Woman to President: My husband can’t get a job.
President to Woman: He’s an engineer, isn’t he? Plenty of jobs out there for engineers.
Which is… true, actually. And, speaking as the husband of an engineer: thank God. But this exchange is incredibly tin-eared. And before anybody says “So, in other words, you’re just complaining about how Obama said it, not what he said,” let me save you some time and say “Yes.” Only, I’m not complaining.
I’m gloating. Big difference, there.
Moe Lane
There is nothing more frustrating than being unable to find work as an engineer and have people tell you how many jobs are out there for engineers.
Universities are working to graduate more and more engineers and rather than “weeding out” the weak ones, as they have in the past, they are making more of an effort to get these kids to succeed academically. This is good for the college, but I am not sure if it is good for the students that may find themselves in that field.
Of course, I just read today that more Americans think Barack Obama understands their problems than the Republican candidates so clearly I have been watching too much Fox News (although I don’t watch any).
Woman to President: “Go &@#% yourself.”
What truly depresses me, is that, unless Romney suddenly transforms into a likeable human being (or close facsimile thereof), Obama will walk to re-election.
And I really hope Professor Jacobson at some point realizes that Newt really is as bad as everyone said and wasn’t worth the effort. I know he thinks that Romney is a bad candidate, and he’s right about that, but Newt is even worse by almost every measure. Better to take the best of a bad bunch and focus on doing the best we can in the fall.
I’ve not given up on winning, but it’s clear to me that this will not be 1980.
Aruges: Should we even want 1980? It has been my opinion (and only mine, I have found no one who agrees), that Reagan’s gifts allowed conservatives to be lazy. His message also transformed into just lower my taxes and the larger meaning about the evils of too much government was lost.
We REALLY can’t afford that again. If we get stuck with a Romney as President than conservatives should not view it as a victory and can’t stop working. I also can’t stand Gingrich personally.
I believe conservatives didn’t work hard at spreading the message after Reagan. We can’t be lazy.
Well, I want a convincing crushing victory for free markets and limited government that puts that embarrasses the Lefty’s view of America so badly that they can’t run on it openly for another generation. That’s what I mean by “1980”. Sadly I don’t think that’s possible this time round given the candidates we have left, but I will gladly take whatever victory I can get as long as Obama is defeated.
I think Rush Limbaugh agrees with you to an extent. Reagan made it look so easy. He was such a good communicator and had a passion for explaining why he made the choices he made in easy to understand ways. He also had the benefit of being a truly likeable guy who had truly unlikeable opponents.
Likeability is king in politics. That’s why Romney is weak, Gingrich is DOA, and Santorum is largely ignored.
I dunno, I did a quick google and unemployment for engineers in 2010 was around 5% – which is higher than the overall unemployment rate for most of Bush’s presidency. I don’t have any trouble at all believing that a software engineer might have a hard time finding work.
“Well, I want a convincing crushing victory for free markets and limited government that puts that embarrasses the Lefty’s view of America so badly that they can’t run on it openly for another generation.”
One of the major reasons why THIS HOPE CAN NEVER HAPPEN is that the Left always has the option of “Vote Liberal, Press-Release Conservative.” Granted, such a tactic can (and likely will this go around) put the Left in a major bind when it comes to consistent messaging and coherent policy ideas, but it’s highly doubtful you’ll ever see the Left undergo what they went through in the 1980s, much less what the Right went through in the 1930s.
Frankly, the Right should be somewhat relieved right now that President Obama is a fairly passive-aggressive person. Emphasis on the passive. Otherwise, well, let’s not think about that.
We’ll I’m a software engineer and since Obama’s election, I’ve been out of work twice. Fortunately, both times I found a new gig within a month, but I had to move to opposite ends of the country for each job. A programmer less mobile than I was, I definitely could see having trouble. Plus, it really depends on the industry you work in and what your skill set is. A COBOL programmer (don’t laugh I know a few) who’s out of a job will have few options, but a C++ guy will have many, if they are open to working in different fields. (moving from games to bank software or bank software to embedded) should be able to find something somewhere, even if it’s just contract work. But you have to be open to change (location, pay, or field).
“It has been my opinion (and only mine, I have found no one who agrees), that Reagan’s gifts allowed conservatives to be lazy….”
You should look harder. I run into quite a few folks at conferences who say much harsher. I keep telling folks that the VRWC and the GOP are in the same exact condition that the Dems and their Lefty retainers were in 1992. Right down to the same lack of confidence in candidates whose flaws appear all too painful at first glance.