comscore Overall, how did Barack Obama do as president? | Honolulu Star-Advertiser
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Overall, how did Barack Obama do as president?

  • Jan. 12, 2017
  • . Excellent (777 Votes)
  • . Poor (593 Votes)
  • . Above average (587 Votes)
  • . Just average (329 Votes)
  • . Below average (257 Votes)

This is not a scientific poll — results reflect only the opinions of those voting.

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Comments (92)

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  • Bush was “unAmerican” for ballooning the budget deficit to 9T Obama said in 2008. In 2017 after eight years, it now stands at 19T. Excellent job, right!

    • wrongo! So typical of brain dead rush followers. the budget deficit was at 1.2 trillion and Obama has brought this down to under 500 billion. Now the total debt may stand at 19trillion but guess what? Republicans had much to do with this with their tax cuts for the rich and a never ending war that is giving us lots of problems with vets. And did you see the first bill republicans passed this session? A budget going forward showing the total debt will continue to increase by I think another trillion over the next 10 years? Love that fiscal responsibility.

      • Why would you alleged that he is a “rush” follower. He probably isn’t. Why would you imply he supports tax cuts for the “rich”? I know a lot of GOP supporters who aren’t rich. And why blame the GOP for all the problems vets may run into, some actual, many not. You are a typical rumor monger who believes the arty line without question.

      • JMV, This was typical rubbish I would hear on Rush. When haven’t republicans supported tax cuts for the rich? You have to go back to Eisenhower to find such a republican. My comment about Vets is only that under Obama a lot was done to fix the situation. He opened up the agency to a lot more claims which guess what? Costs a few bucks. It will be interesting to see how the Donald takes care of them.

        • Typical of Boots to spread falsehoods and spins like the rest the brain dead lemmings. Note to self, don’t ever let a community organizer become president ever again.

        • Yes Andrew, far better to have the town idiot, (G W Bush) who gave us 9/11 and a trillion dollar deficit or the Donald who will make conflicts of interest a prerequisite for doing business with the United States. Way to go republicans.

    • sandi2000: Do you know the difference between the deficit and the national debt? Apparently not. Our largest deficit was in George W. Bush’s final year (FY2009), when it reached $1.4 trillion (most of which was Bush’s TARP program). Under President Obama, it has declined dramatically (by FY 2015, it had dropped to $438 billion). And, can you give us a citation for the quote you attribute to Obama in 2008? Of course not. Think much?

      • Kuihao go to you tube, type in Obama speech July 3 2008 and you can hear from the horses mouth so to speak. On a side note; the President signs the budget, there fore he owns it.

    • Sure, if he didn’t do so many drugs in his youth. And, if he didn’t make so many excuses and blame everyone for his missteps. Our little experiment to put an unqualified community organizer in the White House ended up dividing our nation, doubling the national debt, and making the U.S. the laughing stock of the world. But Obama did have a great time and play a lot of golf.

      • if only qualified republicans can be half as good as Obama. Its not like republicans don’t do drugs. Our nation was already divided and what you hypocrites like to ignore is that you republicans were responsible for most of the national debt. With the Donald as president, well we will be the laughing stock as the for sale sign goes up at the white house.

      • My comment is awaiting moderation.

        @ BuhByeAloha
        I also believe a dysfunctional family created a dysfunctional child in this case. All the telltale signs that psychological experts would purport..a one nighter did it.

    • He may not have been great but he definitely was a lot better than the previous republican president who took us from a surplus to a 1.2 trillion deficit. He also I am sure was a lot better than our future president elect, The Donald, will be. I mean don’t be surprised when sanctions against Russia are lifted so that Exon can drill baby drill in Russia. Nothing wrong with this. Slime makes the world go around.

  • Barry was the worse President ever.
    1)Doubled the US debt in his 8 year term
    2)imo, created racial divide even moreso pre-judging events without facts, BLM borne, etc.
    3)Russia/China advanced their military stance, China’s man made islands, Russia’s land grabs in Crimea/Ukraine
    4)ObamaCare was a bunch of LIES, rates went up as well as deductions, etc. Just like Mufi did with TheRail: they are mouth pieces to advance their ego’s
    5)etc

    • Watch you walk back your words after Trump destroys this country in the next couple of years. According to you, GWB was one of the best presidents in history. Just be thankful the country is in the shape it’s in after what GWB did to make it almost collapse. Trump will pretty much finish the job soon.

    • There we go with that word worst. lol Sorry Pocho, the worst president ever probably has to go to your hero G W Bush who took the country from a surplus to a 1.2 trillion deficit. He allowed 9/11 to happen due to his belief that daily briefing memos were TP. He gave tax cuts during a time of war which I believe was the first time this happened. Finally he is still searching for nonexistent WMDs.

      But even I would be hesitant to call Bush the worst president ever. Lot of competition out there for this title. But I will say GW is the worst president in my life time. (going back to Truman)

      • How’s the red line in the sand working out? How about black on black killings in Obama’s home town of Chicago? How about the failing Obamacare? How about doubling our
        National debt by twice what it was in the last 8 years, how about failing to keep our world safe? How about failing to keep terrorists out of our country? How about unethical practices of targeting republicans with the IRS? How about picking and choosing which laws we shall enforce? How about taking our country further down the path of socialism? How about spending an exhorberant amount of money for a Hawaiian vacation on the tax payers dime? How about treating our enemies better than our own soldiers? How about doing nothing for our Vets? How about releasing more terrorists back in the community? How about pardoning drug dealers back into our community? How about him and the rest of the dems blaming everyone for the mess they’ve created? Thank god for Donald J. Trump!

        • Just curious Andrew would you just continue to ignore our Vets? The hell with them? I understand. There are reasons why the government had to continue to spend but under Obama the deficit has come down by more than half. Why are you not criticizing republicans for causing this debt in the first place?

        • hey boots just remember it was Clintons fault that led to 9/11 attacks Saudi arabia had bin laden in custody and ask Clinton to take him and Clinton did not. you know the rest of what happened

  • Deviously incompetent, Obama is and was the worst president in American history. The world is gripped with terrorism, and he cannot say ISIS, or Islamic Terrorism. In fact, he describes ISIS as the JV team, and he had a big hand in the creation of ISIS by not negotiating a new SOFA with Iraq. More recently, he undermined our friends by allowing the condemnation of Israel by the UN.

    • Just remember 9/11 happened under that great republican hero who used daily briefing memos as TP. Soon we shall see how the Donald does. If only republicans could be as bad as Obama. We probably wouldn’t have had 9/11 and thus never ending war. Now we shall soon have a new republican president who feels daily briefing memos are to be used as TP. Don’t be surprised if he gets similar results.

      • 911 happened because Clinton and the intelligence community were too busy saving Bill’s arse from the flames. Clinton passed on several opportunities to snag or kill Bin Laden. Easy for haters to blame bush for 911.

      • What I remember is how Clinton under estimated OBL, which allowed the rise of Al Quida, which led us down the path to where we are today. Dems and their weak foreign policies are to blame. Obama exemplified a weak foreign policy.

  • He was the African American equivalent of Jimmy Carter, only worse. A very weak president. We had high hopes he would rise to the occassion. But after his first term it was clear he had a radically different agenda. And it failed.

  • Wow, very surprised by the comments here, especially here in a state that is a bastion of Democrat Liberals. Makes you wonder if all of the polls that say Pres O is leaving office with Yuge approval ratings are the same pollsters that had Hillary winning the election.?

  • This POTUS has done more to worsen race relation than any other presidents. Unconsciously organizations providing assistance to demonstration groups did not help. His presidency has witnessed many racial demonstrations that need not have happened if he had not assumed and taking sides unconsciously. Looting and arson caused immense economic waste that need not have to happen. “Echo chamber” advocates also assisted in formenting unrest challenging local,authorities at immense cost to the communities.

  • Maybe Not The Greatest president! During the first year of his presidency he did fix the economy! Remember the “Housing Bubble” Dodds /Franks (Democrats) this was The Big Gorrila in the room lol. Also contributed with GW BUSHs’ Iraq war.
    We should at least give him credit for that. The Economy! But it was AFTER the “First Year” that really defined his legacy. He Messed up!Big League! Resulting in a More Divided Nation,more Wars in the Middle East and the destabilzation of Europe. Hawaii Born ? SAD

  • It is a very complex dangerous world with lots of opportunity to make it worse. He kept the lid on and improved the lives of many people. I liked his style. I felt that he was a creditable voice with reason. He was able to evoke trust.

  • Pew found in 2008 citizens with no religious preference at 16% and 2016 it’s at 25%, an 8% increase. At the other end, in 2008, 78% of the U.S. citizens claimed to have a religious preference and in 2016 the percentage dropped to 71%. Pew stated that the Country became less religious during Hawaii born President Obama’s eight years in office. President Obama was successful in making America less religious. America must be made Safe and Great Again.

    • Hussain’s legacy is falling apart of it’s own lack of construct. New admin just trying to save America , no time to worry about H’s legacy. He’s on his own now. History will sort it out.

    • IRT Wiliki, President elect Donald J. Trump last week requested and received approval that the bust of UK PM Churchill will be returned to the White House and placed in its proper place. Another of Hawaii born President Obama’s decision is reversed.

  • One only need to see how many things Mr. Trump is doing “Right” to see how many things were done “Wrong” by Mr. Obama.

    (Amazon just announced it will create more than 100,000 new jobs in America, Carrier to keep plant in America, major auto makers to invest billions in auto plants in America, etc)

    • Confidence returning to the productive portion of America……….fear for the non productive , but they too will be fine.
      Like they say “A rising tide floats all ships.”

  • For those of you who voted ‘Excellent’ for the POTUS, I’m interested in what accomplishments he took credit for that actually benefitted the people of the US?

    History will dictate the outcome.

    • Obama never benefited the people of the US but big corporations that wanted to flood the market with cheap labor. Only illegals would have gained under Obama if Texas didn’t sue to stop him from granting amnesty to some 40+ million illegals.

  • If you are a progressive/socialist and or are LGBT, then in your eyes, Obama did well. Eight years of Obama was way too long for me and the damage he did to our economy, the
    health system, and to our national security will take time to reverse. Had Hillary been elected, our country would have been done and we would have gone the way of Imperial Rome.
    As Trump has said himself, his election to the presidency was an act of Providence and I believe that he is right as he won against all odds and there cannot be any other explanation.

  • How can anyone have rated him “excellent”? He’s a good man that tried to do good things as President. Problem is most, if not all of his accomplishments didn’t turn out so good. Signature achievement Obamacare – I think it’s great that 20 million poor americans now have health insurance – but not if it means doubling insurance costs for the other 300 million americans. The republicans refused to work with him, (for whatever reason) so he really didn’t accomplish much but managed to double the national debt.
    So much hope, so much potential, so little accomplished.

    • Obamacare did not help a single poor American as the copays and deductibles were far in excess of what they could afford to pay to begin with. The only benefactors were 40+ million illegals that received Obamacare 100% for free and we paid for it!

  • Our Muslim Democratic far-left liberal President Barack Hussien Obama is the worst leader of this country in history. He may call himself a Christian, but his deeds were far from being a Christian. HE has more than supported homosexual marriage despite what God says about marriage – God’s covenant of marriage of one man and one woman. When the U.S. Supreme Court made that blaspheme ruling in approving homosexual marriage, Obama lighted up the White House with the color of the Homosexual/Lesbian organization. He call this Equality in Marriage his big accomplishment. By choosing the perversion path for this country, Obama thinks this is the right path to take. He will be judge by the God that formed him in his mother’s womb. Sinking his credentials into the pit of hell, Obama has supported murdering the unborn with the power of the pen. He has also approved taking the life of a baby at birth. Imagine that! When a baby is born and removed from the mother’s womb, the abortionist will suck the baby brain out with a tool to complete this heinous abortion procedure. There is no moral conscience with the Democrat party. I would say Barack Hussein Obama is the most evil leader, the only one, this country ever had.
    He has reduced our military to the pit of danger point. Barack Hussien Obama does not care about Americans only the incoming Muslim immigrants to this country. They are well take care off instead of taking care of our Veterans who need the help most. This is why I love Donald Trump who cares about Americans and the American Veterans.
    Because of the Secular-liberal-Atheist Democratic party, our kids in College have become secular atheist. There is a moral collapse in this country. If Hillary Clinton would have been elected President, the secular-liberal-atheist Democrats will have complete their secularlization of America wiping out anything that is Christian.
    Millions of Christians prayed and went to the polls. God Almighty, the God who formed each human being in their mother’s womb, answered and had a hand in the victory for Donald Trump. It was the power of the Christian prayer that got Donald Trump elected. The liberals are still scratching their head as to why they lost….. Since they don’t believe in God, must less having someone tell them that God won the victory for Donald Trump.
    Now the anti-Trump sour grapes group is trying to distrupt President-elect Trump inauguration. They failed in the recount ballets; they failed in harressing the electors to confirm Donald Trump. Still in Congress the sour-grapes Democrats tried to stop the confirmation by congress – Democratic Vice-President Joe Biden told them, “its over.”
    These secular-liberal atheist Democrats just too stupid to know that they doing the work of Satan, the devil verses the victory won by God Almighty for Donald Trump..

      • Pathetic attempt to discredit blackmurano’s excellent observation of the facts.

        I got one for you Readitnow. How many people did Clinton murder? Maybe you’ll tell us she does Gods work like Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs? hahahaha

    • Sham miracles like what, grant amnesty to 40+ million illegals? Allow in every undocumented refugee from Syria and then cut benefits that are rightfully entitled to citizens and pander them away to illegals?

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