What is it that the American people want?

[Reaganfan]

What is it that the American people want?

In 2004, they re-elected a President who they clearly were not that enthusiastic about. Within a year his popularity began waning and people started saying they regretted voting for him and swept in the Democrats in 2006 then elected a Democratic President in 2008.

In 2010, clearly people didn't agree with many of Obama's policies and swept the Republicans back in charge of Congress. Then, he slid by re-election in 2012 against a Republican nominee who wasn't nearly as strong as his electoral prospects were.

You see people in polling seem to dislike Obamacare. I talk to people who dislike Mitt Romney and voted for Barack Obama but they despise Obamacare. So Republicans, using the "will of the people" as their main line, keep trying to defund Obamacare. But then, people get even more angry at Republicans despite them trying to get rid of something the people don't really care for.

It's like someone calling 911 for help and then getting angry because the police showed up. It makes no sense to me. What do you think it is that Americans want?

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

Clearly the people want the government shutdown. Full speed ahead!

[dead0man]

Americans don't vote for what they want, the vote against what they don't want.  It's that stupid "lesser of two evils" thing so many people believe in.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

The American people are not a monolithic voice.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Clearly the people want the government shutdown. Full speed ahead!

Indeed.  Shut 'er down, Republicans!

[tik 🪀✨]

You really wanna have an anecdote showdown, Naso?

Alright.

Most of the people I spoke to in 2004 (upwards of thirteen people, some of them even minorities!) were not happy with Bush, but didn't like the wishy-washy caricature of John Kerry that was being spread. Many had confused ideas about the war in Iraq and their taints still had solidified beads of sweat from the aftermath of September the 11th, 2001. They saw in Bush a swell Christian everyman who wanted desperately to be good at his job and they could identify with that, even though he (and they) clearly sucked at being people. Many of them held their noses and selected Bush on their voting touchscreens (using their elbows of course).

Then, in 2006, after many of the horrendous consequences of Bush's terms were beginning to become clear, their balls dropped. Maybe the Democrats weren't Frenchmen. Maybe what the Democrats had been saying was right. I mean, it was certainly different to what we had now. And different is change that we can alter the future with for the children of America in the years to come, after today, moving forward. So the Democrats swept into Congress and a lame duck was made! It was a special time in America.

The failures of Bush really hit home in the rest of the country in 2008. We knew that a change was needed in the executive branch for a guy who got it. Sure George Everyman Bush was a swell individual, but we needed a smartypants who would do the things we needed. So we elected Barack Obama in a historic moment of colorblindness and hope. Aisles were crossed. Divisions were subtracted. Orifices were penetrated. It was America again.

And then that change we could believe in turned into change we weren't so sure about. Even those people I talked to who DID believe weren't willing to voice their support for fear of being ostracized. How did I know? I could see it in their eyes. The temperature of America was fever-pitched. Obamacare. The government would FORCE us to UNFREEDOMLY UNLIBERATE us with FINES of our HARD EARNED DOLLARS to PAY for a SOCIALIST PROGRAM. We had made a tragic mistake. How were we supposed to pay for health insurance, let alone a fine for not having it? WE WERE UNEMPLOYED! Christ, get money from the Fed, give it back to the Fed. No gain there, am I right? That's what everyone was saying. It was only logical. The Republicans triumphantly regained the House. It brought a tear to my eye and a mess to my boxers, I'll tell you what.

But in 2012, those anonymous polling booths brought with it something unforeseen. We thought for sure Obama was on the outs. After all, unemployment was through the roof still! I mean, hello - recessions don't last this long, idiot! It was a no-brainer to us no-brainers. Obama was OUTSKIES, full stop. But then all of those meek pissant little liberals showed up to the polls like they hadn't in 2010. They didn't tell me about it, that's for sure. In my mind, the Rom-bomb was dropping and was about to explode prosperity and just, like, spew purple mountain majesty all up in this bitch. Turns out I was wrong. Weird, right? Obama won. I was so confused.

Everyone I'd talked to (now upwards of twenty-three people) said they were gonna either vote Romney or third party. Perhaps my sample size wasn't large enough? I began asking strangers who they were gonna vote for. Perhaps my firey mop and eager tone made them feel at ease, as I got plenty of answers. Most of the replies weren't for either major candidate, true - plenty of them were variations of "Get help!" But those that answered always hated the Obamanation that had taken place. I was stumped!

My librarian, Gladys, said she was voting Obama. I asked her why and she said that even though she wasn't comfortable with the healthcare mandate, she thought that Obama had a balanced and tempered foreign policy that was refreshing when compared to his predecessor. She pointed out that even though most people had a negative opinion of Obamacare, they didn't necessarily have a negative opinion of the vast majority of the ideas and policies implemented in Obamacare. I hadn't heard anything like that from anyone else I'd spoken to, so I pretty much ranked it as an outlier.

[Ban my account ffs!]

Thanks a lot, Tik.  Now I have purple mountain majesty stuck in my hair.

[7,052,770]

They want Obamacare.  Yes, the name has been successfully poisoned, but the constituent pieces always poll well.

[Link]

In 2010, clearly people didn't agree with many of Obama's policies and swept the Republicans back in charge of Congress.

The Republicans are not in charge of Congress.  They control one half of Congress and only because of gerrymandering.  The majority of the people voted for Democrats for the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives.  It should be clear what they want.

[opebo]

What do you think it is that Americans want?

They're stupefied, Naso.  Look in the mirror.

[milhouse24]

I think Obamacare will be something people have to see for themselves before they judge - or that there is enough resistance to riot.  Of course, it could cripple a lot of companies and perhaps the economy as a whole.

If the economy craters in the next year, then there will be a lot of momentum for the GOP nominee in 2016 to win the election. 

Obamacare could equal Bush' Iraq.  If it fails in people's eyes, it will doom the Democrats for a few election cycles.

[Link]

Obamacare could equal Bush' Iraq.  If it fails in people's eyes, it will doom the Democrats for a few election cycles.

Maybe it could equal Iraq if it was totally pointless, kill hundreds of thousands of people, and poured a trillion dollars down a hole in a God forsaken desert half way around the world.  You guys still don't get it.  Everything about the Iraq war was toxic.  I don't think giving teenagers and people in their early twenties health insurance is toxic.  Nothing is perfect but the Iraq war stands out in my lifetime as the absolutely worst presidential decision by a long mile.  Nothing has been close.

[Paul Kemp]

You guys don't expect Naso to return with any thing of substance to this thread do you?

[memphis]

People want the best of everything money can buy (for themselves), and they want to pay zero taxes.

[All Along The Watchtower]

People want the best of everything money can buy (for themselves), and they want to pay zero taxes.

But most Americans do want the rich to pay higher taxes. And they want a more generous safety net. And they want a higher minimum wage. And they want gays to be allowed to marry. And they don't want another war.

Of course, most Americans don't get what they want politically. How could they, when the entire process is dominated by rich people and Serious People (TM)?

Oh, but at least about half of the public votes in the presidential election once every four years! Yay democracy!

[opebo]

People want the best of everything money can buy (for themselves)

Really? Have you seen what the silly asses eat?

[King]

They want Democratic policies and Republican rhetoric.

[minionofmidas]

Your head on a pike, Mike.

[Maxwell]

You guys don't expect Naso to return with any thing of substance to this thread do you?

He didn't start with anything of substance.

[Orser67]

They want Democratic policies and Republican rhetoric.

I think there's definitely some truth to this

[angus]

In 2004,

They didn't want Kerry to be president.

2008

They didn't like McCain.

2012

They didn't like Romney.

What is it that the American people want?

To have their cake and eat it too. 

We expect a superhero who can withstand all manner of vetting and probing and round-the-clock, 24-month campaigns in a fishbowl existence with perfect teeth and a perfect wife and 2.3 healthy, well-behaved children and answers to all manner of questions.  Then we complain because we have in the end to choose between the lesser of two evils, but realistically only the most aggressive, megalomaniacal sort of politician can stand up to the intense and unrealistic scrutiny under which we expect our candidates to survive the campaign trail.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Judging by the internet, Pornography. Lots and Lots of Pornography. Why do you ask?

[Rooney]

The American people want to cut the deficit and make sure taxes are low. They do not want to pay their taxes. They also want a huge military and security state to fell safe. They also want to make sure they keep getting their disabilities, unemployment and Social Security checks. These things require a lot of money but, remember, they don't want to pay taxes. Taxes are unfair! In short, the American people want Heaven but they do not want to die to get there. 

[angus]

In short, the American people want Heaven but they do not want to die to get there. 

"if a chinese find two dolla, he spend one and save one.  if an American find two dolla, he borrow five and spend seven."

== a (not so ancient) Chinese proverb, heard by angus on the streets of Shangai recently.

[The world will shine with light in our nightmare]

They want Obamacare.  Yes, the name has been successfully poisoned, but the constituent pieces always poll well.

Indeed.  Obamacare always does better when it has a different name.

Sadly, it's polls like this that make me question what kind of value policy polls have at all.