Obama Should Have Replaced All The Replaceable GOPPERS When He Took Office.

[TheMastersNemesis]

Obama should have replaced all the Attorneys General who were Republicans when he took office. He also should have replaced every GOPPER in any appoint able government position. His detente' with the GOP has been a failure and he has not gained anything in return. He should have been ruthless and immediate. By misreading the viciousness and hatefulness of his enemies they were able to get the upper hand.

We might have done better in 2010 had Obama played a strong hand. Reaching out to GOPPERS has only gotten him a bloody stump. And his reluctance to engage ended up seeing GOP policies continued or even passed. The results of going halfway meant going backward on some key issues.

I still support Obama but we needed him to be stronger and more willing to counter attack.

[randys1]

1. I agree but only one million percent

do people realize W replaced almost the entire justice dept and govt with rightwing, religious college graduates?

[TheMastersNemesis]

4. Failure To Fire These People Biggest Failure Of His Presidency.

One good example is leaving GOPPERS on the Postal Commission. Also leaving the Alabama AG in place and NOT pardoning Siegleman. Leaving all these people in place has severely damaged his ability to govern.

[randys1]

11. The Siegelman thing makes me crazy too, but I am ten million times happier he is prez

than the two he ran against

[NCjack]

18. Pres. Clinton made the same mistake with by keeping a lot of GOPer agency managers

and IGs. He paid a price for that.

[tularetom]

2. Sadly, it isn't going to change

People have been saying that around here since 2009 and it hasn't done one bit of good.

He's done a lot of good things but it could have been so much better if he had just acted on his instinct and forgot about this one sided bipartisan crap.

[Swede Atlanta]

3. Not sure what you mean by replacing the AGs.

Obama can nominate the AG of the United States. He has no authority to nominate or fire the AGs of the states. Those are under the control of individual states.

I think your point is valid, however on another level. Rather than playing "adult" with them from the beginning he should have hit them with everything he had, especially in the first two years when he had both the House and Senate with him.

But I think he recognized that as the first black president there was some need to appear to be "bi-partisan" (I read it as I am black...you are white so let's hold hands together).......

[TheMastersNemesis]

5. Every State Also Has A Federal AG And Bush Replaced Them When He Took Office. Obama Did Not.

[Swede Atlanta]

13. No he didn't....

You are confusing Attorneys General and U.S. Attorneys.

Attorneys General are the lead attorney associated to the executive branch (federal or state). So you have a federal AG (i.e. Eric Holder) and you have the AGs of the various states. In some states the AG is elected (as in Georgia) whereas in others they serve at the selection and discretion of the Governor.

The U.S. Attorneys represent the U.S. Justice Department. These attorneys serve at the pleasure of the President (or federal AG). These are the ones where I think BO replaced some but kept some. That was likely to signal his willingness to be "bi-partisan" which has proven not to be an effective strategy.

But no, BO had no authority to replace the AGs of all the states, only the federal U.S. Attorneys.

Hope this clarifies this situation.

[TheMastersNemesis]

15. Right I Got That Wrong. US Attorneys Is What I Meant

[SummerSnow]

6. Obama wanted to reach across the board and be bi-partisan as you said

He always said in his speeches these aren't Republican or Democratic issues, these are American issues.Yes he desired a kumbiya relationship but they hated him even before he was elected. He knew this but being laid back never helped him.

[FiveGoodMen]

17. I wouldn't have been stupid enough to believe that was a good idea

You wouldn't have been stupid enough to believe that was a good idea

Why do so many believe Obama's that dumb?

[Historic NY]

7. He should have gotten rid of the Bush implants....

in various agencies and levels where they have continued to do damage. They should have been assigned to white rooms with no phones.

[blm]

9. Yep - and purged the Bush family loyalists at the CIA, too.

NO president controls that group - best to expose them and get rid of them PUBLICLY.

[blm]

8. Exactly. The Independent voters would have respected his show of justifiable force.

That would have made a big difference in 2010. Unfortunately, Independent voters have a knack for riding with whatever wave is strongest at the time, and the GOP never stopped beating on Obama from the day he took office.

[monmouth3]

10. Arne Duncan should be replaced ASAP ... n/t

[flor-de-jasmim]

12. I wouldn't call him laid-back...

But I also agree 100% he should have used his power. However, with so much pre-rhetoric that he was going to suddenly run roughshod over everyone ("now that a black is in power...&quot , he made a judgment call.

I think I heard back in the 80s that a President could directly hire something like 25,000 people. Even using half that number would have made a big difference.

[msongs]

14. he shares their views, why would he get rid of them? nt

[Scuba]

16. Minerals and Mining, anyone?