Things I Said About President Obama, Then and Now Edition

As some people might know, I did not support President Obama's campaign for President in 2008 until he was the apparent nominee. First I supported Chris Dodd, then I would have supported Joe Biden, then Hillary was next for me at the time, followed by John Edwards, and then finally was the then-Senator Barack Obama. That was back in late 2006 through mid-2008, and a lot has happened since then. I want to look back at some of the arguments I made against the President then, and see how they've held up since:

1. He's not tough enough to fight the right-wing negative machine.
2. He's not electable. 
3. He's inexperienced.
4. All of this "hope and change" talk now is going to leave our base disappointed later.
5. He's not really anti-war.
6. He's not really as liberal as a lot of his supporters think he is.
7. His team is more about him than the party as a whole.
8. We don't need a candidate running on making our politics "nicer," you can't unite Washington, you have to fight.
9. The Republicans will turn him into a "radical" in the eyes of the public.
10. All of this process talk, especially the anti-lobbyists stuff, doesn't really matter, and he's appealing to people on non-substance here.

Alright, so how did I do....

1. Well, this is a mixed bag at best for the President, but he has largely allowed the right-wing to attack him without consequence.
2. Well, I got this wrong, twice. The man only set records for the number of votes he received, and won big twice.
3. I'd say I got this wrong too. While he hasn't been the most successful President at implementing his policies, he has some major achievements to his credit. I guess foresight is superior to years in office.
4. Well, I got this right, which is why we're now hearing about the "progressive champion" du jour of 2014, Elizabeth Warren, and how bad the left wants her to run. Progressives will sometimes tell you they are disappointed in what they got from this President. I say they should have done their homework better. He has been exactly who he really said he was.
5. Mixed bag here. You can say he upped the use of drones, stayed in Afghanistan, and did not govern as a pacifist, and you're right, and so was I in 2007. You can also say he got us out of Iraq, as promised. I pretty much approve of his record here.
6. This goes along with #4, but the President was always "left of center" on domestic policy, and as I argued then, Hillary was to his left domestically, whether his supporters wanted to hear that or not.
7. His team has changed so much that it's hard to tell here, but we are at a low point in my lifetime in seats in Congress and seats in state legislatures, we don't own the majority of governor mansions, and besides Elizabeth Warren, show me the other "new kid" on the national block from the left that is ready to run nationally?
8. This goes along with #1, but I hope that in the future we won't have primaries where Democrats think they can reason with the current right-wing party. I think even the President learned this lesson over time.
9. I don't know that they succeeded here, so I got this wrong. With that said, they tarnished his sterling image from 2008, and left the President currently with some low-water marks in polling.
10. He still has stricter rules than any recent White House on this stuff, but has it substantively altered Washington? Not really. At the same time, despite right-wing fetishes with false scandals, this administration has been ethical and above-board. That's fresh air.

So I think my arguments against him, largely arguments only a Democrat would have made in 2007, ended up turning out really mixed. Would I now have supported him in 2008's primaries? No. Would I say he turned out to be a better President than I thought then? Yes. Much better.