I have to give it to him, the man can make a good speech. Too bad he can't govern a country.
Barack Obama is a failed president. I chalk it up to lack of experience. Let's face it, in 2008 we elected a man president who a mere five years before had been a state senator. Yes, he was an inspiring speaker. And yes, he was clearly an intelligent, thoughtful man. Those things remain true. But he is not a good leader. As someone I never thought I'd quote once said, "A leader leads." (I guess it just goes to show that if you talk enough, sooner or later you'll say something right. That's the principle I've always operated on, anyway!) What he does is not leading, it's more like facilitating. And while that may have its place, it's not the same thing.
Barack Obama came to the Oval Office with little or no real experience of how Washington works. Americans often say they want an "outsider." Well, they got one. Didn't exactly turn out the way we expected, did it? Obama's inexperience has made him timid, too quick to make concessions. Either that, or he really is as naive as he appears. Either way, he is not the man for the job, he has proven that.
Ideally, I'd like to see him step aside in favor of someone else, maybe Hillary Clinton. But obviously that is not going to happen. I just wrote it for the pleasure of seeing it in print. But no, it ain't gonna happen. The next best thing would be if he faced a strong primary challenge, again maybe from Clinton, but the chances of that, too, are vanishingly small. No Democrat, least of all Hillary Clinton, stands to gain anything by challenging an incumbent president, even an unpopular one. Better to wait until 2016.
And that's really what it comes down to. At this point I could happily live with a Mitt Romney victory, followed by four years of benign neglect and the election of a STRONG Democrat in 2016. I lived under Romney as governor, I can live with him as president. He may look like Ozzie Nelson's wet dream president, but he's no ideologue. He'll go where the wind blows, and with politics deadlocked in this country the wind will go nowhere. Hell, with a Democratic Congress he might even sign some stuff we'd like. And that's not impossible either. With feeling so sour on government in general I could easily imagine a scenario where a Republican wins the presidency in 2012 while the Democrats retake Congress. To be honest, if the choice were between President Obama and a Democratic Congress, I'll take the Democratic Congress.
But no, I'm done with Obama. He has wooed me with pretty speeches too many times before, only to fail to live up to the promises -- or the promise -- he made. I wanted Wesley Snipes, and instead I got Wesley Crusher. (Yeah, that's right, a Star Trek: The Next Generation reference. I never claimed not to be a nerd.)
Hillary. Soon.
9:01 PM PT: Seriously, can no one here actually READ what is written? When you read this part of the sentence:
"At this point I could happily live with a Mitt Romney victory,"
You have to read THIS part too to get the full meaning:
"followed by four years of benign neglect and the election of a STRONG Democrat in 2016."
I'm not advocating for Romney, unless his being elected resulted in four years of stasis followed by an EFFECTIVE Democrat.
Because that's really the key, EFFECTIVE. President Obama's job approval ratings are in the toilet, but his personal approval ratings are a good deal higher, above 50% in fact. In other words, people like him, they just don't think he's doing a very good job. That pretty much sums up my feelings. I do like the president. But I like a lot of people who probably wouldn't be very good presidents.
You can talk all you want about the successes that have flown under the radar. But making sure they DON'T fly under the radar is part of being an effective president. So is anticipating your opponents' moves, not playing directly into their hands and conceding every issue to them time and again.
Tonight isn't the first time Obama has come down from on high to make a Big Speech that would Change Everything. He has done it many times before. And, like an emotionally abused lover, I fell for it every time. I kept thinking that THIS time would be different. And every time I've been disappointed. Well no more.
The president said some great things tonight. But saying them is the easy part. Whether they actually get done is another question. Let's just say I'll believe it when I see it. Maybe he'll prove me wrong. Hell, I hope he does. But I'm not holding my breath.
As for the suggestion that I be banned: Fine. Do it. It's a private site, Kos is free to do whatever he wants. It's not like I was ever what you'd call popular here anyway! But know that squashing dissenting opinion is the purview of fascists, not Democrats.