reason, he's the first black person.

Anyone saying otherwise...well...they do

 

[dysfunction]

I think he is being over hyped but I suppose thats because Bush has been a huge dissapointment to everyone in the US...

And his main campaign was one of hope and so perhaps he has brainwashed the public already!

 

[Wij]

How can you campaign on the basis of hope? I'd want policies not crossed-fingers.

 

[Dark Orb Choir]

give the guy a chance, he can't be as bad as Bush and his cronies, at least he is trying to portray a positive message for the future in a fucked up present day.

 

[DaGaffer]

give the guy a chance, he can't be as bad as Bush and his cronies, at least he is trying to portray a positive message for the future in a fucked up present day.

Yeah, but to paraphrase from a previous US election, "where's the beef?" Talking about "hope" and "change", and being black don't really seem to be much to go on. And I'm not really talking about giving him a chance; every new President deserves that; I'm talking about the weight of expectation that commentators and most of the public (especially outside the US), have for him.

 

[rynnor]

He seems to be modelled on JFK - I wonder if he will share the same fate?

I think it would be difficult for him to actually live up to the hype but good luck to him - he ticks the not bush box which is a good start

 

[throdgrain]

I tink it is cos he is black.

 

[throdgrain]

(Ish)

 

[00dave]

he ticks the not bush box which is a good start

same way whoever we vote for in our next election will tick the not Brown box.

 

[Cadelin]

I think we need to distinguish between the expectations of the rest of the world and of America.

Obama got 52.9% of the US public vote compared to 45.7% for McCain. I am sure there are some Americans with far too high expectations for him but there is a large fraction of the US that didn't vote for him. In terms of domestic policies he probably won't be all that different from any other candidate and it won't really affect the rest of the world.

However when it comes to foreign policy, Obama demonstrated to the rest of the world that he actually might care about them. That his first priority might not be his immediate popularity in the US. Foreign policy does involve somewhat reacting to situations and I do have confidence that there is somebody an awful lot better in charge.

 

[Trem]

Am I the only one who thinks he got in because the black presidents on 24 were quite good?

 

[old.Tohtori]

Am I the only one who thinks he got in because the black presidents on 24 were quite good?

I'm not at all surprised that would be a reason

 

[Overdriven]

He seems to be modelled on JFK - I wonder if he will share the same fate?

OOC: You know if that happened there'd be a caption with "BOOM! HEADSHOT" written all over it..

IC: Hopefully he'll be able to make one or two things actually happen, nothing but time will tell. Hey, general consensus.. He's better than Bush already. (Heh, imagine if he turned out to be worse?)

 

[Mabs]

Am I the only one who thinks he got in because the black presidents on 24 were quite good?

jimmy smitz' character in the west wing was based on obama

/triv

 

[Macey]

The hype has to be down mainly to the fact that hes the first president that has run a campaign based on the world as a whole rather than just America, it sends good messages out that the American's might actually be about to change a little bit and recognise that there is a whole world out there, rather than just the 50 states.

As for whether he can do it...I suspect there will be a slight U-turn when he takes power as I cant imagine a US president staying in power for long if he is seen to be doing more about foreign policy than domestic, especially with the recession in full swing. If he does stick to his guns, then I imagine he will be assassinated by an extreme US "patriot" before he manages to do anything really meaningful...

 

[Raven]

How can you campaign on the basis of hope? I'd want policies not crossed-fingers.

They are Americans...

 

[Ch3tan]

I don't see any ruler do better than Clinton for a long time, but Obama cannot be any worse than Bush. But I agree, the hype around him is ridiculous.

 

[Dark Orb Choir]

well, as Ambrose Bierce once said

"war is God's way of teaching Americans geography"

 

[00dave]

well, as Ambrose Bierce once said

"war is God's way of teaching Americans geography"

Ha ha that is so disturbingly true, apart from the god part.

 

[Macey]

I imagine if you asked most Americans to place Iraq on a globe they would still put it in Europe somewhere rather than the middle east though...

 

[Sharma]

Think that sums it up.

 

[xane]

However when it comes to foreign policy, Obama demonstrated to the rest of the world that he actually might care about them.

Nice thought, but they've been burning his picture in Tehran already, a week before he takes office.

 

[mr.Blacky]

Obama will be worse then Bush junior.

So far the main thing he has said was that he was for change..
changing what to what??
Change should not be done for the sake of change -- it's a strategy to accomplish some overall goal. And the big question is what is Obama's goal? is it something the world can live with?

 

[RandomBastard]

changing what to what??

America... Fuck Yeah... Here to save the mother fucking day yeah!
to
Obama... Fuck Yeah... Here to save the mother fucking political view of america yeah!

Valmorphorising for the win!

 

[Cadelin]

Nice thought, but they've been burning his picture in Tehran already, a week before he takes office.

You will always be able to find a few people that hate anything. We can't say for sure but the size of those protests would probably have been much larger for McCain.

 

[xane]

You will always be able to find a few people that hate anything.

I rather think it goes beyond that.

America is hated because of what it stands for; it's unwavering support of capitalism and the free market is one big gripe for many proto-communists around the world, and the "interference" America extends by it's global policy is despised, particularly by those up and coming little tyrants America and the West oppose rather than support.

Whoever is President makes very little difference in foreign policy.

 

[Cyradix]

They seem to love him so much right now that we could bottle his farts and sell it as perfume...
Expectations are so high... he just can't live up to it all imo

 

[Macey]

The whole thing is just a joke tbh, there is no dignity whatsoever in the entire process. The election campaign was ridiculous, more like a vanity faire than a process for nominating someone to run the most powerful country in the world. And now the inauguration ceremony is like some hollywood award nonsense with a pop concert thrown in for good measure...

British politics never looked so appealing to me tbh.

 

[SawTooTH]

He seems to be able to speak in sentences. That's a dramatic improvement.

All we've had so far is his rather preachy rhetoric so I'm in "wait and see" mode. I remember thinking Clinton was a "good" guy until I read how many people died as a result of his foreign policies in the middle east.

I think the Democrats have gone to war far more often than the Republicans?