As much as it galls me to compromise, especially on what I consider core principles

[Bandit]

I think the overriding issue is the unification of America. In this effort I have to give Obama an A+. He has disappointed me on many issues but I am trying to have patience and know things take time. I know there is a segment of America that has a hatred so deep it can never be changed but the very great majority of Americans are not that way. I do not like living in a country that is strongly divided. I believe there are far more things that unite us than there are that divide us and Obama is going to be a key figure in actually uniting the country to a greater degree than it has been for many years. This is the number one goal and it will take compromise and education. As a Liberal I know America will not become exactly the way I think it should, but it will get better. It is going to mean Obama will disappoiont me more than once and I will be vocal about my disappointment but at the same time I will recognize the most important factor. America will become a better country under Obama. Of that I am as certain as I ever have been about anything.

[blm]

1. I think Bush united most of America against HIS presidency much the same way Nixon did...

most of the country agreed Bush's presidency was one of the worst ever, and believed it by the fall of 2006 before any bumperstickers were printed for ANY Dem presidential candidate. So...I understand why you think compromise is needed for unity, but why compromise at a TIME when most of the country agrees that the Bush/GOP policy direction was DEAD WRONG?

And I say this as someone who SUPPORTS the Obama presidency.

[Bandit]

2. You make a good point but Obama is liked as much as Bush* was disliked

And that doesn't come from throwing your weight around..

[blm]

3. The elecorate voted to put Bush policy into REVERSE. They lived it and DIDN'T like it.

You can't drive fast enough away from an oil tanker ready to explode.

[havocmom]

5. Bush policy? What a misnomer! Bush was just the latest front man for war on US

that the GOP/corporations have been wagging since the 60s when workers really made a living wage and the middle class was seeing progress. The real war started with FDR taking care of the naion instead of the very top economic bracket.

The mess we are in has taken DECADES to achieve. That is the real strength of the old GOP. They know it takes time and they build on their successes with the voters. They have been working on this crap since FDR pissed them off and recognized the nation was ALL of us, not just some of us.

Truman really pissed off the racists after FDR and the battle was engaged. Truman gave the GOP the wedge issue with which to build a political empire based on fear and hate.

This is not just a battle to turn back bush 'policy' though that is a good place to start the work. This is a battle to reset the perceptions of Americans and get focused on progress rather than hate and fear. It will take time, sadly. But it will take time and be done in stages, just like how the GOP screwed everything up since before little boots was in diapers.

[havocmom]

4. Bush: "who cares what you think?" Obama is working to engage We The People again

The good professor is giving us lessons in civics and inviting us to paticipate again. He knows we need change in so many areas, but also knows WE have to be out there insisting on change. He can't go it alone; he would be soundly thwarted by the tyranny of the minority (the GOP and their 21%) and their howls of Partisan Politics, using all the hot button wedge issues to start little fires that would take time/energy to put out.

WE have to be engaged. WE have to carry a lot of water if the wedge issue fires are to be kept under control. And, yes, it will take time. It took the GOP/Corporations decades to make things this bad. We are fools if we think all our dreams come true in a short period of time.

Triage. Sadly, it is a fact that Obama has to triage the issues. Build on success turning around the problems most damaging to the most people and we can get MORE liberals elected in each election cycle. THAT is the only way we will make progress on ALL our issues.

I know, I know, too many of us have been denied too long. Yes, it IS unfair to ask some to keep waiting a bit while the economy gets attended to. Hell, I am female. I know about having to put the needs of the whole above the needs of the bunch that STILL aren't seeing equality. But we can't get everything done at once. And the GOP is counting on us tearing our own apart because of impossible time frame demands.

Already seeing much more progress than I thought possible digging America out of the grave the GOP tried to bury it in. Willing to work to help more progress come about. Sad, but mindful that we can't get everything in an instant. This is America, not Burger King. Good things take a bit of time and lots of team effort.

[Fumesucker]

6. And what happened after Nixon?

Exactly four years of a liberal POTUS and then we got Reagan who began a near thirty year slide into the sewer.

Americans have the collective memory of an ADD spider monkey on crack, they will vote the Republicans back in far sooner than the great majority of us will believe.

Honestly, I didn't expect another Republican POTUS for a generation after Nixon, I'm not making that mistake again.

[blm]

8. Sure....except WHY was it possible? Because Carter was a centrist back then and NixonCo wasn't

prosecuted because we were told to "Move on' and scrutiny of the administration's crimes of office was discouraged by the entrenched compromisers.

Whitewash, rinse, repeat with IranContra, S&Ls, Iraqgate, BCCI, CIA drugrunning.....

How has that worked out for our country?

Our party?

The world?

[msongs]

7. maybe it's better to feel good than actually be good eh? nt

[GeorgeGist]

9. I don't see your gall, nor your compromise ...

nor your unity.

[LWolf]

10. I couldn't disagree more.

I see America shifting even further to the right, legitimizing faith-based government, diminishing equal rights, and further disenfranchising the left, labor, and education.

That's dividing, not uniting.

But go ahead; proclaim him the new "uniter."

[leftstreet]

11. Americans aren't doing those things, our Political Inc 'leaders' are

Big difference

[LWolf]

14. That's true.

I know that all of the more moderate, and more conservative people that I work with, that live in my community, are quite often unified.

The only time that seems impossible is when political parties or politicians come into the mix.

[David Zephyr]

12. Why are you so cryptic? Which of your "core principles" are you compromising?

Don't dance around the subject. Be specific.

Otherwise, this gay man just might think that you, being straight, are writing about my civil rights.

"As much as it galls"...what core principles are you writing about?

[verges]

13. For the most part, I agree.

And if Obama can pull unity off, he can still be one of the great Presidents. But, I'm beginning to have my doubts. At least moreso than in November. In compromise, both sides need to give. To me, it looks like the Dems (under Obama's leadership) tend to start negotiations at the compromise point. Take health care for example: Instead of seriously trying for Universal single-payer at the beginning, he goes for a public option (an immediate compromise before negotiations even begin.) Therefore the Repubs ask for more give. It's a basic negotiating tool: Ask for more than you expect!