General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: To Survive, the Democratic Party Needs to Stand Up to Wall Street and Global Corporations [View all]DanTex
(20,709 posts)I am to Obama's left too. I disagreed with chained CPI. I thought the stimulus was too small, and I was disappointed when he adopted the "tighten our belts" rhetoric. I didnt't think Larry Summers belonged anywhere near the White House. And he could have pushed harder for a public option, though I don't think it would have made any difference with Lieberman and Nelson. And so on.
On foreign policy, I am less critical. The Libya intervention was a case of rock v hard place. And people who compare it to the invasion of Iraq are nuts. It was airstrikes only, not a massive invasion, it was led by Europe (France flew the most missions), civil war was already underway unlike Iraq which was stable at the time we invaded, and the objective was to protect civilians and prevent an impending genocide, not regime change. If we had prevented European nations from intervening, and it had turned into another Rwanda, then Obama would be taking heat for that also.
But whatever critiques of Obama I might have, it's obvious to me that he was to the left of Bill Clinton. I mean, Clinton "reformed" welfare and deregulated the financial industry. No comparison.