Monday, December 20, 2010

Obama 2.0 Emerges As Storyline

Obama 2.0 has begun in earnest. The game plan now is for the White House, Team Obama and the slobbering participants within the world of the media to give President Obama a much needed political makeover. The message is that he is a compromiser, a fiscally responsible leader, a tough man open to all ideas.

Yeah, right.

He’s confined on the right by the incoming Republican House majority and the reality of deep budget deficits. He’s confined on the left by his own sullen Democrats, including many liberals who will be quick to protest if they feel Obama is selling them out or lurching cynically to the center.

Obama’s cramped circumstances, according to numerous veterans of previous White Houses and other experts, highlight his urgent need to reinvent his presidency—discarding the Congress-focused strategy of the first two years and coming up with new and more creative ways to exercise power and set the national agenda.


In other words, the Obama 2012 re-election campaign is in full blossom. Problem is, for us mere mortals, is that Obama is now being advised to use Executive Orders to circumvent the legislative process for his agenda. No doubt the slobbering press will have a dose of convenient amnesia over this - Obama was quick to criticize former President Bush as he used the Executive Order option during his time in office.

Obama has relied solely on Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid for his agenda to be shoved through against the wishes of the majority of the country. As a result, Democrats lost the House and Obama lost Pelosi's skills as a ramrod. So, now, with the advice of hyper-partisans like John Podesta, a hyper-partisan President is being told to push ahead. And, those tasked with getting the word out are only too happy to accept their assignments. PolitiFact, a liberal site that monitors statements of politicians and states the level of truth in them, is on board. According to the site, the lie of the year is the statement that Obamacare is a government takeover of health care. PolitiFact is an arm of the St. Petersburg newspaper, easily one of the most liberal newspapers in the country. Democrats are in full congratulatory mode over the lie of the year choice.

Obama's poll numbers are low. No, not the lowest of past presidents at a similar time in their presidencies, as Team Obama is quick to point out when poll numbers are discussed, but the fact is that his are not good and show no signs yet of any recovery as he seeks re-election. The number of those who disapprove of Obama's job performance is greater than that of those who approve.

The current idea being floated among Obama's insiders is a mid-week press conference just before he hops on board Air Force One to join his family and dog in Hawaii for Christmas and New Year's break. Team Obama is split on this one, according to the report. I hope he does. Seems every time Mr. Smooth does one, he ends up making headlines not so complimentary to his message. He has not quite learned the perils of going off message and ad libbing with his own perceived wisdom. Seems Barack Obama is not particularly wise and suffers from tunnel vision. Not to mention, his education seems to have been lacking in American History. You may remember even PolitiFact had to give him a big thumbs down for his description of the origins of Social Security. He called it a program implemented for "widows and children".

He is a narcissistic guy. He loves a microphone and tv camera. I'd put money on the press conference.

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