after the GOP took over congress in '94... Clinton hired Dick Morris and

[scheming daemons]

Began triangulating to the center ... ignoring vociferous protesting by the left as he signed welfare reform, NAFTA, and DOMA. He had already passed DADT and in a few years would sign the repeal of Glass-Steagle and pass the horrible telecommunications act.

Many of the same people relentlessly bashing Obama today consider Clinton to have been a great president, but Clinton was FAR to the right... in both philosophy and accomplishments ... of Obama.

Clinton triangulated to the middle and won reelection easily even with a relatively conservative electorate.

The left held its nose and voted for him, despite all the complaining.

Obama is following the Bubba model.

I said in 2008 that Obama was Clinton without the "bimbo eruptions". And he has been and is.

He'll win easily next year.

[PoliticAverse]

1. Perhaps someone missed the "It's the economy, stupid", that got Clinton elected in the first place.

[deaniac21]

2. Ross Perot didn't hurt either.

[scheming daemons]

5. That's what got Clinton elected in '92.... just like it got Obama elected in '08

Clinton in 1996 was in much the same situation as Obama in 2012.

[tritsofme]

6. They wish they were in the same position.

In the end, this what separates them, unemployment, and makes that strategy incredibly complicated:

Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Annual
1993 7.3 7.1 7.0 7.1 7.1 7.0 6.9 6.8 6.7 6.8 6.6 6.5
1994 6.6 6.6 6.5 6.4 6.1 6.1 6.1 6.0 5.9 5.8 5.6 5.5
1995 5.6 5.4 5.4 5.8 5.6 5.6 5.7 5.7 5.6 5.5 5.6 5.6
1996 5.6 5.5 5.5 5.6 5.6 5.3 5.5 5.1 5.2 5.2 5.4 5.4


Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Annual
2009 7.8 8.2 8.6 8.9 9.4 9.5 9.5 9.7 9.8 10.1 9.9 9.9
2010 9.7 9.7 9.7 9.8 9.6 9.5 9.5 9.6 9.6 9.7 9.8 9.4
2011 9.0 8.9 8.8 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.1

[scheming daemons]

7. You're right that Obama doesn't have the benefit of the dotcom boom that Clinton had

But I meant that they are in much the same situation with respect to the opposition that they face and the strategies they must use to take them on.

[Yavin4]

3. Bubba Had A Telecom Boom At His Back. Obama Does Not.

Bubba was the last president to benefit from massive stimulus spending on tech research prompted by the Soviet threat. The internet (telecom) was a product of defense research into keeping networked computers talking to each other after an invasion or nuke attack.

Since 1981, we've spent government money on tax cuts instead of such tech research, and from the last decade until now, our economy has been moribund.

[leveymg]

4. A number of major differences: #1 - The Economy, Stupid.

Newsflash: mortgage crisis worsening; 2M net jobs lost since 01/09; the Dow is going south again, and we're in 5 wars & 1 in making (Syria).

6 million Mortgages are in default or seriously in arrears, up nearly 10 percent during last year: http://www.housingwire.com/2011/08/16/u-s-mortgage-delinquency-rate-grew-2-4-in-july

4.4 million properties were classified as more than 30 days past due last month, while 1.89 million were listed as more than 90 days past due.

When looking at loans that are either 30 days or more delinquent or in foreclosure, the database has approximately 6.5 million mortgages that fit that criteria.

States with the most delinquent loans included Florida, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey and Illinois, while Montana, Wyoming, Alaska, South Dakota and North Dakota had the fewest non-current loans.

The total U.S. foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate hit 4.11% in July, a 9.7% surge from last year, but a slight o.4% decline from June.

While unemployment rebounded after bottoming out in January '09, jobless recovery leaves more than 2 million net lost jobs (source: BLS):


By this count, Obama's has been a Net-Zero presidency. Bill inherited an economy that was in far better shape, and rode the dot-com bubble before that burst. Let's give Barack this much - he's done a great job of stabilizing a status quo that really, really sucks.