Is Rachel Maddow An "Obama Cheerleader"?

[Motown_Johnny]

Watching her show right now and she just went further than I would (and I am considered an Obama Cheerleader).


She said that it is now halftime for the first term and by her estimation the President has done about 85% of what he wanted to accomplish in the first term.



So, is she a cheerleader or can we say stuff like that here without being considered cheerleaders?

[jaysunb]

1. No

She's an intelligent progressive.

:evilfrown:

[bluestate10]

2. She is a realist.

I wish he would slap republicans more, but as things are, President Obama is having one helluva successful Presidency.

[Tx4obama]

3. Rachel is just telling the truth, and being a proud Democratic American :)

I wish more folks here at DU would post positive OPs regarding President Obama more frequently - I'd read 'em :)

[applegrove]

23. +1

[lame54]

34. I post them when he does something positive...

I post the negative ones too

the ratio of what I post is up to him

85% - bullshit

[boppers]

4. That seems high to me.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/

Lest you not be aware of how much of a cheerleader I am perceived as being, see my sig pic:

[Tx4obama]

12. But she said ....

" ... about 85% of what he wanted to accomplish in the first term ... "

She might have the inside scoop and knows what things he had planned for his first term, compared to his 2nd term :)

Or maybe she meant ' ... of what he wanted to accomplish in THE FIRST HALF of this first term ' --
since she referred to it being 'half-time'. Who knows ;)

[Motown_Johnny]

13. it seems clear that in her opinion he is 85% of the way there at halftime

[bullwinkle428]

5. She sprinkles plenty of intelligent, constructive criticism of the

administration in her commentary on a regular basis, so of course, that's earned her "under the bus" status in the eyes of a few.

Bottom line - the most accurate commentary with regards to Obama & company of anyone on TV.

[RKP5637]

7. +1, n/t

[Motown_Johnny]

8. so as long as we sprinkle in criticism we are not cheerleaders?

I'm down with that



I hate that tie

[malaise]

6. Go Rachel

:yourock:

[DainBramaged]

9. No, simply one of the best JOURNALISTS alive, a National Treasure

[Dokkie]

10. Is there anything wrong for a progressive

commentator to be cheering on a democrat president? I say shes an objective cheerleader. He criticizes the administration when the go wrong and cheers him on when he makes the right move. Just like a real life cheerleader does

[phleshdef]

11. If all of Obama's critics from the left showed the fairness, class and objectivity that Rachel does.

...then we wouldn't be having the rabid, vitriolic divisions that we seem to be having. Rachel criticizes the President when she feels she should, but she does it with maturity.

[Marr]

15. edit

Too snarky.

[COLGATE4]

42. +1

[Marr]

14. Something tells me your summary is less than complete.

I didn't see the clip, but even someone who strongly opposes, say, Obama's version of Healthcare Reform would have to acknowledge that he has worked on an issue he promised to work on.

[Motown_Johnny]

16. feel free to go to her site and watch the segment once it is up

and yes, I was just paraphrasing

and yes, she always qualifies her statements


but claiming that he had accomplished about 85% of what he said he wanted to accomplish in the first term by "halftime" is accurate (though paraphrased)

[Marr]

17. Does that reflect your own feelings? Eighty-five percent accomplished at halftime?

[Motown_Johnny]

19. as I said in my OP, she went further than I would have

and I honestly don't have a checklist of promises he made in '08


So, no. It is not my opinion although it is possible I could be convinced it is accurate if I looked into it.

[The Straight Story]

18. the question should be "is she a partisan"?

In other words - if bush had did X and Obama did X would she give them both praise or scorn over it?

I am a 'cheerleader' for an ideal and principles - from your body, your choice (on more than just one issue) to a whole range of other things. I will cheer when someone helps those ideals along, and call em out when they don't.

[Bandit]

35. If you mean by "partisan" an unapologetic Liberal, then yes she is, but

she does not believe in staying with the Party right or wrong.. She is an issues person. If bush* accomplished something progressive she would gladly give praise where praise was due. By the same token if Obama does something Regressive she calls him on it..Tax cuts for the wealthy is quite regressive and a mainstay of Democratic Principle is Progressive Taxation..:shrug: She is perhaps the best "Pundit" on the air today..

[rucky]

20. He accomplished that much of what he wanted to do.

That doesn't imply it's what we wanted him to do.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

21. She has criticized the president to no end. And so now she wants to be fair

and recount all the good that the Democratic Congress and the president has done, she's an Obamabot, too?

Ridiculous thread!!!

[stray cat]

22. She just is not a DU trained parrot

[ibegurpard]

30. exactly

she's hard on him when he deserves it

[alfredo]

24. It is called positive reinforcement.

[davidthegnome]

25. No

She's just one person. I don't see how her words, actions, or opinions validate or invalidate the opinions of anyone else. To say that Obama has accomplished 85% of what he wanted to accomplish in his first term is simply that - opinion. Maybe she has a big list with a fact sheet showing 100% of what he wanted to accomplish so we can see the remaining 15. I don't know - maybe she is a close confidante of the President's and he revealed to her all he hoped to accomplish during his first term. I'd say it was one person's opinion, nothing more.

Wouldn't call her a Cheerleader though.

[xchrom]

26. I would say she IS a cheer leader for Obama.

She probably wouldn't/doesn't cheer lead for all policies.

And she should do a comparison between campaign speeches
And what was actually pushed for by this white house.

There is some divergence there.

[DemocratAholic]

27. it does seem a little odd

considering she has been quite critical of him in the pretty recent past. seems to me she is very happy about the repeal of DADT, she has forgotten some of her past criticisms. plus, she was in front of an audience.

[mmonk]

28. All major broadcast media considered "left" is on message.

Thought I'd let you know though Ed is still struggling with it (one second he's on and the next, his thoughts take over).

[hfojvt]

29. pretty obvious

that she was cheering at that particular time. There is a time for every purpose under heaven, a time to cheer and a time to cast stones.

Since she is Rachel though, the ultimate human being, clearly she was right in what she did. She knows when to hold 'em and knows when to fold them.

At this point though, I sorta feel that I should run away. Having snarked at the great and powerful Rachel, I have the lifespan of a boy band that crash landed a plan in the parking lot at a Metallica concert.

I do find it curious that apparently 85% of what he wanted to accomplish includes - losing the House to Republicans, continuing the Bush tax cuts for the rich, mandating insurance for everyone, and laying the groundwork for dismantling social security. Not to mention attacks on teachers' unions, 40,000 troops in Iraq and 2,000 casualties in Afghanistan.

But it's sort of typically human too. When the quarterback throws a touchdown pass (ends DADT) some people get a little bit over-exuberant in the celebration, and forget all the intercepts he has thrown that were touchdowns for the other team. And it seems like he has completed 85% of his passes. That may even be true, but within the 15% there are some devastating scores for the other team.

[Motown_Johnny]

33. a reasonable assessment

unfortunately my thinly veiled attempt to justify similar comments by posters here was shredded in that reply

Maybe I should have added a layer about a criticism to praise ratio to distinguish a cheerleader from the rest of the pack.



(interceptions, not intercepts)

[boston bean]

31. no

[demmiblue]

32. What HE wanted to accomplish, not

what Rachel would want him to accomplish.

So, no, I do not think she is being an "Obama Cheerleader."

[Hamlette]

36. Oh please don't say that on DU. DU is not much supportive of those who like Obama

if you are not spending all your time complaining about democrats you are not being a good democrat.

(As evidenced by the non recommends on this thread. Sheesh.)

[ladjf]

37. It might be my imagination but it seems to me that she took a turn

to the "right" at about the time she interviewed John Stewart. Right after that interview she begin to say the Stewart mantra that the extreme right and left wings have mirror views. And now her attitude toward Obama has moved dramatically in his favor.

I still believes she does a good job as a educator of political science issues.

[Romulox]

38. If 2 wars (with endless "supplemental" spending), bankster bailouts, tax cuts for the rich are 85%

of what she wanted as a "liberal", the magic 8 ball would tend to point to "yes". :hi:

[TBF]

39. I agree that Mr. Obama has been very effective at getting things done -

but those things are chiefly benefiting the moneyed class. I put her in that class as well.

[Motown_Johnny]

40. adding link to the segment of Rachel's show I was referring to

to late to edit



http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show/#40774380

[DirkGently]

41. Good faith means calling fair or foul on a case-by-case basis.

[DireStrike]

43. Well if you count healthcare as "Accomplished", it does add a large percentage.

I don't.

[JoseGaspar]

44. She is not only a "cheerleader", but she is not particularly left-wing.

The sharpness of her criticism and her obvious personal talents and integrity help to thoroughly confuse the issue. On the other hand, Ms. Maddow is not the least confused about her own ideology. She is a strong Democrat and "Social Liberal": a near-complete believer in the Civil Religion and the slow-progress-catechism. She is not at all a misnamed "Economic Liberal".

For the most part, so is Mr. Ed, despite his flirtation with Economic Populism. Very few of the Liberal radio hosts were "left-wing" and a few were very conservative (Al Franken comes to mind).

Touch the issues of War, "Our" military, "we are all in it together", "policy", "small business" and the rest... and any illusions about this subject disappear in a heartbeat. The old radicals were somewhat radical. The new ones aren't radical at all... not even in the tradition of FDR.