The Audacity of Hopelessness

[DeacMan]

You can't be seriously saying Reagan was treated anywhere as badly as Obama. Reagan was lionized far more than he was attacked. Obama was called a Muslim, not an American, a monkey and more.

Reagan early in his tenure. Holy shit, RJ - he was treated way worse than Obama was when Obama entered office. The guy barely won in 1980. He was portrayed as a loose cannon who'd crater the economy further and drive us all to WWIII. So despite inflation being in the mid-teens, the unemployment rate being high, the "misery index" (recall that term?) being well into the 20's, the sense the Russians were kicking our ass around the world and the Iranians holding hostages, it was only a few weeks before the election that things broke his way and Carter was ousted.

Once he was in office that perception of him and the criticisms of him remained very much in place for a couple of years because the economy only improved initially in dribs and drabs. It was only as the recovery picked up steam mid-way through his first term that he started to become "lionized".

 

[PhDeac]

Reagan early in his tenure. Holy shit, RJ - he was treated way worse than Obama was when Obama entered office. The guy barely won in 1980. He was portrayed as a loose cannon who'd crater the economy further and drive us all to WWIII. So despite inflation being in the mid-teens, the unemployment rate being high, the "misery index" (recall that term?) being well into the 20's, the sense the Russians were kicking our ass around the world and the Iranians holding hostages, it was only a few weeks before the election that things broke his way and Carter was ousted.

Once he was in office that perception of him and the criticisms of him remained very much in place for a couple of years because the economy only improved initially in dribs and drabs. It was only as the recovery picked up steam mid-way through his first term that he started to become "lionized".

4 year old me remembers the election maps. Lil' Ph liked Carter a lot. Reagan won by 8.5 million votes and got over 50%.

 

[jhmd2000]

You can't be seriously saying Reagan was treated anywhere as badly as Obama. Reagan was lionized far more than he was attacked. Obama was called a Muslim, not an American, a monkey and more.

Reagan was the subject of an assassination attempt.

You know, you don't have to post every thought that comes to you.

 

[Deacfreak07]

4 year old me remembers the election maps. Lil' Ph liked Carter a lot. Reagan won by 8.5 million votes and got over 50%.

Lol

 

[TownieDeac]

Reagan was the subject of an assassination attempt.

You know, you don't have to post every thought that comes to you.

Hardly political though, right? Wasn't it just some lunatic who was convinced it would help him score with Jodie Foster?

 

[DeacMan]

Hardly political though, right? Wasn't it just some lunatic who was convinced it would help him score with Jodie Foster?

Yeah, generally agreed. I don't recall that being portrayed as politically motivated.

 

[jhmd2000]

Hardly political though, right? Wasn't it just some lunatic who was convinced it would help him score with Jodie Foster?

I'm just driving an eighteen wheeler through the holes in the hyperbole from the Usual Suspect.

 

[DeacMan]

4 year old me remembers the election maps. Lil' Ph liked Carter a lot. Reagan won by 8.5 million votes and got over 50%.

Yeah, and the election broke for him late in the game. When you consider the shit show that was our economy (never mind the hostage crisis), Carter should have been much easier pickings.

Reagan ended 1982 with a 40% approval rating. By January 1983 it was 35%. Hardly someone who was "lionized" at that time.

By election day of 1984 it had risen to about 60%. By 1986 it was over 70%. Scandal rocked him afterward but he rebounded to over 60% when he left office.

 

[RJKarl]

But Reagan's citizenship wasn't challenged, nor his loyalty to America, n or his faith, nor was he attacked with disgraceful racial terms. There's no way to compare the personal and professional attacks on Reagan to those against Obama and his wife. It's not even in the same universe, much less same ballpark.

 

[DeacMan]

But Reagan's citizenship wasn't challenged, nor his loyalty to America, n or his faith, nor was he attacked with disgraceful racial terms. There's no way to compare the personal and professional attacks on Reagan to those against Obama and his wife. It's not even in the same universe, much less same ballpark.

Dude, Obama came in to power riding a huge wave of positive emotion. He entered office with a 66% approval rating. His speeches were filling football stadiums. The guy was flat out epic when he entered office. Reagan entered office with a 51% approval rating. The contrast early in their tenures was stark. That's my point. I have no idea how you can claim Obama was not immensely popular - because he was. Nor did Obama's approval rating ever dip below 40%. All of this is per Gallup.

I honestly don't get your point. So you're upset there are some a-holes who talk mean about the President and some of them act like complete dickwads? OK. Point conceded. Reagan was called all sundry of things by those who opposed him. It may not have been racially charged, but he was flat out hated early in his tenure by many. People were pissed.

Obama has faired pretty darn well relative to most POTUS' in terms of general approval ratings. He has the highest low water mark in terms of approval ratings from Truman forward other thank Ike and Kennedy. And, frankly, Kennedy wasn't around long enough to test a real low water mark. Truman dipped down to 23%, Johnson 35%, Nixon 24%, Ford 37%, Carter 29%, Reagan 35%, Bush I 29%, Clinton 36%, Bush II 25%.

 

[Strickland33]

Yeah, and the election broke for him late in the game. When you consider the shit show that was our economy (never mind the hostage crisis), Carter should have been much easier pickings.

Reagan ended 1982 with a 40% approval rating. By January 1983 it was 35%. Hardly someone who was "lionized" at that time.

By election day of 1984 it had risen to about 60%. By 1986 it was over 70%. Scandal rocked him afterward but he rebounded to over 60% when he left office.

Take the L, DeacMan.

ETA: Mass culture was also much different in the age of Reagan. Talk radio, cable news, podcasts, twitter, fake news, etc. would've been brutal to the man if they existed to the same extent, sure, but they didn't, so I'm not sure what point you're trying to prove. The Obamas have been the classiest family to occupy the White House in my lifetime and the right has absolutely destroyed them for no apparent reason outside of the fact that racist caricatures are an easy proxy for misdirected hostility and insecurity.

 

[RJKarl]

Dude, Obama came in to power riding a huge wave of positive emotion. He entered office with a 66% approval rating. His speeches were filling football stadiums. The guy was flat out epic when he entered office. Reagan entered office with a 51% approval rating. The contrast early in their tenures was stark. That's my point. I have no idea how you can claim Obama was not immensely popular - because he was. Nor did Obama's approval rating ever dip below 40%. All of this is per Gallup.

I honestly don't get your point. So you're upset there are some a-holes who talk mean about the President and some of them act like complete dickwads? OK. Point conceded. Reagan was all called all sundry of things by those who opposed him. It may not have been racially charged, but he was flat out hated early in his tenure by many. People were pissed.

Obama has faired pretty darn well relative to most POTUS' in terms of general approval ratings. He has the highest low water mark in terms of approval ratings from Truman forward other thank Ike and Kennedy. And, frankly, Kennedy wasn't around long enough to test a real low water mark. Truman dipped down to 23%, Johnson 35%, Nixon 24%, Ford 37%, Carter 29%, Reagan 35%, Bush I 29%, Clinton 36%, Bush II 25%.

As Strickland says, take the L. It's not even close.

 

[Deacfreak07]

Yeah, and the election broke for him late in the game. When you consider the shit show that was our economy (never mind the hostage crisis), Carter should have been much easier pickings.

Reagan ended 1982 with a 40% approval rating. By January 1983 it was 35%. Hardly someone who was "lionized" at that time.

By election day of 1984 it had risen to about 60%. By 1986 it was over 70%. Scandal rocked him afterward but he rebounded to over 60% when he left office.

Lol

 

[DeacMan]

Lol

Spoken like someone who wasn't even breathing in 1980.

 

[DeacMan]

Take the L, DeacMan.

ETA: Mass culture was also much different in the age of Reagan. Talk radio, cable news, podcasts, twitter, fake news, etc. would've been brutal to the man if they existed to the same extent, sure, but they didn't, so I'm not sure what point you're trying to prove. The Obamas have been the classiest family to occupy the White House in my lifetime and the right has absolutely destroyed them for no apparent reason outside of the fact that racist caricatures are an easy proxy for misdirected hostility and insecurity.

I'm not taking an L. Name a President that has not been savaged by some portion of the population. You can't. Overall Obama has faired well in terms of being "liked".

 

[Shooshmoo]

Spoken like someone who wasn't even breathing in 1980.

If only there were things with words in them or moving picture machines that could allow someone who was not alive or was very young during a certain time period to learn something about that time period. Oh well, guess we will just rely solely on your 40 year old memory!

 

[PhDeac]

If only there were things with words in them or moving picture machines that could allow someone who was not alive or was very young during a certain time period to learn something about that time period. Oh well, guess we will just rely solely on your 40 year old memory!

I'm 40. DeacMan must be much older than that to mock me for my youth.

 

[Strickland33]

I'm not taking an L. Name a President that has not been savaged by some portion of the population. You can't. Overall Obama has faired well in terms of being "liked".

I'm saying that modern media and mass culture make it easier to anonymously "savage" a president than at any other time in history. I remember the Clinton and GW presidencies, both were "savaged" by partisans and in popular culture, and it's still not even close. It seems like most people liked GHW, but that's before my time.

Perhaps Reagan had it worse, but I find that hard to believe. For one, he was white.

ETA: and you sound a lot like a poster that you mock fairly often right now. Take the L, man.

 

[cville deac]

I think Deacman is probably correct that Obama probably rode higher popularity numbers when he entered the WH, and he's correct that that election was very close until the last week. About a week out hit the 1 year anniversary of the Iranian hostage crisis, and even though Reagan frightened a lot of folks at the time, the voting broke his way big time in that last week - folks just wanted a change. That said, the atmospheres in DC were very different in the 80s than they were the last 8 years. The Dems had congress in the 80s, but at the end of the day, Reagan and Tip O'Neill would get things done. Reagan didn't face the massive resistance to literally everything he wanted to do that Obama has. Given that hostility, it's impressive that Obama's favorability numbers have meandered to north of 50%. (Although I believe part of the reason for the positive numbers is the horrific slate of candidates that both parties had this time around.)

 

[jhmd2000]

I'm not taking an L. Name a President that has not been savaged by some portion of the population. You can't. Overall Obama has faired well in terms of being "liked".

Obama received the Nobel Prize on potential before he even broke a sweat in office. Abraham Lincoln had to sneak into town disguised as a woman in a midnight train ride to avoid assassination just to get inaugurated. It didn't really work.

All Presidents have opposition.