Obama's record on gun rights is very well known by everyone at THR.
I wouldn't vote for him, not just because of that, but also because I believe his stance on the US economy is outdated, and would lead to large investment in institutions that no longer have value in the modern world.
All that being said, why is it that everyone assumes that Obama will be able to get everything he wants as President? Why is it that everyone assumes he'll get ANYTHING he wants, for that matter? Is it because Bush got everything he wanted? Is it because Clinton got everything he wanted?
Not only did neither Bush or Clinton get everything they wanted, but what they DID get, they had to maneuver for, they had to compromise for, and they had to kiss congress' ass for. They used different METHODS, but that's still how they did it, and that's because both of these men had executive experience before taking office. Clinton and Bush were both governors, and Bush had Cheney as his VP, who has more executive experience than... just about anyone I can think of.
Clinton compromised with Congress to get things that he wanted. He wanted this, so he'd give Congress that in return.
Bush got a small (VERY small, when you think about) amount of people in Congress to support him, and then he got anyone who didn't support him to stand aside and let him have it anyway.
Now let's see Obama. Obama is very intelligent, he's very firm in his beliefs, he's very VOCAL about his beliefs.
He respects very few people (if any), and has little respect for common social institutions (such as religion. I will guarantee you right now that Obama is not a religious man of any kind. Not Muslim, not Christian, not any other religion).
He's very good at painting a pretty picture of himself to masses, but very poor at maintaining that image to individuals who may know him personally.
He doesn't like to depend on others to get what he wants. He doesn't think other people have the RIGHT to stop him from getting what he wants, and by extension believes he'll be able to bowl through anyone that stands in his way.
Obama is going to be more polarizing to people in Congress than he is with voters. Mainly because he won't be able to keep up his perfect image to them for any extended period of time. Unlike Bush, who had supporters and non-supporters, Obama is going to have supporters who LOVE him, and OPPONENTS that will do everything in their power to make sure he doesn't get what he wants.
If all Bush's non-supporters in Congress had said 'No, Mr. President, we're not going to be doing this', then Bush wouldn't have been able to do all the things he did. Obama is going to be facing exactly that if he is elected.
