The Willamette Week went back to
Bow Tie 
Do you think Obama was too soft on the Republicans?
I don’t think anybody was prepared for the Republican Party to go into 100 percent opposition to everything.
How could the administration have handled it better?
I think they were a little too accommodating early on in terms of the pursuit of elusive Republican votes at the expense of a weaker program, and the economic recovery is one of them. I think if they had to do it over, they would have had a stronger program, and not work so hard to try and get one or two Republican votes. The country would be better off, and I think they would have been better served. That said, I think at some level, the public understands that they tried.

Karol Collymore
Job: Staffer for Multnomah County Commissioner Jeff Cogen and co-editor of the liberal blog BlueOregon

You’re still behind Obama?
I love him. I do. My eyes still water when I see him on a magazine cover. Which is really embarrassing when you’re at the store.

Not everyone is still thrilled with him.
I think Democrats who are wishy-washy with him are being disloyal Democrats. I think that Democrats, overall, have a problem with loyalty. We like to eat our own, like someone served them up with ketchup and salt. I think just him being there is hopeful. The world’s racism problems are definitely not solved by electing one black man president, but it’s amazing that that’s how far we came. And I’m not disappointed at all.
What accomplishments can you name?
Besides killing pirates and designing a stimulus package that prevented us from going into a depression, and Afghanistan, and Cash for Clunkers and keeping people from getting kicked out of their houses? Making two transgendered appointments, mandating that same-sex couples get insurance coverage, being five seconds away from passing major healthcare legislation? The people who say he’s done nothing are just being assholes.