i dont think it would move the needle too much on either side of the political spectrum. wont really change the motivation of Democrats or Republicans.

where it could have an effect are swing voters and moderates. and with these, I think it would help Trump. If Obama, the previous president (from the Democrats no less), entered a mud-slinging contest with Trump, this would only normalize Trump's behavior and allow it to appear less unusual and outrageous than it actually is.

let's also not forget that there are many swing voters and moderates whose memories of "Obama's America" are not fond at all [1], and who only voted against Trump in 2016 and/or 2018 because they perceived him as racist and/or unfit for office. this type of swing voters would normally lean heavily Democratic in 2020, so freshening up their bad memories of the Obama years would be detrimental from the Democrats' perspective.



[1] remember that in 2012, Obama lost among independents by 5% despite winning the popular vote by 4%.

This post was edited by Black XistenZ on Jul 8 2019 03:32pm

2 things:

1. Mud slinging contest isn't really what i mean, there's a lot of gray between getting nasty and what he's going now, which is silence.

2. Trump has a tendency to stick his foot in his mouth. and would likely say some shit that CNN and others would run with as racist, so it could be a net positive for that group of voters that i agree exists, those who only voted against Trump due to perceived racism.

but i agree overall that the needle wouldn't move much. which is why i wonder if Obama regrets publicly promising to remain silent. with how many times Obama has appeared in Trump tweets he looks like a serious cuck. i dont care if i said i wouldn't talk shit to you, the second you start chirping and keep chirping any former deals are off. IMO its about legacy, Obama wants to appear above it all, same reason he peacefully passed power along.

also, in 2012 the number of independents was a lot larger. the country is far more polarized now.

This post was edited by thesnipa on Jul 8 2019 03:38pm

I dont think that Obama could avoid their sparring turning into mud-sling for too long tbh.




Uh, how about "he peacefully passed power along because it was his constitutional duty", or "because he had to respect the will of the American people who had chosen Trump", or "because he knew that blatantly obstructing Trump and refusing to pass power would carry the risk of escalating into civil war like violence"?
It's really not like he had any choice. On top of that, I really believe that Obama wanted the best for America, and therefore wanted the Trump administration to be successful on at least some very very basic level.

And iirc, he even mentioned the transition from GWB to himself during an interview, pointing out that Bush and his administration had been very cooperative when Obama took over, despite massive ideological disagreements, and that he, Obama, therefore felt obliged to pay back this favor to his successor, no matter how hard-fought the campaign was or how much he disagreed with Trump and everything Trump stands for.

This post was edited by Black XistenZ on Jul 8 2019 03:45pm

you're making some very strong interpretations of my posts. its honestly odd.

when i said Obama wouldn't mud sling, that doesn't mean Trump wouldn't. It is possible to take the high road with Trump, just ask many people who have licked his boots like Lindsay Graham. Or even John McCain, who had a fairly mundane approach at times and a far more combative approach at other times.

secondly, you honestly thought that post meant that i was saying he should refuse to give trump the POTUS office? i was talking about the low energy press conference and the tour of the white house that they gave Trump/Melania. as well as the "ask for advice any time" bit. then the pre-agreement to not post about Trump's presidency. there's no precedent, social media is too new. even at the time people were talking about how Bush-Obama wasn't comprable given how new social media was. this is the precedent we're in now.

the whole bit about the bush handover is prob a bit true, and im sure it played into it. i dont remember that, i do remember the Bush1-Clinton handover being talked about since that was a bitter campaign.

This post was edited by thesnipa on Jul 8 2019 03:52pm

You might be right. Sry, I'm a bit distracted today.

no worries lol not upset. just figured i'd head it off instead of a 10 post back and forth until we're on the same page lol.

overall tho, i'm not convinced Obama talking about Trump helps anyone, even himself. I just think its a bit sad to watch a grown ass man sit and wallow in all this criticism. Maybe he thinks in the longrun Trump will look so bad that he can only get dragged down with him.

well GWB stfu’d about him even as Obama took a southside-tier level of shots at him (rightfully so, imo) during his inaugural speech. Would be rather odd for him to get mad about getting treated with the same derision by the person after him.

that said, critical assessments of your predecessor is par for the course for the US Presidency. Hell it’s part of the equation of how you win elections. the understanding is that you go home and make money quietly and dont kick up a storm afterwards. It’s a lotto ticket that the Clintons have perfected (Bushies were already rich)

thing is i can easily see Trump tweeting all the time about whoever follows him - especially (and ironically) if it’s a Republican who wasn’t a full backer of his administration. He’s already reallie rich and an old dog so no teaching him any new tricks

What matters is his original campaign message