but, unfortunately, one of those causes is that whenever the Right pushes him, or whenever it speaks nastily about him, Obama caves in and backs off. That kind of thing only incites bullies. They react to it like sharks smelling blood in the water. It isn't a good thing. The tone that's developing in this country now endangers him, endangers all hopes of progress, and hurts all of us. Civility has frayed seriously of late.
Looking at it as a psych major, he is reinforcing their bad behavior - hey, being aggressive, being dishonest, always pays off for them. So far. Why wouldn't they keep it up? Why wouldn't they escalate the viciousness?
Looking at it as a former cop, the bad guys react a whole lot better to firm clarity. They actually seem happier with someone strong (not nasty) in charge. Waffling the way Obama has been doing just incites them. You have to decide what you stand for and then actually stand for it. You need to be able to pick a position and plant yourself solidly there.
When he asked for the bill before Congress adjourned, when Reid announced that they were going on vacation, and when Obama replied to that slap in the face with, "That's OK," my stomach turned over. It hasn't been OK at all. August has been very destructive to health care reform, to decency and honesty in the country, to the chances of getting anything else constructive done now. These are desperate times. There is still hope, but it will all be harder.
Looking at it as an observer of successful salespeople, Obama has to be FOR something clear, concrete, and specific, and he's been refusing to do that. Remember all those motivational posters saying, "If you don't know where you want to go, you'll never get there." They have a point. Plus, nobody will be willing to buy your undefined product. He doesn't seem to have thought this through. It almost seems as if he hasn't really been paying attention.
Looking at it as someone who's been out on streetcorners talking to people about this issue, again, he has to be FOR something clear, concrete, and specific. "Trust me, support me in whatever I may decide to do," just doesn't cut it. He has to tell people exactly what he is FOR, and he hasn't done that. Even the least sophisticated citizen out there knows that the devil is in the details.
Inadvertantly, I hope, Obama has to take some responsibility for making the public more suspicious of health care reform now. You cannot be as vague and evasive as he has been without making people wonder what you are hiding. Even his supporters aren't sure exactly what he stands for at this point.
Looking at it as a campaign volunteer, people will follow a leader who has a clear vision of his goals. They won't follow a follower. When you are only and always on the defensive, you are not leading. People won't follow someone who's too wimpy to stand up to the bad guys. They won't follow someone who's too secretive to tell them exactly what it is he wants to do.
This isn't easy, but I think Obama can do a lot better. I hope he will now. Having caved on single payer in the beginning, without having gotten anything in return for it, I hope he will finally put up a real fight for at least a strong public option. I hope he remembers that it's The People whose interests he is supposed to be serving, not the right wing, and not the insurance companies.