Here's my hypothetical question for Obama supporters:
It's the summer of 2012, and President Obama is running for reelection. His opponent will again be John McCain -- the Republicans are about to nominate him because he nearly won in 2008.
Unusual for any president (or any politician), Obama has fulfilled every one of his campaign promises -- he did exactly what he said he would.
45,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, along with nearly 100,000 "contractors."
The war in Afghanistan has been greatly escalated, with increased civilian casualties. But it's not going very well -- the Taliban have continued to gain in strength and popular support.
Special Forces incursions deep into Pakistan based on "actionable
intelligence" have unfortunately failed to capture or kill Osama bin Laden. Talks with Iran have failed to end their uranium enrichment program and tensions are high, but Israel has not yet attacked, and the U.S. has not yet blockaded them. Two U.S. carrier battle groups are in the area.
The size of our military has been increased by 100,000 troops, draining
resources from civilian uses. Georgia has been admitted to NATO, committing us to defend them against any attack by Russia.
Our economy recovered from the recession three years earlier, but the Bush
tax cuts remain in place. Offshore drilling has produced some oil, so far
without a major environmental disaster. Telecom companies still enjoy immunity from prosecution for warrantless eavesdropping, and no one really knows the extent of domestic surveillance. There is no national single-payer health insurance.
President Obama has done everything that he said he would, but nothing more.
My question for Obama supporters is -- If these are the circumstances, will
you be supporting his reelection campaign?
An honest, thoughtful, and reflective answer will tell me a lot about how you're thinking about this. This is not the way that I want the world to be, and I just can't understand why anyone would vote for a candidate who shares so few of our values.
intelligence" have unfortunately failed to capture or kill Osama bin Laden. Talks with Iran have failed to end their uranium enrichment program and tensions are high, but Israel has not yet attacked, and the U.S. has not yet blockaded them. Two U.S. carrier battle groups are in the area.
The size of our military has been increased by 100,000 troops, draining
resources from civilian uses. Georgia has been admitted to NATO, committing us to defend them against any attack by Russia.
Our economy recovered from the recession three years earlier, but the Bush
tax cuts remain in place. Offshore drilling has produced some oil, so far
without a major environmental disaster. Telecom companies still enjoy immunity from prosecution for warrantless eavesdropping, and no one really knows the extent of domestic surveillance. There is no national single-payer health insurance.
President Obama has done everything that he said he would, but nothing more.
My question for Obama supporters is -- If these are the circumstances, will
you be supporting his reelection campaign?
An honest, thoughtful, and reflective answer will tell me a lot about how you're thinking about this. This is not the way that I want the world to be, and I just can't understand why anyone would vote for a candidate who shares so few of our values.
*Posted from a VotersforPeace Yahoo! Groups digest email. Doug expressed interest in getting responses from Obama supporters to his question. I will forward responses to him through the Yahoo! Group.
