President Obama is in denial. He doesn't like what he sees going on in these midterms and he frustrated. Clearly he needs to do something about it. He's tried quite a few things already and they haven't worked or have worked marginally at best. He seems bereft of ideas, but apparently he's got one thing left. What's his plan? Blame the voters. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that politically, that's a bad idea.
The comment in question, from Jim Geraghty's Morning Jolt:
"'Part of the reason that our politics seems so tough right now and facts and science and argument does not seem to be winning the day all the time is because we're hardwired not to always think clearly when we're scared,' Obama said Saturday evening in remarks at a small Democratic fundraiser Saturday evening. 'And the country's scared.'"
Obama told the several dozen donors that he was offering them his "view from the Oval Office." He blamed the economic downturn for Americans' inability to "think clearly" and said the burden is on Democrats "to break through the fear and the frustration people are feeling."
My take? The President hasn't reverted to his "clinging to guns and religion" mindset. He never left it. Perhaps he's suffering from a sort of cognitive dissonance as a result of holding onto the idea of selling hope to people who he thinks don't, or can't, get what it is he means.
Regardless of what the President is thinking, it certainly isn't going to help Democrat electoral chances. Telling the American public they aren't thinking clearly isn't going to endear the President and his party with the electorate. Whether it's intended as a rebuke, a 'smarten up' message, or it's just a note of frustration, the President doesn't see that this election is going to be a rebuke for him and his policies. To a large extent the GOP has nationalized this election. To be fair they didn't really need to do much more than listen. The Tea Parties and town halls did much of the work for them and spoke loudly to what needed to be heard.
While America is a center-right country, the love is still not there for the GOP. They have to prove that the next Congress will not be politics as usual. That's a tall order. In fact some think they are predestined to fail. But they already have one clear advantage over the Democrats right now: they're listening instead of judging.
Obama is awesome because...well...he's so much better than all of us. You'd think we'd be thanking him. Instead, we mock and despise our benevolent messiah/president. Shame on us. [sarc/]
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to unelect this arrogant clown.
Let me add another thought, based on your comment. Electing a Republican Congress (and possibly Senate) this year makes getting rid of Obama in 2012 either much easier or much harder. I was going to save this for another post, BUT...
ReplyDeleteThe GOP has to start planning for it's majority now. President Obama will have two choices to become post-partisan as he advertised back in 2008, or else become the 'President of No' by vetoing every piece of legislation the Republicans pass his way. I guess a third option would be to allow the Senate to do his dirty work, although they might be a little skittish after this November.
If Obama, who has shown little to no signs of compromise and a great number of signs of 'demonize', decides to move to the center, I will be surprised. But if he does, he can piggyback off Republican ideas to grow the economy and take credit for their work (just like Clinton did). Then voting him out becomes a lot harder. If he stays true to form and says no to every spending cut and tax break, then tossing him out will be a much easier task than even now.
The candidate of Hope and Change acting as the President of 'No' is a no win for Obama. People want change, just not as he sees it. The longer he takes to realize that, the worse it will be for him. Sadly, he can hurt the country in the process of unelecting himself.