Frank Rich: Obama Election Strategy Must Focus On 'People Like You'

The New York Times:

...what could give the Democrats even a slender reed of hope? If there's any plausible answer, it can be drawn from the single poll finding that is most devastating for Obama, the question (as worded by The Washington Post/ABC News) of whether "he understands the problems of people like you." There his numbers really have imploded.

Read the whole story: The New York Times

Comments

[Tackora]

10:44 AM on 09/14/2010

Read these two "Is Obama punking us?" articles from over a year ago and think about it:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/04/AR2009080402787.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/opinion/09rich.html

[mothertucker]

12:34 AM on 09/14/2010

You need to ask yourself - if you believe as I that our country has been taken over by monsters who condone torture and killing of innocent civilians and in fact encourage our troops to do such things (and then cover up horrendous crimes by excusing soldiers from court martial even though they've been caught red handed on tape), their raping and dismembering of woman and children accompanied by screams of false bravado "It's War Baby"... yes you have to wonder why any true American who loves and respects our country's founding principles, would consciously choose to vote in this up coming mid-term election for anyone who supports the biggest baddest republican of them all... OBAMA?

Signed: a 68 - 69 US Army veteran

[mcmutter]

08:41 AM on 09/14/2010

paid ad by the RNC ....

[layla1]

07:41 AM on 09/13/2010

"People like me" have lost their jobs, their homes and belief in the American system while President Obama had people like Jamie Dimon, President of JP Morgan Chase, bonus last year of 17 million, (because he is a really smart guy, says Mr. Obama to lunch). "People like me"-- will be looking for another candidate to represent our interests. President Obama does not know us although we worked hard for his election.

[MrOctober]

12:29 PM on 09/13/2010

There's plenty of smart, hard working people who lost their jobs, Obama confuses Jamie Dimon's sociopathic desire to make money, even profitting off of Food Stamps to the poor, as 'business savvy'.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Economy/story?id=7452561

Read that article , for a start, JP Morgan employs Indian workers as it's Food Stamp phone reps, to make sure it squeeezes every last nickel of profit from a program that is supposed to be for the good of American Citizens.

[mashtoe]

11:41 PM on 09/12/2010

Obama will likely put on an act. But it's just an act for fools which is what he thinks we are. But we know he voted for TARP and he expanded it massively with PPIP, GM bailouts (which just help GM offshore more jobs to China), GMAC( hardly covered by the media), and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ( again one big change Obama has made is that these bailouts are stealth now).

But Obama made sure all the same old anti-American worker regulations are still in FULL effect: H-1b, NAFTA, banking deregulation( the Democrats passed a big joke of a regulation that is worthless, leave Glass-Steagall still dead), and the Democrats favorite job and wage killer, free trade with slave labor China.

[meko]

11:24 PM on 09/12/2010

Republicans run as the party of the rich. The Democrats run as the party of the people. They both govern as the party of the rich, because that where the donor money and post-office jobs are.

The problem for Democrats is that every once in a while they are held accountable and voters won't play the game of giving the sellout legitimacy by showing up to vote for more of it. They might not vote for the Republicans who say straight out that they're going to shaft people who work for a living, but they're not going to go out of their way to support those who claim to care about the people right before they shaft us.

[StellaRay]

11:14 PM on 09/12/2010

I've tried three times today to post a perfectly reasonable response to this article and the comments I have read. Of course it's not the first time, and I usually shrug it. But I put a lot of time and care into my posts, and I follow the rules. I have been a long time supporter and believer in this site. Still, I was deleted again. So go ahead, make my words disappear yet one more time. But I'm hoping that someone here reads before they scrub. I'm hoping that someone here realizes that you have nothing to gain by discouraging those who respect the rules here, and keep trying to contribute in a civil way. What up with you guys? You make me want to run far from here and find a more open and free place.

[xilduq]

10:23 PM on 09/12/2010

"Obama must also call out the powerful interests who are pulling the G.O.P.’s strings (and filling its coffers), whether on Wall Street or in Big Oil or any other sector where special interests are aligned against reform in the public interest."

again, What the kcuf ??? as if the same entities pulling the GOPs strings aren't the same entities pulling the Democrat strings and filling their coffers!

$ave the Rich: Vote D or R!!

[MrOctober]

10:58 PM on 09/12/2010

Fanned.

[xilduq]

10:16 PM on 09/12/2010

"Geithner, a longtime public servant who never worked at an investment bank"

get OVER it! Geithner was a "public servant" when he was head of the NY Fed???

are you effing kidding me??? seriously?

the NY Fed operates at the behest of Goldman Sachs and the rest of Wall St, not at the behest of the American public!!

[MrOctober]

10:58 PM on 09/12/2010

It's a joke. Geithner is a Wall Street insider. People like Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMogan who had no idea housing prices could ever go down, are on the Board of Directors at Geithner's previous job at the NYFed.

[RighteousNotRightWing]

10:05 PM on 09/12/2010

Well said, Mr Rich. Basically, Obama has shown himself to be a misguided pu**y. Instead of handling health care insurance reform, he should have focused on attacking those powerful interests and creating opportunity for the people losing jobs, homes, etc.

[meko]

11:34 PM on 09/12/2010

He wasn't weak. He was a sellout.

[mashtoe]

11:53 PM on 09/12/2010

That is the question I have. Is Obama a coward or just a great liar? I think it's the former. Can't wait to read the tell books that come out at the end of his Presidency in 2012.

[ArchAngel]

12:43 AM on 09/13/2010

Not a weak or a sellout; Obama is an intentional con artist.

[jazzman]

09:28 PM on 09/12/2010

Rich gives spot on advice to Obama regarding what he needs to do to stir up his base and win back many disaffected independents. The question is: Will Obama read it and will he heed it. I hope for his sake and ours that he does.

[Scentedflower]

08:01 PM on 09/12/2010

Obama cares for me, my friends, my community, the nation and for the world.
Thats good enough for me.

[wayoutleft]

06:55 PM on 09/12/2010

People in Washington are frustrated and confused. They cling to their simple faith in Keynes, antique furniture, and arugula.

[ArchAngel]

08:05 PM on 09/12/2010

And don't forget - lattes.

[mixdirections]

05:52 PM on 09/12/2010

Well, he may know the right wing. God knows he spends enough time trying to get them to like him (fool), but over here on the professional left it's another story. As far as I can tell, Obama doesn't know any of us.

[Ironquill]

05:29 PM on 09/12/2010

As much as I admire and support Obama he does have a blind spot with respect to the small business person. Otherwise he never would have selected Geithner.

I'm not talking about his policies, which I like. I'm talking about one-to-one relating.

I am a country boy who made it into the Ivy League. I've lived on both coasts and in between. I own a small business. There is not one side of me which likes Geithner in his current post. He is a poster boy for an Eastern snob and a Wall St. "type".

Geithner's are mostly sins of omission. With his demeanor he could never be on a footing with a guy who has to grapple daily with short falls in cash, customers who don't ' pay on time, employees who always have one issue or another, all while he manages the business and nurtures key customers.

Unfortunately, because Geithner obviously can't relate to a hustling small businessman, it puts an extra burden on Obama to do so, which he doesn't seem to be effective at either..

[ibivi]

08:53 PM on 09/12/2010

Yes sir, I'm sure he doesn't. Obama unfortunately takes the advice he is given and you have to look at who does the advising. BP advised him on their spill and he let them proceed with the clean-up on their terms until it was obvious that they were playing games. Do you know that the Federal Reserve does not answer to the president? Do you know that they can refuse subpoenas? Anyway, he ends up having to select guys like Geithner because he needs someone who understands those big-money corporate types. Obama, is not a business person. He's a professor. But still he is more progressive than any other president and that means a lot to me. People need to be a little more patient. He has greatness in him. Hey, look at Bush the man was hopless but he got re-elected. Take care.

[Willow207]

11:35 PM on 09/12/2010

Agreed!
It took Bush 8 years to bring the country to the brink, and if anyone thinks Obama can bring that back in just over one year...well look up the phone number of your local shrink, make an appointment and seek an assessment for delusional thinking!

In the real world, which many of us exist in, none of the problems facing middle class Amerca will be resolved in months, and not even a few years...this will take decades to turn around what "W" did.

The only ones who I hear complaining at high pitch about Obama, are the same ones who have crawled into their dens of denial, hoping the rest of us won't remember....Remember, as in Denial is not a river in Egypt, it is the republican mentality......

[rory talbot]

05:24 PM on 09/12/2010

The lesser-of-two evils? Wrong! They are the SAME EVIL. I'm not voting for Dems. Yes, I know the Repubs will hurry along corporatism, but Obama either tacitly supported or actively enacted such policies anyway. At least I won't have to go to bed angry every night knowing the guy I voted for sold me down the river.

[Douvie]

06:53 PM on 09/12/2010

No, Boehner and McConnell will have that little task well under control.

[ArchAngel]

08:23 PM on 09/12/2010

Perfectly said.