Jimmy Carter Praises President Obama, Says He’s Succeeded Despite ‘Bitter’ Opposition
President Barack Obama may only give himself a sad “incomplete” rating on his job with the economy, but former President Jimmy Carter gives the POTUS high marks all across the board.
Jimmy Carter made his case for President Obama’s re-election early on in the Democratic National Convention tonight, though via a video appearance before the prime time speaking slots. In the speech, Carter says that President Obama can be proud of his first term, and that he has succeeded despite the “bitter” opposition against him.
“In just four short years, (Obama) has worked to avert economic calamity, brought a dignified end to the ill-conceived war in Iraq, and signed into law historic health care reform—a dream that was already decades overdue when I called for it at this convention 36 years ago,” said Carter, continuing, “And he has done it all in the face of bitter, unyielding, in fact unprecedented partisan opposition.”
For such a strong endorsement, Carter’s speech was kept pretty close to the back of the queue. That’s probably because Republicans like to paint Carter as a “weak chief executive” and compare Obama to him, notes the New York Times. Paul Ryan even brought up the comparison at a campaign stop in Ohio earlier today.
“They fired Carter and they hired Reagan,” he said of voters in the 1980 election. “We’re going to do the same thing.” The Romney campaign has also been using the same line against Obama that Ronald Reagan used against Carter, asking whether Americans are really better off than they were four years ago. “President Obama can tell you a lot, and he’s good at doing that, but he cannot tell you that you’re better off,” said Ryan.
So the real question is this: Are Democrats pointedly aware of the comparison between Obama and Carter? Do they consider it damaging? Are they a little embarrassed of Jimmy Carter? Or is this all just a lot of smoke? Sound off, people!
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