Open Thread: Does Obama Want to Be Re-elected?

November 29th, 2011 11:44 AM

Even President Obama's supporters would agree that enthusiasm for his 2012 campaign pales in comparison to the energy generated by his 2008 campaign. The stammering of his campaign has led some to question whether his heart is even in it for re-election, especially after his recent comments on American voters, who he said have "fallen behind" and gotten "lazy."

Do you think Obama is hoping to be re-elected? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

The past three years of Obama's presidency have not turned out to be the hope and change he promised, especially with the downturn in the economy and failed stimulus packages. As he's traveled the county the past few months on campaigns, he has often been disparaging to the very people supposed to be voting for him next fall. According to Joseph Curl in the Washington Times:

...Democrats must spend - spend and spend and spend. It’s in their DNA. Mr. Obama offered a $3.8 trillion budget this year, to be paid for by - $2.1 trillion in revenue (read: your money). He knows that over the next four years, with automatic budget cuts set to take effect and the American people’s rising ire over the profligate spending in Washington, he’s going to have no money to redistribute to the masses.

So, why bother? It’s going to get worse before it gets better. Who needs it? Why preside over a government that, instead of giving everything to everybody free, takes it all away, cuts so deeply that nearly every American will be affected? Especially if you think Americans are lazy, lack ambition - they’ll never rise to the challenge, so why not just bail?

Two Democratic strategists, Patrick Caddell and Douglas Schoen, said “He should abandon his candidacy for re-election in favor of a clear alternative, one capable not only of saving the Democratic Party, but more important, of governing effectively and in a way that preserves the most important of the president’s accomplishments. He should step aside...for the one candidate who would become, by acclamation, the nominee of the Democratic Party: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.”

As reported at NewsBusters, even some of Obama's biggest cheerleaders have begun backing away from him. MSNBC's Chris Matthews recently said "The day he got inaugurated, he sent us all home and said, 'Thank you, now watch how smart I am.' That's the worst kind of a notion of the presidency."

Do you think Obama wants a second term? Will Americans be willing to re-elect him?