Twice now Obama has praised Ronald Reagan and dissed Bill Clinton

[carlotta]

Don't you think Obama should be thrown out of the Democratic Party. He is LIEBAMAMAN!!

"I don't want to present myself as some sort of singular figure. I think part of what's different are the times...I think Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not. He put us on a fundamentally different path because the country was ready for it. I think they felt like with all the excesses of the 1960s and 1970s and government had grown and grown but there wasn't much sense of accountability in terms of how it was operating. I think people, he just tapped into what people were already feeling, which was we want clarity we want optimism, we want a return to that sense of dynamism and entrepreneurship that had been missing."

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/01/17/obamas_reagan_comparison_spark_1.html

Here's how Barney Frank and Corrine Brown reacted to that statement:

"I was stupefied by the comments," said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts. He added, "It's baffling to me that Senator Obama would speak so favorably of him."

The best line of the call though came from an angry Representative Corrine Brown of Florida.

"Every time I see a homeless person I think about Ronald Reagan," she said, before adding, "It is very important that young people know about the history."

And then, in his March 4 primary losing speech, Obama called Reagan a strong leader:

It’s the same course that continues to divide and isolate America from the world by substituting bluster and bullying for direct diplomacy – by ignoring our allies and refusing to talk to our enemies even though Presidents from Kennedy to Reagan have done just that; because strong countries and strong leaders aren’t afraid to tell hard truths to petty dictators.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/us/politics/04text-obama.html

[JimGinPA]

1. Obama Was Correct In Both Observations

If you didn't have shit blinders on you would see the truth in it as well.

[Patsy Stone]

2. And are either of them currently on the ballot?

Bad analogy.

[carlotta]

3. Obama supporters are claiming it's treasonous to praise a Republican

over a Democrat. Obama thinks Ronald Reagan was a better President than Bill Clinton, I guess by Obama supporters' standards, that's treasonous, too.

[enki23]

that's pretty disingenuous. we aren't going to be running against reagan in the general

.

[LisaM]

25. Actually, I disagree with that. How often was Reagan mentioned in the GOP debates?

Hundreds of times. He was referred to by McCain as "our beloved Ronald Reagan".

In some ways, I think Reagan was a worse president than Bush, because he laid the groundwork for Bush, and Republican majorities. He injected religion into politics in a bad way. He vilified unions and started stripping rights from the middle class.

I don't call those things "ideas". I call it turning back the clock to the days of the robber barons, and we are still paying for it.

But make no mistake, there are people who still think Reagan was good, and we ARE running against him.

[hedgehog]

5. He didn't say better for the country, he said better at pushing his

agenda into reality.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Patsy Stone]

8. Praising a dead Republican's abilities to get an agenda passed

and saying that your Democratic opponent falls below your Republican opponent in the list of desirable candidates are two totally different things.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

12. It's like trying to explain things to a rock.

[jgraz]

23. Not at all. The rock whines less.

[Binka]

16. Go Away Carlos

I am about to blow your cover dude.

[donheld]

28. Who's carlos?

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

19. A fascinating amount of bullshit in very few words.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

22. There's nothing wrong with praising a Republican, per se. Even over a Democrat.

It's wrong to praise a Republican candidate over a fellow Democrat in an active race. It's not only wrong, it's against party rules. I could be stripped of my status as a Precinct Committeeperson if I publicly endorsed a Republican candidate when a Dem was running for the same office.

[jgraz]

24. It's treasonous for a Democrat to try to get a Republican elected over another Dem

Which is exactly what Queen Hill is doing.

[NoBushSpokenHere]

17. Exactly neither are on the ballot - the issue is totally different nt

[enki23]

4. yes, he's pandering to the independents. that's what candidates usually do.

thing is, the democratic nominee won't be running against reagan in the general election (republican necrophiliac voting propensities aside). damned near *every* candidate panders to the reagan-adoration bullshit. i'm sure kerry did it. i'm sure *bill clinton* has done it.

barack obama isn't out there talking up john mccain, now is he.

[itcfish]

6. It's the Old

Double Standard

[NDambi]

9. Billy Boy ain't no savior..never has been..never will be..he's no better than Reagan

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[truebrit71]

15. Amen...some people are just too stupid for belief...

...

[DURHAM D]

26. ***

[rucky]

11. And if he were running against Reagan, or Bill Clinton

it would've been even more boneheaded.

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

13. How is saying he "changed the trajectory of the country" praising him?

It's the absolute truth. Compare the country pre-Reagan to the country post-Reagan. The trajectory changed. Reagan was a popular politician.

Notice that Obama NEVER EVER EVER said he agrees with Reagan's policies. There is a BIG difference.

Meanwhile, we have Hillary throwing her fellow Democrat under the bus and praising warmonger McCain. Which is worse?

[ksquire]

21. thank you. in fact...

the contract with america changed the direction of the country (for the worse), which we owe in part due to their screwing up the 1st 100 days, and Hillary's botching the health care thing.

[RoadRage]

14. Bill Clinton is running for President. NT

[robbedvoter]

18. And that is not counting his book

[smiley_glad_hands]

20. He didn't praise raygun in a desparaging way to Bill.

You are making a very strained argument. Mind you I didn't like it when Obama said what he did about raygun either. But clinton directly endorsed mccain over obama. That is lieberesque.

[Megahurtz]

27. Bill Clinton an Reagan are NOT running.

No comparison.

[blm]

29. "The era of big government is over" was Bill Clinton ACCEPTING Reagan and dissing Democrats.

Or was that point lost on you?

Obama acknowledged that Reagan's influence went beyond his presidency into the following presidencies, and Clinton is the REASON that observation is true.

Save your feigned outrage for Bill Clinton's VERY PUBLIC ASSERTION that turned out to be Reagan's WETDREAM.

[madrchsod]

30. recyling old news