Comments on: Obama’s Falling Popularity

By: Richard

Richard — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:30:17 +0000

Even the AP was reporting on Obama’s declining popularity. Although they spun it so that it seemed like it was simply the inevitable “idealism” having to come down to earth and meet with reality (which it is, in a way).

If (when) Obama’s popularity continues to dwindle over the years I’ll be interested to see if he will increasingly rely on his religiousness as an image.

By: Objectivist Roundup #106 « Reality Talk

Objectivist Roundup #106 « Reality Talk — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:22:36 +0000

[...] presents Obama’s Falling Popularity posted at The New [...]

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:11:30 +0000

I don’t know, Myrhaf. Mitt Romney appears parallel in some respects to Hank Rearden. He has a track record of private-sector financial success, but he shackles himself to altruism. On some level, his subconscious deep-under-everything-else mind knows what exacting morality is necessary to produce commercial success, but he accepts a surface morality that contradicts it. I’d rather take my chances with a pre-Atlantis Rearden or Dagny in 2012 than continue with Thompson, Mouch, Boyle, Kinnan, and Ferris. That is, unless we take a long enough view that it’s better to let things strain all the way through the breaking point before rebuilding, which I accept as a plausible strategy.

By: Chuck

Chuck — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 02:42:47 +0000

“The American people are not as radical as Obama. My guess is that not more than 30% of Americans are as far left as Obama. ”

I don’t think nearly that many are as leftist as Obama. I’d say it’s closer to 3%. But Democrats vote for the Democratic nominee, regardless.

“They have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.”

By: Andrew Dalton

Andrew Dalton — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 01:47:15 +0000

The question is: at whose expense would either philosophy would be growing?

I’d say that both could be growing at the expense of the Pragmatist, mixed economy, middle-of-the-road “consensus” that has been dominant for most of the past century. Rand understood that the natural endpoint of the mixed economy, if it is not challenged, is some form of consistent statism. That is what we are getting closer to now. (And it’s not just Obama or the Left; the 2008 presidential election offered a choice between a socialist-collectivist and a nationalist-collectivist.)

On the other side, we may be seeing more people realizing that our present course can end only in disaster, and that better ideas are needed.

I should caution that any trend of Ayn Rand being “more popular than ever” will likely be fragile and fleeting unless we can get people interested in issues deeper than politics.

By: Myrhaf

Myrhaf — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 01:25:45 +0000

The favorites to win the Republican nomination right now are Mitt Romney and Mike Huckleberry, or whatever his name is. Romney is responsible for the health care mess in Massachusetts and Huckleberry Finn thinks the federal government should outlaw cigarettes. It’s hopeless. Darkness falls.

By: madmax

madmax — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:52:07 +0000

Is there any hope of anything approaching a Reagan or a Thatcher in 2012? This confuses somewhat. If Reagan and Thatcher were possible in the 80s but not now then that implies that Leftist dominance has grown since then which means that post-Kantian, post-modern philosophy is *stronger* now then it was back then. But with Rand more popular now then ever, shouldn’t we be seeing some reduction in the cultural dominance of post-Kantian thought? Or is still just too damn early?

By: TheFairlaner

TheFairlaner — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 22:17:53 +0000

Indeed, the hardest part about watching is that it would likely come to an immediate halt if the Republican opposition was even a little reasoning and had even a little backbone. Sadly, they aren’t and they don’t.

By: Benpercent

Benpercent — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 21:17:08 +0000

“If I were Obama I would have a team of political advisors studying every move, every pronouncement FDR made, to see how to pull off a massive expansion of the state that creates a depression while remaining popular.”

Don’t give him ideas!