C’mon, this election’s not a referendum on Obama
I’ve seen some elections that are referendums on the President, but those have almost always been Congressional campaigns, like 2010 and 2006 or 1994. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a presidential election that was a pure referendum, and every presidential election I’ve covered involved a choice. There are good reasons for this.
The presidency is our most intimate office. The President lives in our homes for four years. The media spend considerable amounts of time, sometimes too much, telling us who these people are. And then in October we get to see two, occasionally three, men–only men, sadly, so far–on the stage and we decide which one we want to invite into our homes for the next four years. Barring a national disaster, issues are secondary–although an impression of how you might handle those issues is important. In 2008, for example, the causes of the financial collapse were abstruse, but Obama gave the impression that he understood what was happening and would handle it calmly. John McCain did not.
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Right. It’s a referendum on the War on Womens.
Washington Nearsider on April 14, 2012 at 4:49 PM
Is that a whiff of desperation I smell?
rbj on April 14, 2012 at 4:49 PM
How’d he miss Carter in 1980? Or miss reading about it?
de rigueur on April 14, 2012 at 4:50 PM
They’re worried . Very worried. (almost as much as ddrintintin)
CW on April 14, 2012 at 4:52 PM
joe, WANNA bet? bho did it to the US and he owns every stinkin bit of it! bho can not run on anything positive he has done for us, well he did help the gun and ammo companies, but that is it!
L
letget on April 14, 2012 at 4:52 PM
There is a huge difference between giving the “impression that he understood” and actually having the knowledge, ability, and desire. Just because someone gives the impression doesn’t automatically mean they are qualified.
behiker on April 14, 2012 at 4:53 PM
The question to every voter in a presidential election:
Do you like the job that the current president is doing well enough that you want him to continue?
Isn’t that a referendum? And doesn’t that happen every cycle?
beatcanvas on April 14, 2012 at 4:53 PM
Yep, and this is why he’s going to lose by Jimmy Carter numbers. Because he’s just as successful as the refreshing “peanut farmer” was at running things.
Marcus on April 14, 2012 at 4:53 PM
Or what the Democrats were screaming from the rooftops that 2004 was supposed to be.
Honestly, if off Presidential year Congressional races are referendums on the President, how the hell isn’t it when the guy they were supposedly voting against two years ago is now on the ballot?
Betenoire on April 14, 2012 at 4:53 PM
@#4:52,
bho did help get r’s the house and bho will see to it mega millions get out to vote against bho, joe!
L
letget on April 14, 2012 at 4:54 PM
You wish, Joe.
galtani on April 14, 2012 at 4:56 PM
Imagine if we had a referendum on whether or not Joe Klein is a nerd. I suppose we could get 90% to vote yes.
radjah shelduck on April 14, 2012 at 4:57 PM
LOL I have to say, this is deep. On one level, we know the media spends all the time it can distracting us from who this prez really is, on the other hand, he’s saying we’re too dumb to process information so it must be withheld from us.
This guy is a dollar store tool.
WeekendAtBernankes on April 14, 2012 at 4:57 PM
If you advocated against Palin, Joe, you have only yourself to blame.
And this article is wishcasting turned up to 11. Good luck with that.
thebrokenrattle on April 14, 2012 at 4:58 PM
And that’s why Romney has passed him in the polls?
topdog on April 14, 2012 at 4:59 PM
Of course this election isn’t a referendum on Obama. It’s a referendum on deep-fried jelly doughnuts, and whether we should keep ordering a dozen of those every day for the next 4 years, or switch over to chocolate glazed.
Come on, Mr. Klein. Who the hell do you think you’re kidding? And I’m saying this as someone who’s voting 3rd party!
Stoic Patriot on April 14, 2012 at 5:00 PM
As an proud nerd, please don’t insult us like that
thebrokenrattle on April 14, 2012 at 5:00 PM
Keep telling yourself that, Joe.
JeffWeimer on April 14, 2012 at 5:00 PM
http://spectator.org/archives/2012/04/13/its-romneys-to-lose
The author comparing 2012 the race to the 1993 Giuliani-Dinkins race is sounds right.
galtani on April 14, 2012 at 5:01 PM
Anything to get voters’ attention away from Obama’s record.
Ann Romney, the Buffett rule…..
Wethal on April 14, 2012 at 5:04 PM
They spent too much on some and not enough on others. Too bad they wouldn’t go dumpster diving to get info on Obama, unlike the hordes who went to Wasilla just to dig up any little morsel on the VP nominee.
behiker on April 14, 2012 at 5:05 PM
ObaMao will be checking directly into the Jimmy Carter Suite of the One Term Hotel and Spa in January 2013. You can visit him there, Joe, and discuss whether or not it was a referendum on his EPIC FAIL.
cicerone on April 14, 2012 at 5:06 PM
Must be another referendum on Bush then…that makes, what, 3 referendums in a row for W?
Left Coast Right Mind on April 14, 2012 at 5:10 PM
If wishes were fishes, Joe Klein would never be lonely.
The Mega Independent on April 14, 2012 at 5:11 PM
Because you want Obama to win.
John the Libertarian on April 14, 2012 at 5:16 PM
Obviously. He keeps leaving the lid up, and I keep getting blamed.
applebutter on April 14, 2012 at 5:16 PM
Yeah Joe, 2010 wasn’t a referendum on Obama, either.
Wait a second. Whyever would liberals be scared of an election that’s a referendum on Boy King Earth Healer?
The Mega Independent on April 14, 2012 at 5:17 PM
I love the smell of desperation in the morning. It smells like our … victory.
chimney sweep on April 14, 2012 at 5:17 PM
Further evidence that Dems are scurrrrred.
GOPRanknFile on April 14, 2012 at 5:19 PM
Thanks for the smirk, Joe.
Schadenfreude on April 14, 2012 at 5:27 PM
Now, now, he doesn’t want Obama to win…but he certainly is helping to make it happen.
thebrokenrattle on April 14, 2012 at 5:32 PM
I think I agree with him here.
This is why we need to paint Obama as a man full of gimmicks – not serious.
Everything he does is a cheap trick – Buffet Rule, War on Everything, etc.
faraway on April 14, 2012 at 5:36 PM
Actually, I’m voting third party because I’d like for Obama and Romney to both lose. If I wanted Obama to win, I’d vote for him.
My, my. Such simple logic: a vote for Obama is the only thing that increases Obama’s vote tally. A vote for a third party candidate increases neither major party’s vote tally.
Voting is all about over 50 (due to DC and strange rules in Maine and Nebraska) separate vote tally differentials. By not voting for either major party candidate, I help neither of them since my vote doesn’t affect their vote tally differential vis-a-vis one another.
Stoic Patriot on April 14, 2012 at 5:36 PM
2008 was a referundum on bush 2012 will be one in obama
unseen on April 14, 2012 at 5:37 PM
Either Klein is admitting that O’bama cannot run on his “record”, or he’s saying we should make this election a referendum on 5-Time Draft Dodger Joe Biden.
I’ll take Door Number 1, Monte.
Del Dolemonte on April 14, 2012 at 5:37 PM
Looks like the White House has has decided on which meme to pursue now that their war on women has blown up.
SouthernGent on April 14, 2012 at 5:43 PM
I’d say yes, it is a referendum on Obama.
Fallon on April 14, 2012 at 5:44 PM
Surprised he did not say it was a referendum on Republicans…
albill on April 14, 2012 at 5:44 PM
Some pure delusion in the link’s Comments:
Minds are terrible things to waste…
Del Dolemonte on April 14, 2012 at 5:47 PM
What planet does this idiot come from?
WisCon on April 14, 2012 at 5:53 PM
Indeed, you help Obama by withholding a vote from the only one who can stop him. You aren’t adding to Obama’s total but you are preventing a addition to the ABO vote and adding it to the ABOOR pile. I do hope you live in a state where it won’t matter much either away, in either of the “sure thing” categories for for both major parties.
thebrokenrattle on April 14, 2012 at 5:54 PM
Hahahahahahah.
Kenosha Kid on April 14, 2012 at 5:54 PM
It’s a referendum on socialism, statism and totalitarianism.
And thuggism.
petefrt on April 14, 2012 at 5:56 PM
Like he11 it isn’t.
SWalker on April 14, 2012 at 5:58 PM
You keep using that word, I do not think that it means what you think it means.
SWalker on April 14, 2012 at 6:00 PM
I guessI’m a little confused – what difference does it make?
Either we vote for the guy who is bankrupting the country, fostering racial discord, trying to turn the nation into a socialist style dump, putting our country on the road to ruin or we vote for Romney. Is that a referendum or a choice?
katiejane on April 14, 2012 at 6:00 PM
Wow. Desperate much, Joe?
Rational Thought on April 14, 2012 at 6:04 PM
Mr. Klein, EVERY second term election is a referendum on the first term. EVERY one.
Have you suddenly become “intellectually challenged”?
crosspatch on April 14, 2012 at 6:07 PM
The legacy media Journolists are losing their ability to put together believable narratives. It just doesn’t work anymore.
d1carter on April 14, 2012 at 6:07 PM
Voters had the same feelings about Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush. Neither man’s character was an issue at all in their re-election efforts. It’s the economy, Joe. And you know it.
Rational Thought on April 14, 2012 at 6:08 PM
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