How can a President elected with such a wide congressional support of his party men manage to blow it in less than two years?
Don't blame health care reform.
Don't blame racism.
Don't blame TARP or Bailouts.
Don't blame the professional left either!
President Barack Obama should look in the mirror for the current apathy that grips the Democrats, who are on the verge of loosing significantly in the mid term election even if they hold the both houses of congress.
Let me explain the anatomy of the predicaments that beholds the party.
When President Obama was elected, there were unspoken expectations that voters, especially his supporters wanted from him.
- Investigate the Bush administration, the GOP minions in congress who misled the nation and ran huge deficits.
- Confront the economic and military waste in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
3. Disengage all Bushites in sensitive offices especially the Justice Department where District Attorneys have politicized their offices and tormented Democrats.
The litany of expectations is very long, but the three mentioned above are the ones that would have signaled to his supporters that he gets it.
Instead, he appointed GOP sympathizers and corporate bedfellows like Rahm Emanuel, Larry Summers, Tim Geithner and Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke. Continue a Bush-lite policies with few cosmetics to confuse the progressives.
He allowed a one time presidential candidate and his immediate party chairman, Howard Dean the exponent of 50 States strategy to float without any appointment or even courtesy invitation to the ceremony investing the succeeding chairman, Tim Kaine.
What kind of misguided president would do that? A president who shuns his base, pays lip service to his core supporters, makes peace with his tormentors and gives away the barn yard to his opponents without extracting any measure of respect.
When the House and Senate wanted to investigate the Bush administration and even Carl Rove, the President should have allowed that to proceed and extract support from his current detractors some respect. Instead of respect, they went on a binge with concerted efforts to block his appointees, legislative priorities and goodwill.
Carl Rove and his minions would have sustain mountain of legal bills instead of parading himself arrogantly on TV attacking the President.
Let's see how exposing the GOP filth would have allowed them to claim that they watchdogs to the treasury. Let's see how their deficit propaganda stacks up against the Democrats.
Senator John McCain is running around attacking the president at every turn, let's see how he could veered sharply, right to Nutsville if President Obama hadn't remove his expected nemesis, Janet Napolitano, ex-Governor of Arizona who was largely expected to challenge him for the Senate seat. Again President Obama gave McCain a political gift without extracting any thing in return. Such is the character of the man who lets a bully take his lunch money without throwing feeble punches in return. I loath defending a man like that.
On Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, he enlarged the wars and essentially allowed President Hammid Karzai to continue in office after years of incompetence and ineptitude. He ought to have orchestrated a take over in Afghanistan, change the leadership with a strong man who will be given the tools to challenge the Taliban.
Allowing ACORN to be de-funded because of falsified video clips, attacking Charles Rangle or asking Governor Patterson to stand down and fearing the wrath of misguided talk show host, Glenn Beck over sliced video clips of Ms Sherrods does not bode well with the base.
Referring to your base as loons, ingrates, retards and professional left does one thing: dampens enthusiasm, period.
Only a fool will think that President Obama and his team has done his base any favor and we should all sing kumbaya, all the way to the polls. Robert Gibbs and Rahm Emanuel should look for the professional right they so adroitly courted to go and vote for them.
I can go on and on ad infinitum, about President Obama's transgression with his base and the independents.
Unless President Obama makes a clear break from his love-seeking attitudes and acceptance from the GOP, stop licking shaved ice cream that makes him look like 'Mr Softie' he will go down as the worst president despite his legislative accomplishments.
A real president should emit love and fear not only a penchant for one sided affection that President Obama seeks.
He does not like to fight his opponents and should not expect us to fight for him either.
Policy achievements are one thing. But the man is afraid to engage his opponents in a meaningful ways that shows power instead of love that he so much craves.
President Obama, here is the solution, we are not dogs too. Get in touch with your base, invite Markos Mulitsas and other bloggers to the White House, talk to Ed Shultz, Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow and so many of us. Appealing to the GOP will not cut it for you.
Like the woman at CNBC town hall forum who recited her frustration in defending the president, I've also had it with the president and his men who are incompetent at rebutting the false narrative against the man they serve. I welcome Rahm Emanuel departure, he should be replaced with Paul Begala or a brawler like James Carville not the coterie of wimps like Robert Gibbs, Jim Messina and their camera-shy acolytes.
Unless the President changes course, he will loose support, become a one term president. As such he will be unfit to lead the Democrats in 2012 because we cannot afford a naive person lead us to electoral disaster.