“Whatever Happened To Hope And Change?”

HOPE: The Last Democrat National Convention Focused On “Renewing America’s Promise.” “For six hours and with at least 60 speakers, Democrats will focus Tuesday on a theme of ‘Renewing America’s Promise’ at their national convention.” (“Democrats Turn To Renewing America On Second Day,” CNN, 8/26/08)

HOPE: FLASHBACK: Four Years Ago Today, At The Last Democrat National Convention, Obama Complained About Politics As Usual, Saying If “You Don’t Have A Record To Run On, Then You Paint Your Opponent As Someone People Should Run From.” OBAMA: “If you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from. You make a big election about small things. And you know what? It’s worked before, because it feeds into the cynicism we all have about government. When Washington doesn’t work, all its promises seem empty.” (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At DNC Acceptance Speech, Denver, CO, 8/28/08)

CHANGE:The Associated Press: “The President Can’t Tell Voters About A Grand Economic Comeback Story Because There Isn’t One To Tell.”(Ken Thomas, “Obama Doesn’t Emphasize Issues He Fought Hard For,” The Associated Press, 6/12/12)

CBS’s Bob Schieffer: “Whatever Happened To Hope And Change?” CBS’s BOB SCHIEFFER: “Well, you know, one of the refreshing changes when the President was elected — he talked about hope and change. Whatever happened to hope and change? Now, it seems he’s coming right out of the box with these old fashioned negative ads. All campaigns seem to think are the basis of all campaigns now.” (CBS’s “Face The Nation,” 5/27/12)

• Obama Will “Run A Much More Negative Campaign” To Combat A Jobless Rate That Has Not Allowed For A President’s Reelect “Since The Great Depression.” “The jobless rate will stand at levels that have not led to a president’s re-election since the Great Depression. Largely because of that, Obama will run a much more negative campaign, his aides acknowledge, even if it threatens to demoralize some supporters who were inspired by his 2008 message of hope.” (Charles Babington, “2012 Race Likely To Be Close, Tough, Maybe Brutal,” The Associated Press, 11/5/11)

• Democrat Strategist: “Unless Things Change And Obama Can Run On Accomplishments, He Will Have To Kill Romney.” “‘Unless things change and Obama can run on accomplishments, he will have to kill Romney,’ said a prominent Democratic strategist aligned with the White House. The strategy came down to proving Romney was unfit to govern, a phony, and ‘weird.’” (Glenn Thrush, Obama’s Last Stand, 2012)

• Obama Did Not Have Reservations About The “Kill Romney” Strategy And “Personally Signed Off On All Of His Campaign’s Paid Advertising.” “If the outside world found that approach jarring, Obama didn’t. In interviews with two dozen current and former Obama advisers, not one said he expressed reservations— at least in the beginning— about the ‘kill Romney’ strategy, and he personally signed off on all of his campaign’s paid advertising, although he often toned down the very harshest attacks.” (Glenn Thrush, Obama’s Last Stand, 2012)

• The Washington Post’s Ruth Marcus: “Forget Hope And Change,” Obama’s Campaign Is Based On “Fear And Loathing.” “Forget hope and change. President Obama’s reelection campaign is going to be based on fear and loathing: fear of what a Republican takeover would mean, and loathing of whomever the Republican nominee turns out to be. Of course the Obama campaign will attempt to present the affirmative case for his reelection, citing legislative achievements, foreign policy successes and the current flurry of executive actions. But his strategists have clearly concluded that selling the president will not be enough, and the contours of the ugly months ahead are becoming increasingly apparent.” (Ruth Marcus, “Campaign 2012: Welcome To The Slugfest,” The Washington Post, 11/2/11)
• “Today, Obama’s Campaign Is Very Much Playing The Usual Political Game Of Divide And Conquer.” “With Obama, though, we have more of a special case. This is the guy, after all, who eight years ago created his political brand with a stemwinder of a Democratic National Convention speech decrying the divisiveness of politics, and who four years ago ran a campaign defined by a positive vision of ‘hope’ and ‘change.’ Today, Obama’s campaign is very much playing the usual political game of divide and conquer.” (Aaron Blake, “Can The Campaign Of ‘Hope’ Go Negative?” The Washington Post, 4/9/12)
• In 2012, Obama Will Be A “Brass-Knuckled, Pipe-Hitting, Red-In-Tooth-And-Claw Brawler Determined To Do What Is Necessary To Stay In Power In Other Words, A Politician.” “Whichever side is right, one thing is undeniable. For anyone still starry-eyed about Obama, the months ahead will provide a bracing revelation about what he truly is: not a savior, not a saint, not a man above the fray, but a brass-knuckled, pipe-hitting, red-in-tooth-and-claw brawler determined to do what is necessary to stay in power - in other words, a politician.” (John Heilemann, “Hope: The Sequel,” New York Magazine, 5/27/12)

• “Thus, To A Very Real Degree, 2008’s Candidate Of Hope Stands Poised To Become 2012’s Candidate Of Fear.”(John Heilemann, “Hope: The Sequel,” New York Magazine, 5/27/12)

“Though The Obamans Certainly Hit John McCain Hard Four Years Ago—Running More Negative Ads Than Any Campaign In History—What They Intend To Do To Romney Is More Savage.” (John Heilemann, “Hope: The Sequel,” New York Magazine, 5/27/12)

• Obama Relies On “Going Negative,” Which Is “Very Different From The Formula” He Used In 2008. “Obama and his advisers fell back on the timeless method that has essentially become the default option for presidential reelection campaigns, despite his promises to change the process. They prefer to talk euphemistically about ‘drawing the contrast,’ but everyone else calls it going negative. This was something very different from the formula that elected the country’s first African-American president, but it would have to do.” (Glenn Thrush, Obama’s Last Stand, 2012)

Obama’s 2012 Re-Election Campaign Is “A Depressing Experience Compared With The Heady Days Of 2008.” “That reluctance to fully commit to the grungier realities of 2012, said people around him, hinted at a deeper sentiment that he shared with his dispirited 2008 voters despite his surface bravado. The reelection campaign was, simply, a depressing experience compared with the heady days of 2008. ‘We have got to stop buying our old bullshit,’ one of Obama’s state directors told me, summing up the opinion of a handful of top Obama advisers. ‘We’re our own worst enemy with this crap. This isn’t 2008. We’ve got to accept that. So does he.’” (Glenn Thrush, Obama’s Last Stand, 2012)

America’s Promise Has Not Been Renewed

HOPE: Obama Said He Measured Progress By Whether Americans Could Find A Job And Where Incomes Increased Instead Of Going Down. OBAMA: “We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage, whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college diploma. We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was president…  when the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of go down $2,000, like it has under George Bush.” (Sen. Barack Obama, Remarks At DNC Acceptance Speech, Denver, CO, 8/28/08)

CHANGE: Since Obama Took Office, The Nation Has Lost 316,000 Jobs And The Unemployment Rate Has Increased From 7.8 Percent To 8.3 Percent.(Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 8/28/12)

The Unemployment Rate Has Remained Above Eight Percent For A Record 42 Straight Months.(Bureau Of Labor Statistics, Accessed 8/28/12)

CHANGE:Median Household Income: “Real Median Household Income In March Was Down $4,300 Since Obama Took Office In January 2009 …” (Mike Dorning, “Obama Fails To Stem Middle-Class Slide He Blamed On Bush,” Bloomberg, 4/30/12)

The New York Times Headline: “A Closer Look At Middle-Class Decline.”(David Leonhardt, “A Closer Look At Middle-Class Decline,” The New York Times’ “Economix,” 7/23/12)

The Middle Class Is Shrinking And Millions Of Families Are Hurting. “The latest census data depict a middle class that’s shrinking as unemployment stays high and the government’s safety net frays. The new numbers follow years of stagnating wages for the middle class that have hurt millions of workers and families.” (Hope Yen, “Census Shows 1 In 2 People Are Poor Or Low-Income,” The Associated Press, 12/15/11)

“Many Of The ‘New Poor’ Are The Former Middle Class.” “‘Many of the ‘new poor’ are the former middle class,’ broadcaster Tavis Smiley, who requested the study, said in a statement.” (Mary Wisniewski, “Poverty To Keep Rising Due To Slow Recovery: Study,” Reuters, 1/11/12)

The Recovery Has Failed To Produce The Middle Class Jobs Obama Campaigned On. “Barack Obama campaigned four years ago assailing President George W. Bush for wage losses suffered by the middle class. More than three years into Obama’s own presidency, those declines have only deepened. The rebound from the worst recession since the 1930s has generated relatively few of the moderately skilled jobs that once supported the middle class, tightening the financial squeeze on many Americans, even those who are employed.” (Mike Dorning, “Obama Fails To Stem Middle-Class Slide He Blamed On Bush,” Bloomberg, 4/30/12)

Poverty: 97.3 Million Americans Now Qualify As Low-Income And Another 49.1 Million Are In Poverty; Together, 146.4 Million Americans Or 48 Percent Of The Population.(Hope Yen, “Census Shows 1 In 2 People Are Poor Or Low-Income,” The Associated Press, 12/15/11)