Repeal 22nd Amendment of US Constitution

[Valley Oak]

America needs President Obama to become another 4-term president like FDR was.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution

[theindependenteye]

>>>America needs President Obama to become another 4-term president like FDR was.

But we'd like four terms of a Ronald Reagan?

-Conrad

[Valley Oak]

I understand what you are saying. What's good for the goose is good for the gander, right?

Just for starters. It was the Republican Party that instituted the 22nd Amendment precisely because of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's unprecedented 4-election victory streak and 12 years in office. FDR died shortly after his fourth election, otherwise he would have been in the White House for 16 years.

Are you saying that Reagan would have been re-elected to a 3rd term? Highly unlikely, if not impossible. Think of this carefully. Reagan was already the oldest president in US history, at age 77 (and 17 days shy of his 78th birthday), when he finally left office on January 20, 1989.

Reagan himself would not have accepted another term simply because of his age and his alzheimer's was getting worse. Although you could argue that Reagan would have run for a 3rd term despite all of this, the greatest strength of that argument only comes from the fact that we can never know for sure because the 22nd Amendment was in effect.

Furthermore, another Republican was going to be elected to the presidency (whether it was Reagan or Bush Sr. or anyone else) because that is where the mindset of American voters was at in 1988, when Bush Sr. was chosen over Dukakis. Bush Sr. was not "less bad" than Reagan. I'm not saying that Bush Sr. was necessarily worse. But I am saying that between a 3rd term of Reagan vs. Bush Sr's 1st term there is no substantial difference, either in ideology or public policy.

Although many people don't like comparing American government to other countries' governments, I believe that America's exclusive prohibition on presidential term limits is a devastating mistake, one that hurts all Americans and non-Americans around the world. If there is another nation in the world that has term limits for its heads of state, then I stand corrected on this. Americans should have the right to re-elect whomever they want for president as many times as they choose to do so.

In 2016, there is no strong candidate other than Andrew Cuomo. Hillary will be 69, the same age as was Reagan was when he won his first election in 1980, and I would not support her if she did decide to run. Don't get me wrong; I like Hillary and I voted for her against Obama in the Democratic primaries in 2008. A strong presidential candidate, a successful incumbent like Obama, would almost guarantee that the White House would remain safely in Democratic hands. And America would progress far further forward.

Another reflection is Bush Junior's trashed support even among his party faithful in 2008. Bush Jr. was one of the worst president's in US history and Republican's know this. There is no way that the US would have re-elected him president for a 3rd term. If Bush Jr. had run again, which I very seriously doubt, Obama would have trounced him far worse than when Obama beat McCain in the 2008 contest.

Edward


>>>America needs President Obama to become another 4-term president like FDR was.

But we'd like four terms of a Ronald Reagan?

-Conrad

[podfish]

..In 2016, there is no strong candidate other than Andrew Cuomo.
only political junkies knew much about about Obama in 2004, or Clinton in 1988. It's a tad early to get too excited about a weak progressive field, if that's your concern.

[Valley Oak]

Not my concern. My commentary is addressing the thread issue, which is repealing the 22nd Amendment. Although I do not see this as being nearly as important as electoral reform, proportional representation, and a multiparty system, it would be a step in the right direction. And Obama would be the best man for the job, and the country, in 2016, even if there are strong candidates waiting in the sidelines.

Edward


only political junkies knew much about about Obama in 2004, or Clinton in 1988. It's a tad early to get too excited about a weak progressive field, if that's your concern.