In his Wednesday post-midterm press conference, President Obama said,
the American people have spoken, they expect the leaders they elect to work as hard as they do.
Fox viewers were favorable to his opening remarks, even though the GOP 113th Congress planned on working 113 days in 2014, but actually only worked 97 days total. I sincerely doubt any American would consider 27% of the year spent at work is truly industrious. But the viewers of this "network" believe exactly what they are told.
Fox News and other conservative pundits expected the president to come to the podium with his tail between his legs, proclaiming that all his policies were a failure and he's lost his mandate to lead. But he didn't do that at all. He took a very unpleasant election and logically presented his plan of action which means doing the work for the American people, not for the oligarchs. Conservatives obviously see things differently and cater to their billionaire backers who've convinced the largely white and elderly segment of the population to vote in the 0.1%'s best interests.
An awesome jobs record and lowered unemployment are just a few of his achievements of late. The 2.3 million jobs created in 2014 is double the numbers President Bush 43 achieved in his EIGHT years as POTUS.
The special analyst on the Fox and Friends segment was there to discuss the president's defiant tone. Lee Carter of Maslansky and Partners, analyzes the reactions of both Democrats and Republicans as the president (or any politician they are tracking) speaks. The graph features a blue line for Democratic reactions and a red line for Republicans. When the president refers to people, the dials go up, when he speaks of being president, the dials go down. The first time he discussed the election, he got an A- for his words.
Carter proclaimed that the second part of his presser was when he began to lose the approval of Republican viewers (as if that wasn't a given without him saying a word). When the president states his plans to use the veto power, he's obviously "gone south" and gets a C. When the president speaks of his intentions to disavow the destructive agenda of McConnell and Boehner to repeal Obamacare, he gets a grade of D.
It's very simple. The Republicans were elected to continue to hamper the president on every single issue the Democrats support and anything that helps the common good. The Republicans want to bring back preexisting conditions, repeal the EPA and have unsafe air to breathe and water to drink. The GOP voter is 84% likely to not believe in man-made climate change, while having no problem with voter suppression, and easily accessed automatic weapons. Republicans want the teaching of contraception and abortion banned from science in high school and think evolution is a theory.
Just today, we learned the Supreme Court is poised to do away with the subsidies that have helped millions get insurance. They have gotten control of two of the three branches of government and they aim to wreak as much havoc as they can for the next two years.
When Boehner says President Obama is playing with matches when he plans to act unilaterally on immigration reform, or McConnell refuses to take the president's congratulatory phone call, we see exactly how Republicans think of him. He's just a black guy who has the audacity to be in an office higher than their flunkies. He should know his place. No president has ever faced such unprecedented disrespect, but the base just eats it up, so it continues. Sickening.
Most of the country is disinterested in the what the GOP base is consumed with: school prayer, and stopping safe, legal abortion. Most Americans just want to support their families and educate their children. The midterms were a referendum on values that have nothing to do with the average American. Ebola should not have set any narrative on any Senate race, yet it was an effective tool of the fear-mongering Right. We can also thank the irresponsible cable news networks for their destructive part in promoting the GOP narrative.
President Obama knows the depths of the insanity of the Republican party and will give them just enough rope to hang themselves with. He'll let the agendas of Senator Hogballs, Joni Ernst, be heard loudly and proudly. He'll fight them on issues that the overwhelming majority of Americans believe in, even if they did stay home on November 4. Despite how Americans inadvertently shot themselves in the foot, the president will fight on to keep his promise to Americans. Maybe this debacle will be exactly what the Democratic base needs to wake up and get out there and SUPPORT other Democrats, not run away from their accomplishments.
