Republicans...

[A-Bob]

Republicans only

I'm voting against Obama

[HagridOfTheDeep]

I think Romney has the potential to be the best President since Reagan. And I mean that honestly. He's a solid guy with the right experience for the task at hand.

[Progressive Realist]

I think Romney has the potential to be the best President since Reagan. And I mean that honestly. He's a solid guy with the right experience for the task at hand.

cool story bro

[Young Lawyer]

I'm a registered Republican. I've never voted for a Democrat before. I was originally going to vote for Romney, especially because I have huge respect for his financial expertise, faith in free enterprise, and personal abilities. But I recently changed my mind, mostly because of crazy talk about social issues.   Not really a pro-Obama vote as much of a vote against the craziness, especially in light of my intuitive feeling that neither will really shrink the size of government.

I may still change my mind.

[5280/East California]

Alot of people thought it was cool to vote for Obama in 2008, and some regret it for their dumb choice.  Vote for the guy that will do a better job than Obama.

[Young Lawyer]

Alot of people thought it was cool to vote for Obama in 2008, and some regret it for their dumb choice.  Vote for the guy that will do a better job than Obama.

the 2008 trendiness of his candidacy was particularly annoying.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Obama manipulated a lot of people with an erroneous bandwagon. That's half the reason I don't like him. Especially as a young person in socialist Toronto. You had to like Obama in '08.

[Pacific Councillor Big Wiggly Style]

More against Obama, but it's a bit of both.

Then again I can't vote.

[Emperor SJoyce]

Not supporting either (and not able to vote), so against Obama.

[Big DaddyTX]

Neither. Both are horrible candidates. Johnson yall!

[milhouse24]

I think Romney has the potential to be the best President since Reagan. And I mean that honestly. He's a solid guy with the right experience for the task at hand.

cool story bro

Do you think Reagan was a terrible president?  Or do you think Romney will do worse than Obama?

[HagridOfTheDeep]

I'm not sure who you're asking. I think Reagan was a fantastic president. I think Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush Jr. and Obama have been pretty bad. So it's not going to be that hard for Romney to be the best president since Reagan.

[Emperor SJoyce]

I'm not sure who you're asking. I think Reagan was a fantastic president. I think Bush Sr., Clinton, Bush Jr. and Obama have been pretty bad. So it's not going to be that hard for Romney to be the best president since Reagan.

Reagan great? Drug warrior Reagan? The Iran-Contra guy? Guy who ran up massive deficits? Angola? Lebanon? Afghanistan? Iran? Iraq? Nicaragua? Libya? Grenada? Colombia? This guy fantastic?

[TJ in Wisco]

Against Obama.

[Communists For McCain]

Neither. Both are horrible candidates. Johnson yall!

[argentarius]

If I had to pick and I could vote, I'd pick Obama. And I would support the republican typically.

[cope1989]

But don't some of you Republicans think Reagan's presidency has kind of been whitewashed, especially since he passed away? He did a lot of things during his presidency that conservatives are vehemently against today like granting amnesty to illegals, raising taxes, growing our deficit, and doing little besides paying lip service to anti abortion activists. He also became a convert on gun control when he supported the Brady Bill. Of course, Reagan had very unique circumstances concerning this issue.

People also forget the low points in his presidency. His approval rating was dismal until late 1983 when the economy started improving and inflation fell. People saw him as Carter II until that point. Then the last 2 years of his term were all about Iran Contra which pulled down his approvals again. So half of his presidency he was beloved, and the other half he was despised.

I think Reagan the campaigner was just much more appealing than Reagan the executive. We don't really remember the bills he signed into law, his executive orders or the scandals. We remember his landslides and the incredible amount of hope he gave to the American people when he spoke to them on the campaign trail.

We should give Reagan credit for restoring optimism to America, but it would be wrong to forget the finer details of his time in office, not all of which was so great.

[AmericanNation]

But don't some of you Republicans think Reagan's presidency has kind of been whitewashed, especially since he passed away? He did a lot of things during his presidency that conservatives are vehemently against today like granting amnesty to illegals, raising taxes, growing our deficit, and doing little besides paying lip service to anti abortion activists. He also became a convert on gun control when he supported the Brady Bill. Of course, Reagan had very unique circumstances concerning this issue.

People also forget the low points in his presidency. His approval rating was dismal until late 1983 when the economy started improving and inflation fell. People saw him as Carter II until that point. Then the last 2 years of his term were all about Iran Contra which pulled down his approvals again. So half of his presidency he was beloved, and the other half he was despised.

I think Reagan the campaigner was just much more appealing than Reagan the executive. We don't really remember the bills he signed into law, his executive orders or the scandals. We remember his landslides and the incredible amount of hope he gave to the American people when he spoke to them on the campaign trail.

We should give Reagan credit for restoring optimism to America, but it would be wrong to forget the finer details of his time in office, not all of which was so great.

Reagan was a deal maker, which is a great quality if you get 90% good done and 10% bad.  It is hard to, but you have to study what each side wanted and what was good to figure deals out. 
Most Clinton lovers fail to understand that Clinton would negotiate against the good parts of a deal and then take credit for it.  Reagan was typically on the good side of the deal. 

[NHI]

For Romney!

[ModerateCoward]

are the 10 for Obama voters troll democrats/indies or a really SILENT minority? I want an actual Republican who is voting for Obama to speak up(and plans to vote for Republican candidates in the future). Even Torie is voting for Romney.

[cope1989]

But don't some of you Republicans think Reagan's presidency has kind of been whitewashed, especially since he passed away? He did a lot of things during his presidency that conservatives are vehemently against today like granting amnesty to illegals, raising taxes, growing our deficit, and doing little besides paying lip service to anti abortion activists. He also became a convert on gun control when he supported the Brady Bill. Of course, Reagan had very unique circumstances concerning this issue.

People also forget the low points in his presidency. His approval rating was dismal until late 1983 when the economy started improving and inflation fell. People saw him as Carter II until that point. Then the last 2 years of his term were all about Iran Contra which pulled down his approvals again. So half of his presidency he was beloved, and the other half he was despised.

I think Reagan the campaigner was just much more appealing than Reagan the executive. We don't really remember the bills he signed into law, his executive orders or the scandals. We remember his landslides and the incredible amount of hope he gave to the American people when he spoke to them on the campaign trail.

We should give Reagan credit for restoring optimism to America, but it would be wrong to forget the finer details of his time in office, not all of which was so great.

A few small nitpicks. Reagan was never "despised" during his Presidency, much less despised for half of it.  Job approval ratings aside, he always had fair to excellent favorability ratings. His lowest job rating came in Jan, 1983, the height of the recession, and was 35%. But by the end of 1983, his numbers were back above 50% because of the economic recovery (and that was a REAL recovery, not like the one we're in now). His numbers soared to above 60% after his reelection. Even during Iran Contra, his job rating only slipped as low as 43%. Shortly after, his numbers returned to > 50% in 1988, and he ended his presidency above 60%.

So I wouldn't say Reagan was loved for half his presidency then despised the other half. The numbers seem to inidicate he was "loved" about half the time, and thought of as just "ok" about half the time.

Ok, well obviously my choice of words is up for debate. Of course favorability and job approval are different. But I've heard many people say that Obama's approvals in the 40s show that the American people reject him, so by that logic, you can make the same claim about Reagan after Iran Contra.

I still believe that there was a lot of contempt for Reagan during the early 80's recession. Likeability can only get a president so far, and with a 35% approval rating, it's clear that people were angry at Reagan during that time, especially blue collar workers who made up his base.

Iran Contra was different. It divided the country, where Republicans supported Reagan almost unanimously and Democrats scorned him almost unanimously.

It's just ironic to me that once a former president's narrative is set in the public consciousness, we tend to gloss over things that don't fit the story. Reagan and Clinton were both unpopular during their first terms, Bush was incredibly popular until 1992, Carter sustained very very high approval ratings his first year in office, Nixon (Mr. Watergate)  achieved the biggest popular vote landslide of the 20th century. Just a few examples.

[cope1989]

But don't some of you Republicans think Reagan's presidency has kind of been whitewashed, especially since he passed away? He did a lot of things during his presidency that conservatives are vehemently against today like granting amnesty to illegals, raising taxes, growing our deficit, and doing little besides paying lip service to anti abortion activists. He also became a convert on gun control when he supported the Brady Bill. Of course, Reagan had very unique circumstances concerning this issue.

People also forget the low points in his presidency. His approval rating was dismal until late 1983 when the economy started improving and inflation fell. People saw him as Carter II until that point. Then the last 2 years of his term were all about Iran Contra which pulled down his approvals agan. So half of his presidency he was beloved, and the other half he was despised.

I think Reagan the campaigner was just much more appealing than Reagan the executive. We don't really remember the bills he signed into law, his executive orders or the scandals. We remember his landslides and the incredible amount of hope he gave to the American people when he spoke to them on the campaign trail.

We should give Reagan credit for restoring optimism to America, but it would be wrong to forget the finer details of his time in office, not all of which was so great.

A few small nitpicks. Reagan was never "despised" during his Presidency, much less despised for half of it.  Job approval ratings aside, he always had fair to excellent favorability ratings. His lowest job rating came in Jan, 1983, the height of the recession, and was 35%. But by the end of 1983, his numbers were back above 50% because of the economic recovery (and that was a REAL recovery, not like the one we're in now). His numbers soared to above 60% after his reelection. Even during Iran Contra, his job rating only slipped as low as 43%. Shortly after, his numbers returned to > 50% in 1988, and he ended his presidency above 60%.

So I wouldn't say Reagan was loved for half his presidency then despised the other half. The numbers seem to inidicate he was "loved" about half the time, and thought of as just "ok" about half the time.

Ok, well obviously my choice of words is up for debate. Of course favorability and job approval are different. But I've heard many people say that Obama's approvals in the 40s show that the American people reject him, so by that logic, you can make the same claim about Reagan after Iran Contra.

I still believe that there was a lot of contempt for Reagan during the early 80's recession. Likeability can only get a president so far, and with a 35% approval rating, it's clear that people were angry at Reagan during that time, especially blue collar workers who made up his base.

Iran Contra was different. It divided the country, where Republicans supported Reagan almost unanimously and Democrats scorned him almost unanimously.

It's just ironic to me that once a former president's narrative is set in the public consciousness, we tend to gloss over things that don't fit the story. Reagan and Clinton were both unpopular during their first terms, Bush was incredibly popular until 1992, Carter sustained very very high approval ratings his first year in office, Nixon (Mr. Watergate)  achieved the biggest popular vote landslide of the 20th century. Just a few examples.

Can't argue with that last paragraph. Reagan and Clinton were both iniitially popular in their first terms, then both of their numbers collapsed. But they both also recovered very well in time for reelection. Remains to be seen whether that will happen for Obama, and economic indicators are that it won't. Doesn't look like Obama will have an '84 OR '96 style reelection race.

Well that's the problem with economic indicators. They can tell two completely different stories

http://www.examiner.com/article/economy-rebounding-after-a-sluggish-early-spring

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/gauge-of-us-economy-dipped-01-percent-in-april-first-setback-since-last-september/2012/05/17/gIQAPDpzVU_story.html