February 11, 2012

If Obama loses he will have something which, if he wins, he will lose and never be able to recover.

An observation from a discussion, here at Meadhouse, about what the Obamas, Michelle and Barack, will do after he is out of office. What set off the discussion was this news story about Michelle Obama going on the TV show "Top Chef" and judging a competition about school lunches. She'll be around forever — won't she? — doing things about kids and health and food. Women's TV. Books for women. The traditional woman gig. (It's for liberals too.)

And Barack? He'll be fine. He'll do analysis. Distanced observation. Comfort and critique. I say. Meade says: "Not if he loses." At which point I said what I've got quoted there in the post title. You see what it is, of course.

If he loses,  he can run for President again. He was the first black President, and now he can be the second 2-non-consecutive-terms President, after Grover Cleveland. I picture him going on "Sesame Street," talking to Grover about Grover Cleveland and teaching the kids in TV about the constitutional law of presidential term limits and about how sometimes you get knocked down, but you get back up.

45 comments:

David said...

He will beam back to his native Vulcan and become King of the Vulcans.

David said...

Why are those Obama ears so big? Prosthesis to cover up the Vulcan ears.

Phil 314 said...

If he lost would he eventually show up on Celebrity Apprentice?

Rob said...

In recent decades, Democrats have not been forgiving of losers. They've generally been declared non-persons and Photoshopped out of May Day parade photos. It'd be a departure if, having lost re-election, Obama could stage a comeback.

I'm Full of Soup said...

After seeing how Jimmy Carter, the other big Dem loser, has behaved for the last 40 years, I say we put an expiration date for ex-presidents into the constitution.

[if the Secret Service is reading this blog, I am just kidding!]

chickelit said...

He'll do something international. That's one reason he's out of synch with practically everyone. At a time when international cooperation is waning, he's out there hoping for a One world.

____________
wv = "fampoli" {italian, meaning famous politician]

Roger J. said...

first things first: make sure he loses

Hagar said...

If Obama loses, he will leave office as a quite wealthy man; not in Clinton territory, but then he probably is not that greedy either.
I don't think he will do a Jimmy Carter; Jimmy Redeless is agressive, and Obama is passive/agressive, not the same thing. I think I see him more like Ralph Nader, petulantly on the sidelines.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, if he loses he won't be back as President. The "been there, done that (and not too well)" vibe will be too strong. You can only run as an unknown, overpromiser once.

Meade said...

If he stays away from pot, booze, and blow, he will likely set the record for longest-lived ex-president, surpassing, aptly, Herbert Hoover and, soon, Jimmy Carter.

Anonymous said...

When he loses, he will continue to attack the U.S. from the United Nations side.

He's had his eye on his next move since before he set foot in the oval office. He has been appeasing other nations to his own countries detriment for the last 3 years, all the while poking his finger in the eyes of our allies.

His path forward is clear.

madAsHell said...

His retirement will be much like his presidency....

Tee time!!

ricpic said...

Assuming Althouse is serious, who would vote for him should he lose and then run again (which presupposes a Democratic death wish)? Other than blacks, union goons and college perfessers -- who?

Bender said...

Traditionally, deposed tyrants and despots have gone into exile in places like Argentina.

But whether it was from there or elsewhere, I'm sured he go and sulk and pout and have occasional hissy fits to any media who would listen to him.

garage mahal said...

A girl can dream....

Excellent analysis by Meade as always.

Jim in St Louis said...

chickenlittle has the best guess so far. I'm thinking the UN
Secretary General. One doesn't need to have a clue for that gig. A nice spot for a nice man who gives a nice speech.

bagoh20 said...

If he loses, he's a victim - the basic unit of power on the left. And, he'll be a victim of racism. The left is in danger of completely losing the race card as a weapon and he will be it's poster child, but this will only live in the liberal mind. Nobody else sees Barack as a Black man.

Racism will be blamed for his loss, thus we will miss learning 2 great lessons: 1) Affirmative action hiring is foolish and out dated, and 2) As a voting group the nation is center-right.

The only reason liberals ever win is that so many people are suckers for the silly "mean greedy Republican" meme.

Petunia said...

Obama's not a Vulcan. Vulcans don't lie.

robinintn said...

I see some sort of permanent on progress situation, a la Henry XII:

"From thence the whole Court removed to Windsor [the king] then beginning his
progress, exercising himself daily in shooting, singing, dancing, wrestling, casting
of the bar, playing at the recorders, flute, virginals, and in setting of songs, making
of ballads & did set two goodly masses..."

Sponging off the people, separately of course. Less wrestling and Mass, more golf and shopping.

Hagar said...

Obama plays golf because he likes to get away and play golf; Bill Clinton plays golf because he can bend ears and make deals out there.

bagoh20 said...

Isn't it about time for a third autobiography?

robinintn said...

Oops. Henry VIII, not VII.

Curious George said...

Crazy talk. Obama will run for POTUS once more, win or lose. He has to run for re-election, but POTUS is below Obama's self perceived station.

He will then become the worst ex-POTUS ever. Surpassing Jimmy "Fuck the Jews" Carter. America will continue to pay for its mistake everyday of the rest of his life.

MadisonMan said...

who would vote for him should he lose and then run again (which presupposes a Democratic death wish)? Other than blacks, union goons and college perfessers -- who?

Doesn't that depend who is running against?

And Petunia, Vulcans do lie. See The Enterprise Incident.

ErnieG said...

I don't think that he will be able to pull a Grover Cleveland comeback if he loses this one. His mistakes and blunders in policy will become more evident with time, even as we forget his little gaffes. He will lose the cover the MSM have been providing for his ineptitude, as they did with FDR's wheel chair.

shiloh said...

If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Xmas and Happy New Year ~ Dandy Don Meredith, MNF

btw, one of my all-time fav pundits. :D

pm317 said...

I think you are wrong about this. If he loses, so many stories will come out that that will destroy his reputation. The vetting will happen after he loses and from the people who were gagged and threatened now who will be free to talk and make gobs of money then. Look at that guy George Stephanopolous's rise.

edutcher said...

GodZero will spend his years livin' large off the American people he hates so much.

If there's another book, it will definitely be written by William Ayers since, as madAsHell notes, the only time you will get him away from the links will be when he knocks back some Waygu steak and arugula with his kind of people - super rich, Radical, and lily white.

Rusty said...

Meade said...
If he stays away from pot, booze, and blow, he will likely set the record for longest-lived ex-president, surpassing, aptly, Herbert Hoover and, soon, Jimmy Carter.


Talk in corridor is that he never left the stuff. Be ironic as hell if he cacks with a needle in his arm.
Maybe he'll move to France.

Unknown said...

First of all, only NYT type people are thrilled with Michelle and her nationwide scolding tour. I'm sure the soldiers were thrilled with her showing up and telling them to eat their vegetables. Yuck!

Both of them will go on to make millions as celebrity leftists, after he, inshallah, loses big, regulars at Davos and the like. "How the Bitter Clingers Did Me In" will be his next book.

michaele said...

Yes, I think pm317 is correct that there will be some revealing tell all books published.
However, we racist bitter clingers will be raged against by the left. How dare we vote against what is good for us.
In lots of ways, Barack would probably be relieved to no longer be President...no more boxes to put check marks in. If Michelle can still harangue us about superior choices, she'll be happy.
Oh, and she'll enjoy jabbing Barack a little about being a loser. She won't be able to help herself.

Unknown said...

If he wins, he will be the second first black president, will haunt Davos forever. If he loses, he will photo-op for the next Habitat sub-standard housing for the unfortunate, and shill for the vilest dictators on earth.

rcommal said...

It's hard for me to imagine that Mrs. Obama, once sprung from the White House, would sign on to get back in. Oh, run for re-election now, sure: that's just continuing on the path they're already on. But agree to try to get back in once released? This strikes me as profoundly unlikely, though anything is possible, I suppose.

Anonymous said...

If he wins, America loses.

Penny said...

What will President Obama do if he loses the election?

He will greet his successor on the steps of the White House, then disappear on a helicopter from the White House lawn.

God, I love my country, and this moment always brings tears to my eyes for those who are about to serve and sacrifice, and those who did serve and sacrifice.

William said...

The success or failure of the Presidency immediately following his will have the greatest impact on his reputation. What so distinguished the failure of the Carter administration was the success of the Reagan one. As I remember those years, there was no sudden turn for the better when Nixon followed LBJ--just more riots, war, and inflation. LBJ never got the ingnominy he deserved because Nixon was such a much.

Penny said...

Contrast and compare with the transference of power in Egypt, or Syria, or Libya. I could go on, but you get my point.

bagoh20 said...

Good point Penny, and that's why I have no problem with the political incivility people always cry about. I just consider the alternative. Even at our worst, we are pretty damned civil.

Anonymous said...

"...this moment always brings tears to my eyes..."

I too always appreciate this moment.

Joe Schmoe said...

Meade, what about the cigarettes?

Hey, if Jerry Brown can be guv of CA for non-consecutive terms, then I don't see why Barry couldn't be the POTUS with the TOTUS again.

If he loses, yeah, he'll be a bum to the Dems for awhile, but time and distance will burnish his image. Contrast him with typical joke Dem candidates like Algore or John Edwards, and Barry will look like a god again.

deborah said...

Time with his daughters while they're young.

cubanbob said...

The republicans didn't run Hoover for a second term and even the democrats aren't that imbecilic.

Wince said...

Supreme Court justice, with Bill Ayers as his clerk.

Nathan Alexander said...

When Obama loses, Mrs Obama won't be proud of the US anymore, will she?

MDIJim said...

Maybe he wants to lose.

Think of it. Four more years of refereeing arguments between strident feminist staffers and thick-necked Chicago pols versus touring the world's golf courses as a UN "special representative". Ayers will ghost-write a memoir about how the bitter clinger racists did him in, and millions of Poli Sci students at colleges around the world will be forced to buy it. He will make millions and billions.

Special added bonus feature: while Michelle stays at home doing her Create TV nutrition show, he will be out of sight. If he wants, let's hope he doesn't, his old pals at Goldman-Sachs can supply him with all the blow he wants. If he really, really wants, his old pals in Hollywood could supply him with blow jobs.

As a young ex-president, life is good, just ask Bill, but don't tell Hilary.