This article titled “Americans are not better off, admits Obama the underdog” was written by Richard Adams, for guardian.co.uk on Monday 3rd October 2011 21.34 UTC

Describing himself as “the underdog” in next year’s presidential election, Barack Obama admitted that Americans were no better off than they were four years ago – echoing Ronald Reagan’s successful criticism of Jimmy Carter.

Obama defended his record in office as producing steady progress – but told ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos: “Nobody is going to deny that we’re not where we need to be, that the economy is not producing enough jobs that pay well and give people a leg up on life.”

Asked by Stephanopoulos how he would appeal to voters “who simply don’t think they’re better off than they were four years ago,” Obama replied:

Well, I don’t think they’re better off than they were four years ago. They’re not better off than they were before Lehman collapsed, before the financial crisis, before this extraordinary recession that we’re going through.

I think that what we’ve seen is that we’ve been able to make steady progress to stabilise the economy but the unemployment rate is still way too high. And that’s why it’s so critical for us to make sure that we are taking every action we can take to put people back to work.

In his only debate with Carter in the 1980 presidential campaign, Reagan used his closing remarks to deliver what many political historians believe to have been a telling blow:

Next Tuesday all of you will go to the polls, you’ll stand there in the polling place and make a decision. I think when you make that decision, it might be well if you would ask yourself: are you better off than you were four years ago?

With US official unemployment still above 9%, the economic downturn has dragged down Obama’s opinion poll ratings to the point where 55% of voters in ABC News’s latest poll now expect Obama to be a one-term president.

Asked if his weak poll ratings and the state of the economy made him the underdog in the 2012 election, Obama quickly replied: “Absolutely … I don’t mind. I’m used to being an underdog.”

The interview was streamed live over the web by ABC News and Yahoo, with questions submitted online. One asked what would replace Obama’s 2008 campaign slogans of hope and change.

“I haven’t quite boiled it down to a bumper sticker yet but I think what will define 2012 is, our vision for the future,” Obama replied.

Asked what would be different if he wins a second term, Obama said: “The way it’s going to change is because the American people are going to have the say about where we want to go,” and accused the Republicans in Congress of following “a pretty extreme approach to governance.”

Later in the wide-ranging interview, Obama said he used an iPad – “Steve Jobs actually gave it to me a little bit early” – to read news coverage. Asked if he ever felt compelled to leave online comments, Obama replied:

You know, I don’t. I figure, if I got started, I wouldn’t stop, and I’ve got other things to do.

guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010

The second show in this weekend’s Doc Block is “Reagan.” This is the documentary that recently aired on HBO about the life of Ronald Reagan. It wasn’t the hit job I expected and was actually pretty good.

Russia’s government controlled news media takes a dim view of the Reagan presidency. They even go so far as to lecture the “mainstream media” in America for not accurately reporting on Reagan’s legacy and having a “selective memory.”

The “selective memory” charge is particularly amusing considering what the Russian media chose to leave out of Reagan’s legacy. You know, the part about him bringing an end to the Soviet Union.

(hat tip Verum Serum)

It’s hard for me to even get mad about this because it’s just so predictable. In fact, I was just thinking this morning how strange it was that the left hasn’t attacked Reagan on his 100th birthday. With all the celebrations this past week and Sarah Palin riding horses at the Reagan ranch, I figured the left would come out swinging. Of course, that was before their liberal Messiah decided he was Reagan 2.0. As a result, Reagan criticism has been rather muted on the left. A president they’ve loathed for a lifetime has suddenly become a swell guy…like Obama!

[Watch Ronald Reagan's 1989 farewell address from The Oval Office]

But Michael Kinsley over at the LA Times couldn’t help himself. He had to try and at least land a couple of glancing blows to Reagan’s legacy. Not only does Kinsley hate Reagan, he hates that his liberal Messiah actually wants to be like Reagan.

Worst of all, Reagan, with his sunny disposition amid catastrophe, taught Americans that it will all be OK; don’t worry about it. So for 30 years we didn’t worry about it. Now we’re worried. But it’s a little late. I don’t call that greatness, or worth emulating.

Hey Michael, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Your man is no Reagan. More importantly, he doesn’t want to be. Like everything else with Obama it’s all about optics. Obama thinks if he studies Reagan and adopts his rhetoric he can turn his presidency around. It’s yet another hat trick designed to fool the American people. What Barack Obama and his cronies don’t realize is that Ronald Reagan wasn’t playing a character. He didn’t adopt his persona and policies based on polling data. He didn’t say what he said as a front for a hidden political agenda.

The reason the American people responded to Reagan the way they did is because he was genuine. They could sense that what he said was what he truly believed. And more importantly, what he believed was both good for America and good for Americans.

Barack Obama is the polar opposite of Ronald Reagan. Nobody knows what he really believes because no one really knows him. But his destructive policies are neither good for America nor good for Americans.

You can read more analysis on Kinsley’s hit piece over at Big Journalism.

Here’s Dick Cheney’s speech at the Young America’s Foundation in honor of President Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday.

In honor of President Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday, here is his 1989 farewell address from The Oval Office. It’s truly a magnificent speech. I was only 7-years old at the time.

(hat tip Breitbart TV)

Source: ABC
Clash over whether president exhibited early signs of Alzheimer’s.

(hat tip Fox Nation)

One of the greatest speeches ever: