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How does the rest of the world view Obama?

BDBoop

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And I'd really rather only hear first-hand from people who live outside the States, or articles from outside the States.
 
Obviously I'm not American lol.

Ummmm good question.

I like him more then Bush, that much is certain. I don't judge him on the whole Republican Democrat thing, I feel it's redundant.

He's a good man, genuine family man in my books, no trophy wife for Barack.

It seems when he makes decisions he truly does take all factors into account, he gathers experts and then he makes his choices, which I think is pretty wise.

Some Conservatives will say he hates America and he's trying to destroy it and stuff, but I honestly think what looks politically good at the time, isn't always the best decision, and while I think he hasn't been as courageous with certain things as he should have been, he's not afraid to go against the tide and say what's right.

He was never gonna make conservatives happy, they hated him from the MOMENT he ran in the primaries.

Certain things that piss me off:

1. Gauntanemo has not been closed.
2. The patriot act is still in effect

Now these two points are where I said he hasn't been as courageous as he should have been, and has allowed politics to influence his decisions in these matters. Both are extremely sensitive issues in terms of political recoil.

If he did not renew the patriot act the Republicans and conservatives would have a ****ing field day. Which is kind of odd because of all their chest thumping on constitution this and constitution that, they have no problem going against that when it's politically expedient.

Which is not to say the blame ultimately doesn't lie with him on not ending those two things. But let us not forget who started them and ran them for the majority of the time.

3. He simply has not been vocal enough on gay rights.

Again being the politician that he ultimately is, he has pandered a little bit to Christains in this matter, basically opposing same sex marriage from a personal standpoint, but whether he'd sign a repeal of the DOMA is a whole nother story, and I'd hope he'd step up the plate and do it.

At the moment he's in a tight spot. I think he underestimated just how much smear he was gonna get from the right. Some of it has been utterly disgraceful and has taken away alot of the political capital he inherited at the started of his presidency.

He's been in tight spots before, and he'll make it through again.

Good luck Obama.
 
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Very well thought-out and addressed; my thanks.

I have three business partners. I've really only discussed the President with the brit who now lives in Wales, and the Muslim from Pakistan who now lives in England. They both think he's the best thing to hit the office in a very long time. We haven't talked about anything in-depth though, like the points you just made.
 
Very well thought-out and addressed; my thanks.

I have three business partners. I've really only discussed the President with the brit who now lives in Wales, and the Muslim from Pakistan who now lives in England. They both think he's the best thing to hit the office in a very long time. We haven't talked about anything in-depth though, like the points you just made.
 
malleable and not as interested in American Primacy has his predecessors
 
They like him in Europe, the UK, Canada, ect. They like him in Africa, because of his fathers roots, obviously.

Aside from Conservative parts of America, I can't think of places that openly dislike him. Maybe North Korea.
 
Last I Head he had 90%+ approval ratings in Germany. (NPR a few months ago)
 
He's pretty much what I thought he would be when he was running for President. I disagree with the American conservative notion that he's a socialist, because he's not, not by a long shot. He's sort of a European style centrist politician. Non-threatening, intellectual, worldly, sort of out of touch with the people. I disagree with his views on gay marriage, he's much more liberal than I am about abortion, don't really have a problem with his foreign policy. He's kept a lot of his prececessor's policies, so I agree with people who say he's just Bush-lite. I dunno, he's nothing special as foreign politicians go, other than being the first African-American president. Don't really spend that much time thinking about him. He gives nice speeches. :shrug:
 
Obviously I'm not American lol.

Ummmm good question.

I like him more then Bush, that much is certain. I don't judge him on the whole Republican Democrat thing, I feel it's redundant.

He's a good man, genuine family man in my books, no trophy wife for Barack.

It seems when he makes decisions he truly does take all factors into account, he gathers experts and then he makes his choices, which I think is pretty wise.

Some Conservatives will say he hates America and he's trying to destroy it and stuff, but I honestly think what looks politically good at the time, isn't always the best decision, and while I think he hasn't been as courageous with certain things as he should have been, he's not afraid to go against the tide and say what's right.

He was never gonna make conservatives happy, they hated him from the MOMENT he ran in the primaries.

Certain things that piss me off:

1. Gauntanemo has not been closed.
2. The patriot act is still in effect

Now these two points are where I said he hasn't been as courageous as he should have been, and has allowed politics to influence his decisions in these matters. Both are extremely sensitive issues in terms of political recoil.

If he did not renew the patriot act the Republicans and conservatives would have a ****ing field day. Which is kind of odd because of all their chest thumping on constitution this and constitution that, they have no problem going against that when it's politically expedient.

Which is not to say the blame ultimately doesn't lie with him on not ending those two things. But let us not forget who started them and ran them for the majority of the time.

3. He simply has not been vocal enough on gay rights.

Again being the politician that he ultimately is, he has pandered a little bit to Christains in this matter, basically opposing same sex marriage from a personal standpoint, but whether he'd sign a repeal of the DOMA is a whole nother story, and I'd hope he'd step up the plate and do it.

At the moment he's in a tight spot. I think he underestimated just how much smear he was gonna get from the right. Some of it has been utterly disgraceful and has taken away alot of the political capital he inherited at the started of his presidency.

He's been in tight spots before, and he'll make it through again.

Good luck Obama.


Very astute assessment. I agree on every point.
 
its an answer to the question posed in the OP

Okay, but I also said "And I'd really rather only hear first-hand from people who live outside the States, or articles from outside the States."
 
I can tell you, I live in Mexico, that I have never talked to anybody here that has a favorable opinion of him.

Frankly I don't see what the rest of the world is seeing in him.

He has never accomplished anything in his professional life, and up until now he hasn't stopped campaigning enough to run the country.

When I look at him I see absolutely no integrity at all.
 
I don't think a lot of Americans really appreciate that when the U.S. does huge things, like go to war, it affects everybody, and because Canada is right next door we tend to become enveloped in the situation by proxy. If there are tense situations in your country it worries us, even if many up here are too proud or arrogant to admit it. I know Canadians in general were very excited when Obama got into office, and the majority breathed a sigh of relief when Bush's term finished. (Mind you, some people here also really liked Bush.)

Partisan issues aside, the Bush era and everything that happened in it was really intense for everyone. I know the events of those 8 years will be some of the defining moments of my generation, even as a Canadian. Obama seemed like he would be a new chapter. There was a lot of anticipation and it felt like a lot of positive changes were coming. It was one election where a lot of people (myself included) really allowed their cynicism and doubt about politicians to subside and we had hope. In hindsight, I now feel that the Obama campaign mostly just took a dismal 8 years of foreign conflicts, security fears, and domestic turmoil, and used it to play on people's emotions.

I can't speak for everyone in my country but at this point I feel underwhelmed by Obama, and the cynic in me has only been reinforced. While I don't believe he has done anything catastrophic like his opponents are constantly trying to say, I do feel that he hasn't done much to really shake up the status quo. Maybe it's because the economy tanked right after he got into office and that limited the scope of what he could do, but I don't know... that can't excuse everything. I'm also well aware that it's not really the POTUS that determines everything, and that because of the different branches in the U.S. government, change can be slow. If anything Obama is just the face of the operation. But still... even though I don't hate him, I am still disappointed.
 
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