The “likable” Barack Obama
The focus on likability is a mistake. It’s a mistake, first, for Democrats if they believe likability will be enough for Mr. Obama to win re-election come November. It’s even more of a mistake for those Republicans who believe that the only way to defeat the president is to get fellow Americans to dislike him as much as they do.
At its core, the confusion over likability has to do with an inability to see the world as the other side sees it. Hilary Rosen gave us a perfect example of this phenomenon recently when she suggested that Ann Romney “never worked a day in her life.” The folks at the White House immediately threw Ms. Rosen under the bus: They feared the administration would be tarred with the same unwitting arrogance Ms. Rosen exhibited when she failed to see how her remarks might be viewed by millions of American women who have made the same choice as Mrs. Romney.
Republicans ought not make this mistake with Mr. Obama. When Americans look at the president, many see a loving father with personal values they admire and an attractive wife and children. The administration understands this, which is why a recent Internet campaign ad asking voters to “help the Obamas stand up for working Americans” did so over a photo of the president, his wife and his two daughters…
Now, the president’s likability doesn’t mean Mr. Romney shouldn’t go on the offensive. It does mean he ought to attack hardest where Mr. Obama is at his weakest: his failed policies.
Blowback
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I like bho about as much as an inflamed hemorrhoid! Both are a pain in the rear!
L
letget on April 17, 2012 at 3:22 PM
Truthfully- when debating libs over whether or not Obama deserves a second term its obvious that it really comes down to voting down party lines for them. “Yeah he sucks but I am not voting for a Republican”. But independents haven’t drank the same koolaid.
Bensonofben on April 17, 2012 at 3:23 PM
I see a sneering, sarcastic man-child with delusions of adequacy.
My first impression of him was when he sneered that we would not have an energy problem, if only we would inflate our tires properly and get tune-ups. I thought he was an idiot then. He has reinforced that opinion.
HeatSeeker2011 on April 17, 2012 at 3:23 PM
Uh-oh. Here comes Hot Air entertainment galore…
KS Rex on April 17, 2012 at 3:24 PM
Wait. You mean that there is another one besides the guy squatting in that place at 1600 Pennsylvania?
LegendHasIt on April 17, 2012 at 3:28 PM
What exactly is likable about this man? His arrogance? His buffoonery? His contempt for success? His 24/7 lying?
Usually the village idiot is tolerated or embraced because he is harmless. Are we supposed to feel the same way about a village idiot that rules us?
NotCoach on April 17, 2012 at 3:28 PM
He’s really about as likeable as a used car salesman. Sure he’s got a great smile and he loves to tell you how great you are, but in the end you can;t wait to get away from him and take a shower.
Bensonofben on April 17, 2012 at 3:29 PM
I think that NBC’s Mark Halperin had it right in June, 2011, when the day after an Obama press conference, he said about Obama, “I thought he was kind of a dick yesterday.”
I’ve thought that about Obama since sometime in 2009.
Reno_Dave on April 17, 2012 at 3:29 PM
What personal values? Bankrupting this nation is not a virtue. Blaming everyone else for one’s shortcomings is not something I admire. And no offense, but Michelle Obama ain’t attractive and a lot of Americans can’t stand her.
Doughboy on April 17, 2012 at 3:30 PM
Likability is the only myth our formerly free press has left . They can’t claim he is intelligent or has any good idea’s or policies . He is also FAR from likable – no decent man would EVER expose his daughters to the filth spewed by Jeremiah Wright. But that myth is harder to disprove as he parades the family around for photo Ops.
DeweyWins on April 17, 2012 at 3:30 PM
Millions of women did not marry a robot worth $250M. Stop equating Ann Romney with normal women.
angryed on April 17, 2012 at 3:31 PM
Women will not like Obama so much when they discover that Indonesians love to eat dogs. Puppy meat is especially delicious to them.
faraway on April 17, 2012 at 3:32 PM
The mistake is the oft-repeated notion that Obama is at all likable.
He’s cold, arrogant, bullying and self-aggrandizing. He lives to stir s**t up and divide people. He plays race politics every chance he gets, and employs class warfare just as frequently.
Good father? Without compelling evidence to the contrary, sure, we’ll give him that.
Beyond that, please tell me, in what way is he “personally likable”?
Right Mover on April 17, 2012 at 3:33 PM
When was the last candidate who was not a loving father?
(I can’t think that far back)
When was the last candidate who did not have an attractive wife and children? (oh yeah, Bill Clinton)
topdog on April 17, 2012 at 3:37 PM
That’s how you get things done. You want cheery rosy people? Politics is the wrong field.
angryed on April 17, 2012 at 3:38 PM
Normal? You mean average?
Bishop on April 17, 2012 at 3:38 PM
Dude, come on. Hillary’s a Playboy model compared to Barbara Bush.
angryed on April 17, 2012 at 3:38 PM
Okay – let’s break this down one by one:
I know no father of school-aged children that has time to run the executive branch of the largest country on the planet (economically, at least) and still play golf 80+ times in a 3 year span without sacrificing some real quality time with the kids.
Which values? The condescending ridicule of those he disagrees with? The smug arrogance ? His “know-it-all” rush to judgement on situations he knows absolutely nothing about? His inability to accept criticism and constant blaming of others for his failures? Oh yeah – who doesn’t surround themselves jack-@$$es like that on a daily basis?
Huh?
I’ll stay away from that. Those kids haven’t done anything to us…yet.
CycloneCDB on April 17, 2012 at 3:38 PM
Actually both. Ann Romney is neither normal nor average.
angryed on April 17, 2012 at 3:39 PM
Dude…Barbara Bush was like 80 years old. Shrillary looks like a battered sandbag in her 60′s. Wait and see what she looks like in 20 years.
CycloneCDB on April 17, 2012 at 3:41 PM
You guys don’t know what you’re talking about. Didn’t you see him playing basketball on CBS? That was so cool! I like occasionally playing basketball too! I’m JUST like the President of the United States.
He’s likeable because the media says he’s likeable.
Transpo on April 17, 2012 at 3:41 PM
Bozo is also likeable.
galtani on April 17, 2012 at 3:41 PM
Granted. Barbara may be dowdy, but as a person she is much more attractive than Shrillary.
topdog on April 17, 2012 at 3:42 PM
What’s interesting is this thinking is almost mirrored exactly in the Republican Party.
Doomberg on April 17, 2012 at 3:45 PM
I wonder if Romney will tell voters that it’s perfectly fine and OK to consider voting against Obama. In fact, if people truly like him and want to treat him with respect and equality as POTUS, then they should vote based primarily on performance and achievements. Honestly, there are probably a lot of Obama voters from 2008 who are planning again to vote for him primarily because they don’t want to damage their own likability among their friends, family, and peers.
Christien on April 17, 2012 at 3:45 PM
Hey! Me too! We’re like brothers from another mother, me, you and da’ POTUS!!
Hey! Let’s vote to have government intrusion into every facet of my life and a national debt that will make our grandchildren’s grandchildren despise us! Okay? Oh-kay!
CycloneCDB on April 17, 2012 at 3:47 PM
Neither are you. Hey, wait…..
Ann, is that you??
CurtZHP on April 17, 2012 at 3:48 PM
Obama makes my skin crawl. When he intruded into the national championship game’s halftime (men’s basketball), I turned the channel. I never listen to him, and why should I? All he does is lie to us.
I don’t admire his personal values. Anyone who can support allowing a child already born to die in a closet by itself is evil.
cptacek on April 17, 2012 at 3:49 PM
Why do you hate women? /s
CycloneCDB on April 17, 2012 at 3:50 PM
Oh. Ok.
Bishop on April 17, 2012 at 3:50 PM
http://www.gallup.com/poll/150743/Obama-Romney.aspx
Romney 48
Likeable Guy : 43
Romney, Like +5
galtani on April 17, 2012 at 3:55 PM
Ugh, spare me. When I see Barack Obama, I see a man for whom lying comes naturally.
rickv404 on April 17, 2012 at 3:57 PM
for me, it was right after he said “I won” and “I’ll trump you on that”. An arrogant prick to the core. I first heard about that from my folks earlier in July 2008(staunch democrats who caucused for Hillary), and I commented that I hadn’t heard that – goes to show just how much got left out of reportage on him.
JeffWeimer on April 17, 2012 at 3:59 PM
I know this. She’ll never be considered a human pegboard.
arnold ziffel on April 17, 2012 at 3:59 PM
for me, it was right after he said “I won” and “I’ll trump you on that”. An arrogant pr!ck to the core. I first heard about that from my folks earlier in July 2008(staunch democrats who caucused for Hillary), and I commented that I hadn’t heard that – goes to show just how much got left out of reportage on him.
JeffWeimer on April 17, 2012 at 4:00 PM
I particularly like how he spares no expense for monthly vacations for the wife and kids. Forty-nine Secret Service agents to accompany the one kid to Mexico, less than a month after a ski trip to Vail, which was less than a month after the Christmas vacation in Hawaii.
So generous with our money. How could anybody not like him?
AZCoyote on April 17, 2012 at 4:05 PM
Ah, the mask comes completely off. You are an obambi supporter to the core. You have been a liar on this site.
VegasRick on April 17, 2012 at 4:06 PM
He really is “Ed Anger”:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Anger
ebrown2 on April 17, 2012 at 4:18 PM
Mitt was worth $250 mil in 1969? Do tell!
BTW last time I heard his net worth is $200 million.
F-
Del Dolemonte on April 17, 2012 at 4:43 PM
Those with NPD are not likeable. Therefore, Barry is not likeable.
BHO Jonestown on April 17, 2012 at 4:44 PM
My brother, you’ve got it wrong! The government can’t run out of money, because it’s the government. The only thing I’m afraid of from the government is Rick Santorum personally not letting me have sex with anyone/thing I want. Good thing that’s not going to happen!
Transpo on April 17, 2012 at 4:48 PM
BTW check out this hilarious photo of young O’bama Fluffers at last night’s NHL game in D.C. between the Caps and the (defending Stanley Cup Champion) Boston Broons. Insulted by MVP Goalie Tim Thomas’s snub of O’bama when the team went to the White House a couple of months ago, they tried to get fans to wear O’bama Masks to the game to rattle Tim’s cage.
It must have worked, Boston won the game and now leads the series 2-1.
Del Dolemonte on April 17, 2012 at 4:49 PM
Nailed it. But is he an angry right-winger pretending to be a loony lefty, or an angry-left-winger pretending to be a disillusioned righty? I can’t tell.
Dee2008 on April 17, 2012 at 4:54 PM
I know, right? We TOTALLY dodged a bullet there. Can you imagine the intrusion it would be into my life if THAT guy got elected PRESIDENT?!?!?! I heard he was actually going to FORCE people into becoming Catholics and MAKE them go to church twice a week. It was all over the Twitterverse, so you know it’s true.
CycloneCDB on April 17, 2012 at 5:22 PM
I saw that – I couldn’t figure out if they were trying to rattle him (as hockey fans are wont to do) and just used Obama as a vehicle for that purpose, knowing TT can’t stand him…or if they are, indeed, Baraka fluffers. I think it’s some combo thereof.
CycloneCDB on April 17, 2012 at 5:24 PM
Look, the people who agree with us that Obama is a whiny, arrogant, ignorant, jerk are not going to vote for him anyway.
So, the mushy middle, the people who voted for him last time around – still like to think of him as a good guy. they don’t want to believe they were completely snookered, so it is a much better political strategy to just argue “sure, he’s a nice enough guy, but it just turns out that he really isn’t that competent or smart and thus he has been a bad president”.
While that isn’t going to fire up the base, and actually will anger us each time we hear Romney refer to Obama as a “nice guy” or whatever, it is the right move politically.
If Romney starts going after Obama personally, it is going to back-fire. It’s already hard enough getting the mushy middle to admit a big mistake, but if we give them a reason not to admit the mistake – like “Romney’s too mean”, they’ll latch onto it. It’s silly and ignorant, but that is the price of democracy.
Monkeytoe on April 17, 2012 at 5:24 PM
Articles like this make it clear to me that Obama is going win in November.
If anything, we need to be building up Obama’s nice guy image while contrasting it with his failed policies. (Won’t happen)
Demonizing him non-stop in every way is what turns unaffiliated people off, because they can tell it’s partisan and disingenuous.
KingOfTheRoad on April 17, 2012 at 5:29 PM
I’ll say it.
Eva Braun liked Hitler.
I’m even sure Hitler’s dog(s) liked Hitler.
Badger40 on April 17, 2012 at 5:33 PM
You paint the face of evil with pretty colors, you turn it into something it is not.
That’s what’s happened with Obama.
He’s a BAD GUY.
Bcs he wants COMMUNISM to happen here AKA Socialism.
At the very least he’s the world’s most ignorant dumba$$.
Badger40 on April 17, 2012 at 5:34 PM
I don’t find him the least bit likeable. He’s a little more polished version of Al Sharpton.
Re the ‘good family man’ crap, if a Republican took his children for their entire life to a racist KKK white supremacist loonbat, would he be called a good father?
slickwillie2001 on April 17, 2012 at 7:15 PM