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[MA] Flying_Meat wrote:

wait. the dollar isn't based on the hype standard?

It is, which is why Obama can rescue the economy.

The big difference between Obama and Carter is that Carter was an ineffectual leader and manager. He had some great ideas and was a 'good guy' but he had zero charisma and influence to get anything done.

Hank Rearden wrote:

I fear that Obama will be the next Carter. A good guy and a good president who will be clobbered by high energy prices and stagflation.

Frankly, the Democrats might be better off scuttling his candidacy and letting McCain et al. take the reigns for the next four lousy years.

I like the idea of leaving no doubt in the minds of ideologues, let alone the general public, that large failures of policy can be attributed to an ideology rather than just a party or a president. That was Rove's central strategy, but he relied on manufactured propaganda to bolster failure; years of costly war, massive indebtedness and badly underperforming economics can simply run their course and leave no doubt. The need for manufactured propaganda can be minimised. The greater good is in discrediting destructive policy, but that requires sacrifice. Carter learned that selling sacrifice is a non starter.

Carter also came to office at a time where the American political system had gotten hammered by not just a nasty economy, but also Watergate, Vietnam and more. There was a general loss of faith in the system, which I think explains why people were so eager to embrace the Reagan postcard view of things.

With Obama things are a bit different. The economy sucks (though luckily freecat says the worst is over), the political system is discredited, a war has caused serious anger ... but it's not so much a loss in the system as it is a hunger for change.

So really, I think if one is to compare circumstances, I don't think it matches Carter as much as it does, say, FDR or maybe TR.

Well, with any luck, we'll get to see who's right.

In any case, I suspect that O would be better than Mc no matter what; and either (thankfully) are better than H.C.