Opinion: How Obama can win in 2012

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President Obama’s team likes his chances for reelection in 2012, despite high unemployment, a shaky job-approval rating and competitive poll results for Republican Mitt Romney, Op-Ed columnist Doyle McManus wrote Thursday. Team Obama’s optimism stems from hopes of a bipartisan deficit reduction plan, a respectable approval rating from Democrats, more minority voters in the next election and a strong reelection team. But it won’t be a walk in the park for the president, and he still has work to do, McManus said.

[White House aide David] Plouffe was indisputably right about one thing: Winning reelection won’t be easy. Obama has to thread a needle between his new centrist position and his old liberal base; on that front, this month’s battle over the debt ceiling offers both opportunity and peril. The 2012 presidential election could be won or lost in the next three weeks.

Some readers are less optimistic about Obama’s chances in 2012.

The unemployment rate is what matters, and Obama is no FDR

‘Team Obama seems to genuinely believe that the president will get his second term...’

I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that having columnists for a left-leaning paper publish sentences like THAT probably doesn’t do much to inspire confidence among Obama supporters.

Of COURSE they SEEM that way. If you cannot exude an aura of confidence about Obama getting reelected, then they’re not going to ask you to join ‘Team Obama’, are they?

DUH.

Was McManus expecting to find somebody like this?

‘Gee, I don’t think he has a chance in hell, but I’m proud to be a part of his reelection campaign. Yes, it’s a total waste of time, since he’s probably going to lose, but I’m making lots of friends and flying to all sorts of interesting places all over the country.’

‘The unemployment rate appears likely to remain above 8% until election day.’

The ONLY relevant statement McManus makes in his column. There is a reason that this is bad news for ‘Team Obama’. No president since FDR has EVER been reelected with unemployment above 8%.

And Obama is no FDR.

--GregMaragos

Republicans will lose if they don’t focus on the economy

Its not so much that Obama will win so much as Republicans will lose. They do not have a viable candidate in any of the Pro-Life/Anti-Gay crowd. These folks born of the Tea Party are supposed to be all about Fiscal responsibility yet they put an awful lot of focus on social issues thus alienating the moderates and independents.

Ron Paul (who I am actually more in line with politically) is simply not presidential.

Which leaves only Romney. Romney will probably win the Republican Nomination but I think that the far right will put up their own candidate because Romney is not ‘Christian’ enough...and ultimately split the vote and handing a victory to Obama.

Republicans need to focus on the economy and only the economy if they hope to win in 2012.

--David in LA

Not enough ‘anybody but Obama’ voters for Republicans to win

Obama can’t win the election based on his record, but the Republicans can easily lose it. While there are many ‘anybody but Obama’ independents, there are not enough of them for the Republicans to nominate just another breathing body.

--edwardskizer

Obama’s reelection plan? Not his record in office

I have no more insight than anyone else as to what ‘Team Obama’s’ victory plan consists of. But I’m going to go way, way out on a limb, and suggest that it definitely will not involve him running on his record in office thus far. Count on it!

--prosecutor

Obama never takes responsibility for the disaster he’s created

‘Hope’....’Change’.... it worked once for Obama and will again -- for the GOP this time around.

It’s one thing to paint rosy pictures of future life; it’s another to cause a train wreck and your only excuse is ‘It’s George Bush’s fault.’

Honestly, Obama has been a total disaster for America and it’s always someone elses fault.

Well, good luck. Obama -- if you can convince public school educated citizens that the pain and suffering they now feel is not your fault then they deserve 4 more years of your pain.

Folks you now live in Obamaville -- all those promises he made lead right here -- an implosion of capitalism and the rise of socialism in America. If you thing Greece has problems they are tiny compared to what’s ahead for America.

So Hope for a Change -- to the GOP to rebuild America; we’ve done it many times in the past after Liberals trash America; we’re kind of used to it by now.

--PerryM

Obama’s 2012 supporters will pay the price

If you vote for Obama, you deserve what’s coming.

--sb36695

Team Obama will have to play dirty to win in 2012

Regardless of what the Obammunist dreamers have planned in the coming campaign, he is going to have to wage a very negative campaign against his opponent because he has very few accomplishments that are popular with the electorate.

In order to reduce scrutiny to his policies he is going to have to use every dirty political trick in the book to get people to distrust the GOP nominee. He will have ample support from his allies in the media who will try to Palinize the nominee, but I really think people are going to see through that more this time.

If Perry ends up running and taking the nomination Obama is going to try to keep people from comparing their economic records so he will have to try to convince everyone that this governor from Texas is just like the last governor from Texas. I think that is going to be a tough sell too.

--Nathaniel J

*Spelling errors in the above comments were corrected.

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