When somebody says they support a politician, what do you think they mean?

[ZombieHorde]

If someone says, "I support Obama," what do you think their support entails?

If someone says, "You need to support Obama," what exactly do you think they want you to do?

[BzaDem]

1. Depends on whether or not this is in an election context.

[ZombieHorde]

2. Let us say there is no election context. nt

[BzaDem]

3. In that case

assuming both people in this conversation voted for Obama, I would say that asking someone to support Obama would be to trust Obama's legislative strategy. While it is Congress that ends up enacting legislation, the President has a large role to play, and his decisions can have a major impact on the legislation. The President is in one of the best positions to know which plans can pass Congress, and which simply can't (despite our large majority). I trust that Obama will try his hardest to achieve the best outcomes possible on his agenda, even if the final product does not have everything I want.

[ZombieHorde]

6. Support is trust. Thanks for the viewpoint. nt

[Sapphocrat]

4. I'll skip question #1, for fear of being banned.

#2 means, to me: "I have so much of myself invested in this guy, I'm going to browbeat anyone who threatens my faith in him, because if I really listened and thought about it, I'd have to ask myself: 'What else might I have been wrong about?' and that would fuck up my entire worldview. So I'm going to force you to prop up my shaky position (and you can tell it's shakier the more I freak out every time you raise a valid criticism of him) through anger, ridicule, slamming you as racist/un-American/uneducated/retarded/anything-else-I-can-think-of-to-make-you-give-up-and-go-away -- 'cause, see, if your criticism were half as thin as I pretend it is, I wouldn't attack you for it. So fucking STOP IT, because I DON'T WANT TO THINK you might be right and I might be WRONG! Lalalalalalalalalalala!"

See also: Cognitive Dissonance.

[ZombieHorde]

7. Support is silencing criticism. Thanks for the viewpoint. nt

[SammyWinstonJack]

8. +1

:thumbsup:

[ZombieHorde]

18. Support is addition. Thank you for sharing your views. nt

[Romberry]

5. Variations on a theme

Q: If someone says, "I support Obama," what do you think their support entails?

A. Mindlessness. Same as people who for eight long years said "I support Bush." Support should be for law, policies and initiatives that you actually approve of, not for the man (or woman) holding the office. A better construction than "I support Obama" would be "I support Obama's policy on..." or "I support Obama's initiative on..." or "I support Obama's push to pass the law on..."

Support should be for actions, not the person. If it's just the person, then it's a cult of personality rather than principle.


Q: If someone says, "You need to support Obama," what exactly do you think they want you to do?

A: Turn off your mind. Get with the program. Stop worrying about policy, law and initiatives. Put your blind trust in the leader. Be led. Don't ask too many questions. Don't complain. A better construction would be "You need to support Obama's push for...", or "You need to support Obama's policy on..." or "You need to support Obama's initiative in...." rather than "You need to support Obama...period."

[ZombieHorde]

9. Mindlessness as support. Thanks for the viewpoint.

"Support should be for actions, not the person. If it's just the person, then it's a cult of personality rather than principle."

I agree with this, but I feel like this is a minority viewpoint.

[Curtland1015]

10. If someone says "The way I phrase my questions is meant to draw out a specific response..."

...what do you think that entails?

:thumbsup:

[ZombieHorde]

11. My phrasing came from other posts.

For example: "I support Obama 100%."

or

"Its time to support Obama or admit defeat."

I found the threads if you need to see them for yourself.

[Hippo_Tron]

12. I take it to mean that they are voting for them in the next election regardless of who is running

[ZombieHorde]

13. What if they said those phrases during a President's second term? nt

[WonderGrunion]

14. For me it means actively defending against baseless attacks

Regardless of where they come from. "Obama = Hitler" is just as bad as "Obama is a homophobe" to me. Both are baseless accusations that rely on demonizing Obama for a believed betrayal of their group.

[ZombieHorde]

15. Support is arguing in favor of the person. Thanks for the viewpoint. nt

[WonderGrunion]

16. It may be a matter of semantics

But defending is not the same as arguing in favor of.

I do not favor Obama's support of corn ethanol (scientifically, there are many, more efficient types of ethanol). I will never argue in favor of supporting his stance on this. If someone else were to decry "Obama's support of corn ethanol shows that he's a corpratist puppet of Monsanto and is forcing Frankenfood on our children", I would leap to Obama's defense. Not because I believe he's right on the issue, but because I feel the attack is unfounded.

I hope I explained that clearly on a (relatively) non-controversial issue.

[ZombieHorde]

17. Correction: Support is defending the person against unfair attacks. Thanks for the explanation. nt

[WonderGrunion]

19. I support this thread.

Handled civilly as it has been, I think it's an important tool to helping understand one another. This shows that even on basic things like "support" we, as Democrats, have many different definitions. Understanding that we all have different viewpoints on things and learning to respect those differences will help to bring us together as a party.

K&R

[ZombieHorde]

22. Thanks. nt

[burning rain]

20. Usually they mean they support the program on which the politician stood for office.

Usually it signifies the speaker's having voted for the politician in question, and the intention to vote for them at the next election. That's a reasonable sort of support I can share. I don't do hero worship--I'll leave that creepy and often authoritarian stuff to right-wingers with their cult of Reagan, for instance.

[ZombieHorde]

21. Support the person is supporting a platform. Thanks for the view. nt

[deep1]

23. I guess you are refering to me..........

It is what it is, SUPPORT. Look up the definition.

You read too deeply into it........moving on

[WonderGrunion]

24. We have half a dozen different definitions from as many posters

I think it's obvious that it does mean different things to different people. I appreciate that we are examining this basic issue in a civil and respectful manner.

[ZombieHorde]

25. Support is what it is. Thanks for the viewpoint. You are correct,

your OP is one of about five threads I was referring to. I read http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8606284&mesg_id=8606284">your OP several times and I liked the body of it, but I am still not exactly sure what you mean by "support." I assume you voted for him, as did I, but I doubt this is what you meant. Since you included the number 100%, perhaps you mean you support all of Pres. Obama's policies. Is this true, do you support all of Pres. Obama's policies, and therefore support him 100%?

I currently believe different DUers have different definitions of the word "support" in the context of supporting a politician, but I am not completely sure about this.