Reply #14: But nobody ever seems to want to finish that sentence!

[calimary]

YES, the republi-CONS are a "party of ideas". BAD ONES!!!!!

And that's a problem I had with that Obama interview - why he did not add to his observations a single phrase that would have kept him out of trouble here. Yes, in that time frame they could indeed be considered a party of ideas. BAD IDEAS. Why he did not immediately point to those ideas as being bad, or bad for average Americans, or bad for kitchen-table issues, or longterm security or whatever, I don't know.

In my opinion NO self-respecting Democrat should EVER refer to ronald reagan as doing good things, or even what might be inferred or implied as being good things. You go for the subtle negative here, across the board. You don't slam the old bastard outright so you don't completely alienate those independents and "reagan Democrats" who are now disenchanted and wavering and could be rehabilitated. But you DO, or you SHOULD, point out that those ideas were proven to be divisive, ill-conceived, built on false premises, good for only a select, elite, wealthy few (reclaim the term "elite" and make it apply to a negative on THEIR side) in the short term and horrible for EVERYONE in the long run, or my favorite: perhaps well-intentioned but terribly misguided. Obama, unfortunately, did leave it open to interpretation that he was praising reagan, because he never used words or phrases or even vocal inflections to add a negative spin to it, or an extra overlay of negative meaning. He just left it out there as is. So it reasonably could have been interpreted as Obama giving something of a blessing to that, or acknowledging it, or lending it credibility. If he was trying to damn reagan with faint praise, he left out the damn part. And if you're left with faint praise, it still counts as praise.

AND THAT IS SOMETHING NO DEMOCRAT ALIVE SHOULD EVER EVER EVER EVER DO.

I found that most upsetting. Obama should have known better. Big mistake ever to go there in the first place, ESPECIALLY in a season where the other side is damned near lighting incense to reagan and nominating him for sainthood. The LAST thing anybody on our side should do is even offer the slightest whiff that he's onboard with that. So he goes back, after the fact, and corrects the record (or tries to). Too late. Doesn't help. The first impression stands. The damage has been done.