As John’s earlier post points out, there’s a revealing paragraph in today’s New York Times article on Obama’s dismal debate performance:
Mr. Obama does not like debates to begin with, aides have long said, viewing them as media-driven gamesmanship. He did not do all that well in 2008 but benefited from Senator John McCain’s grumpy performances. Mr. Obama made clear to advisers that he was not happy about debating Mr. Romney, whom he views with disdain. It was something to endure, rather than an opportunity, aides said
Notice that it’s Romney himself who Obama reportedly “views with disdain,” not Romney’s policies. Disdain is a harsh word, and in this instance it’s very personal. What exactly has Romney done to inspire such feelings in Obama? Clearly Romney does not feel the same way about his opponent (or is much better at hiding it).
According to the Times, Obama also deeply dislikes debates. It might be understandable if this was because he found them challenging and outside of his comfort zone. But that’s not what the Times reports. Obama apparently dislikes debates because he views them as “media-driven gamesmanship… something to endure, rather than an opportunity.” In other words, debates are below him. It’s not that he’s a weak debater, it’s that the debate format is too trivial for the likes of Barack Obama
This isn’t the first major aspect of the presidency (and campaigns) that Obama reportedly disdains. George W. Bush wasn’t a fantastic debater, but he was considered a great communicator in person. Obama, in contrast, doesn’t appear to enjoy personal interaction in general. He knocks debates as “gamesmanship,” but he also doesn’t like socializing. And as the New Yorker reported, he’s alienated major donors because he hasn’t been able to build relationships with them.
Obama’s interpersonal struggles have also caused him problems in the policy realm. He dislikes working with members of congress, and his disengagement from the legislative side of the political process has been criticized routinely by both Republicans and Democrats. The same goes for foreign policy. The New York Times reported that Obama’s difficulty dealing with the Arab Spring has stemmed from his “impatience with old-fashioned back-room diplomacy” and “failure to build close personal relationships with foreign leaders.”
According to Game Change author John Heilemann, Obama is one of those rare politicians who “don’t like people…[and] don’t like politics.”
If that’s the case, why is he running for reelection? The first time around, Obama could at least claim he was making the sacrifice because the country needed his brilliant leadership and phenomenal gifts so badly. But after four years, that’s far less believable. Honestly, it’s perplexing. Does Obama really want to be president, and if so, why?
Obama thinks he should be King & be able to rule by decree. He's trying to do it as much as he can now, by executive order.
Easy answer Alana, a 1 billion (yes billion) dollars in taxpayer funded lifestyle.
And a very large soapbox to stand on while enjoying the constant sound of his own voice, and repeated opportunities to tell himself that he can fool everyone else as easily and as often as he fools himself.
He doesn't like media-driven images? His entire success has been based upon them! If true that he really "disdains" Romney, then he is everything many of the right-wing, particularly the talk-show hosts, have said(and I, naively, have not believed). This shows just what a deep-seated left-wing ideologue he is–which I have always believed. I've been around and interfaced with many on the opposite side, but after all was argued and said, I never heard anyone say he/she "disdained" the opposition on a personal basis. Dislike, disrespect, but "disdain?"
"If true that he really "disdains" Romney, then he is everything many of the right-wing, particularly the talk-show hosts, have said(and I, naively, have not believed)". Like you, I resisted believing the worst about Obama for a while. No longer. I gave up on him when he refused to work with Republicans on the stimulus package. At that point it became obvious to me that what my "extremist" friends were saying was probably true. Much of what has transpired in the past almost four years has confirmed that. nOh – my news" blackout" ended. You were right.
Actually, what Obama dislikes about debates is he actually has to respond to questions and is without the media shield that prevents "undue exposure".
Good point, obama is nothing but media driven hype. The real reason obama hates debates is because his campaign cant cpmpletely control the situation and write his teleprompted lines for him. He has an unfiltered opponent who can actually fight back on equal terms, and he has to actually think on his feet and make sense without the aid of his speech writers.
He likes styrofoam. n nLikes talking. n nDoesn't like listening. n nHe likes winning. n nIt's all a salve for a terminally damaged ego. n nDoctor is in, 5 Cents please.
You hit on a point that could use serious examination. Obama clearly was emotionally damaged by his nomadic upbringing. No child could help but feel like life was a series of abandonment's with the way he was raised. His father wanted little or nothing to do with him and his mother dumped him on the grandparents for years at a time. His grandparents looked outside the home for a black mentor for the lad. Who did they choose? Turns out their only black friend was a commie pedophile. Yep, I'd like to see anyone survive that upbringing even slightly normal.
His history was of seeking new, more prestigious jobs, not actually doing them. He no more wants to perform the job of president than he wanted to do the work of an Illinois legislator. He wanted to become president, not be president.
I don't understand why anyone is puzzled. Obama is an arrogant, power-hungry jerk. Once you realize that, everything else makes sense. He doesn't like people or politics? Of course not, at least not how we define politics in this republic. Look at all his executive orders, the way Obamacare was rammed through, his disregard for electoral fundraising laws, his rubbing elbows with the likes of Hugo Chavez. If it walks like a duck, talks like a duck… nAnd do any true liberals really like people? I don't think so – they, like Obama, want power. The people are the path to power. All politicians stretch the truth, but liberals will tell bald-faced lies, and will continue to once they have been exposed as liars. Why? Because they feel disdain for the very people who vote them into office! And why shouldn't they? The good people in Massachusetts who put Kennedy back in office, some of their fellow sheep who kept voting for Frank, Pelosi's adoring constituents – why would any liberal pol have respect for the morons who believe their tripe? nObama and his supporters are different only in one respect, and it is a frightening one – they don't feel compelled to hide their disdain. That fact alone is terrifying, for it indicates that at least some powerful liberals reading the societal tea-leaves think we're beyond reacting to their obvious distaste for us, our customs, and our respect for the law. Like Sulla, they will trample viciously on them while posing as the protectors of them. nIf Obama is reelected, we should revert to the Roman method of elections, complete with weighted voting for preferred constituents, all done in person at the appropriately named Ovile.
". . . . all done in person at the appropriately named Ovile." n nGiven that we are dealing with a Democrat here, I propose "Asinile." n nIn his defense, Sulla was a competent commander-in-chief, as well as an aggressively thorough administrator, to say no more.
There are some liberals who do indeed like people. I know some of them. They get angry when you disagree with them, but they do like people. Whether these liberals are the exception or whether the Obamas and Al Frankens of the world are the exception I am not prepared to say.
It has been obvious to me that Obama really does not enjoy any aspect of being President of the USA since he quit smoking cigarettes. nI assume the sole reason he is running for re-election is because he has to, now that the P-O-R agenda has cleansed the Democratic Party of all those pesky fiscal conservatives. n
He sees himself ruling as an unaccountable man-god dictator. If he wins a second term you will hear seriously floated the idea of repealing the 22nd amendment.
"Notice that it’s Romney himself who Obama reportedly “views with disdain,” not Romney’s policies. Disdain is a harsh word, and in this instance it’s very personal. What exactly has Romney done to inspire such feelings in Obama?" n nIt's not hard to disdain someone who lies once every 0.757 minutes.
"not happy about debating Mr. Romney, whom he views with disdain" n nDisdain for others and outlandish self-regard are the calling cards of the arrogant. Unfortuantely too often confused with competence. The seemingly endless string of debates in the primary season quickly became unwatchable, but every other night would sure be fun to watch now. Why does Obama want to be President? Perhaps he is not any better at introspective assessment than he is at fulfilling the responsibilities of being President. A multi-faceted empty suit.
as to "introspective assessment," you are surely correct, especially if it's a matter of achieving an accurate assessment. As to "introspection" full stop, however, the man occupies his time with little else, I think. When it comes to self-fascination he has the endurance of a marathon runner.
I'd have to say that number one of the poseur's dislikes is "working," which barely edged out "governing."
"According to Game Change author John Heilemann, Obama is one of those rare politicians who dont like people…" Rare? Maybe in a democracy. Soviet Union and Eastern Europe used to be run by whole cadres of such individuals.
His vanity couldn't endure being viewed as a failure. Re-election = affirmation of his greatness in his own eyes.
Obama likes meeting athletes,and celebrities,i.e. other overpraised creations of media hype.Dealings with Congressmembers,foreign leaders,debates all have the potential of exposing him for the fraud that he is ,and that on some level,he must know himself to be….But his narcissistic self-image has now been punctured-he'll probably come back for the next debate frothing at the mouth exactly like Chris Matthews wants his boy-toy to behave.
' Why should I debate? Does Chavez have to debate? Does Putin? Does the Queen? ' n n n
'Does Beyonce'?
Yes that too…Always enjoy reading your comments and agree with you a good solid 99 %………..
The king-baby "jumped the shark" for me before he was even elected. He has the most dangerous personality flaws: arrogance and narcissism. He lacks empathy. He loves power for its own sake. He needs to go.
Two words: "narcissistic supply".
I have to agree with John Sanunu, Obama is lazy. As he said in Dreams from my Father, he found people liked to give him things. The media has intervened for Obama his entire Presidency, but they can only carry him so far. There is no way for anyone to do the hard work of a debate for him and that is what Obama resents.
Obama has ZERO capability for tolerating frustration, in my opinion. Anything that impedes the glass-smooth flow of events as he has preordained them in his head, any obstacle or unforeseen turn, provokes something like bewildered rage in him. A teleprompter is essential if he is to function at all politically. As with Narcissus' image in water in the myth that gave us the word "narcissist," a teleprompter is the President's mirror, a locus where he may be alone with himself, in rapt contemplation of himself, while in the midst of thousands. A few steps away, however, be dragons. n nSince 2008 I have thought of Obama as a B-actor (and a lazy one, to boot). Unless the script is followed and everyone in the current scene reads his lines as written, the probability of confusing him is great because he cannot improvise. Continuing the simile, in the final scene of Jean Renoir's extraordinary 1939 film "The Rules of the Game," the character de la Cheyniest wistfully observes that the source of all unhappiness in life is this: "Everyone has his own reasons." Which is to say, it must be expected, indeed it is a sign of maturity to accept, that NO ONE is under any obligation to be persuaded, let alone impressed, by what YOU have to say about anything. And that is so even if accuracy, all the facts, and logic are on your side! To the narcissist, disagreement is not merely annoying; it must seem like obstinacy, even insolence, and he can be depended on to react with "disdain" and a strong disinclination even to engage with his opponent. n nOn the other hand crowds of adoring sycophants indicate that ALL objections, every impediment and frustration, have been overcome and silenced. Unanimity is necessary for Obama's composure, the vaster the more impersonal, the more impersonal the better. A stadium is his natural political environment.
Obama wants to be President for four more years because he is not finished ruining our country — remember: "after the election I will be more flexible."
Obama's problem is he has no idea who he is. There's nothing there behind the facade. No sense of self, of history, ancestry, no roots, no nothing. He's been groomed by others to be what he is today, he's allowed himself to be defined by others and found himself forced to live up to those definitions even though his heart isn't in it. There is nothing there, no one. He's lost and floundering because he never was anybody real to begin with. He has no more an idea of what it is to be black in America then he does what it is to be anything in America. He's the black kid who was raised to be white, the white kid who was forced to be black, he has no father, not much of a mother, raised in Hawaii, which is literally as far from mainstream America as it gets in this country, eased through school, never had to work for anything, earn anything, do anything hard.
Why is he running for re-election? nIt's the only way he can afford Michelle's vacations!
Like most narcissists, he hates the actual work, but loves the perks. Hey, who wants to play 18 at Pebble Beach this afternoon?
Honestly, why does this aspect of Obama's character surprise anyone? Wasn't it obvious as early as 2007?
” Honestly, itu2019s perplexing. Does Obama really want to be president, and if so, why? “r nr nBecause those pulling his strings want him in for another 4 years?