Via HotAir.com, here is President Obama’s 17-minute campaign documentary, “The Road We’ve Traveled.”
It’s slickly produced, as one might expect, but I found it to be on balance ineffective. For one thing, it’s probably worth pointing out that Obama’s predecessor had a large role in what the Obama campaign claims are its greatest successes, from TARP to the auto bailout to killing Osama bin Laden.
For another, some of the claims in the documentary are (unintentionally) amusing, including that Obama, upon taking office, “would not dwell in blame.”
If there is one consistent theme to the Obama presidency, it’s that he’s sought to blame his failures on others: George W. Bush, earthquakes, tsunamis, Europe, the Arab Spring, ATMs, Wall Street, Republicans, the Tea Party, Fox News, millioinaires, billionaires, conservative talk radio, and so forth and so on.
There are also references to Obama’s willingness to make “tough decisions” and “face crises that others would avoid” (presumably the producers have in mind Obama’s refusal to confront our entitlement crisis, which is fueling our debt crisis, and to fiercely attack those who do). The documentary claims Obama has brought the Iraq war to a “responsible end” (the American withdrawal from Iraq was mishandled and threatens to undo the progress that had been made).
Yet I came away from watching this documentary thinking if this is the best they can do, the president’s opponent in the fall should be encouraged.
The main emotion the producers of “The Road We’ve Traveled” are hoping to tap into is pity. We’re told Obama inherited the worst economy since the Great Depression (Ronald Reagan actually inherited a sicker economy than Obama did) and took steps that prevented the ship from hitting the rocks. In fact, though I realize this isn’t supposed to be said in polite company, it was George W. Bush who did the heaviest lifting when it came to taking emergency measures that kept the economy from collapsing and credit from freezing.
What’s most striking, though, is how little Obama has to show for his efforts. The documentary focuses almost exclusively on inputs, not outputs; on legislation passed, not successes attained; on narrative, not empirical progress.
In the film we don’t hear anything about the deficit or the debt, the unemployment rate, economic growth, our standard of living, the housing crisis, bending the health care cost curve down, poverty, America’s credit rating, et cetera. That is because on these crucial measures, Obama has no story to tell, no successes to cite, nothing to look back to with pride or forward to with hope.
Obama’s tenure has been, by any reasonable standard, a failure. Not even a Tom Hanks-narrated documentary can change that.
The documentary is what it should be – an Accurate portrayal for all the world to see of Obama's Complete and Total LACK OF CHARACTER. ON DISPLAY. n nDoing nothing but providing a Perfect Foil for the most bombastic display of his utter Narcissistic Sociopathic Egomania. n nIn History, there are no Citizenship papers, no Birth Certificate, no Passports, or Legitimate Selective Service records or School and University records, documents of his Law License and his surrender of same – but he has provided the most fitting tribute to himself in this bombastic FANTASY ON FILM!
Imagine the amount of money poured into this advertising film – that amount of money could not buy him LEGITIMATE DOCUMENTS or COMPETENT FORGERIES OF SAME!
You can put glittery lipstick on a pig; but it still remains a pig!
I have hope that…. 2010 was a warm up for 2012. When democrats lose the Senate and the White House n nThe impersonator in Chief, is a glaring example of how incompetence, and a radical past, only leads to people hoping they have change in their pockets. This is what happens when a junior Senator from Chicago, who voted 'present' takes control of the American dream. n nI heard a film producer proclaim that this 'documentary', is in reality, a propaganda film, basking in the glory of Russia AND Germany…. fill in your own blanks….
Who would spend time watching a documentary on Obama? Hopefully they haven't made this mandatory viewing. Have they? There isn't any kind of law is there, that we have to watch it? Like we can't get our income tax refunds until we sit through this thing or something. Not to give these people any ideas.
> it’s probably worth pointing out that Obama’s predecessor had a large role n> in [...] killing Osama bin Laden. n nAbsolutely hilarious! George W. Bush promised to get bin Laden dead or alive, and he utterly failed. Bush had been out of office for years by the time the raid takes place. And Wehner says he "had a large role!" How about returning graciousness in that case? Why not simply admit the Bush Administration also had some impact on Obama's troubles? For example, the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression took place on Bush's watch. n nPeople in this forum often marvel at Obama's relatively decent approval ratings. How can this guy essentially be 50%-50% despite the state of the economy? The explanation is voters haven't forgotten Bush or the GOP Congress. n nThank God for that. n nMARCU$ n n n n
Google "Obama blames" A few months ago it was about 8 million citations for those two words. n nThe most inexperienced, incompetent, ignorant, and the most radical person ever to hold the highest office in this land, not only does not deserve it, but may have been ineligible for it.
Obama is doing what all left-wingers and incompetents do: Wrap himself in a mantle of victimization. n nThat's strikingly reminiscent of Carter's re-election campaign in 1980: Suggest that America's problems are the result of gigantic socioeconomic and geopolitical forces over which a President has at best only limited influence. n nThe mark of an incompetent worker is this: While he constantly gripes about how hard his job is, he never suggests that maybe, just maybe, someone else could do the job better than he's doing it. n
Obama is much more incompetant than I first thought. He is idiocy surrounded by idiocy. No wonder he has so many dummies working for him. Someone with intelligence and a modicum of integrity would make him look like the fool he is…….
The problem with the Obama campaign documentary … is that it points out the accomplishments of the Obama administration rather than portray him as a foreign-born, terrorist-sympathizing, caucasian-hating, socialist despot striving to destroy society with his unAmerican policies and programs. n nRush told me so, and the clowns on FOX News concurred, so it must be true.