Published for Fox Forum at foxnews.com, September 3rd, 2010
The coverage of the growing disconnect between President Obama and America reminds me of some of my single friends lamenting the distance they feel with their boyfriends. For some of them, there’s a pattern – intense excitement at the promise of a new relationship, followed by bewilderment and anger as it starts to unravel, and ending in broken hearts and healing mantras of, “He just wasn’t right for me.”
There’s an old saying that a man marries a woman believing she’ll never change, and a woman marries a man believing she’ll be able to change him. Wrong on both counts – it doesn’t workthat way.
America was excited about its new relationship in January 2009 when it was fresh and shiny. Anything the new president said or did was captured on video and considered “Just amazing, and so funny, and so refreshing! I mean, did you SEE HIM catch that fly in the Oval Office? It was fantastic! He is the BEST!”
Several months later, the spark began to fade since unrealistic expectations can never be met.
America was confused over decisions that were at odds with what it wanted. Just where was this relationship going?
But hope sprang eternal – until another few months passed, and America started feeling jilted. “He just doesn’t understand me. He just doesn’t GET me. And, what’s worse, he doesn’t seem to care that he doesn’t. Lately I feel like he’s just saying what he thinks I want to hear. It’s like he’s just going through the motions.”
Published for The Arena on Politico.com, July 15th, 2010:
It’d be best for the economy to do so. And, given that, let’s let the Democrats rename a package of tax cuts that does extend the cuts and allow them to save face.
Published for The Corner on nationalreview.com, July 14th, 2010:
Day three of the spat between Robert Gibbs and congressional Democrats is well underway. I can see cutting them all a break, but it is fun to watch an intra-party fight, especially when they keep pouring fuel on the fire.
The press secretary deserves a break for being conversational and truthful. The speaker and her team deserve a break because they have to keep their caucus together for upcoming votes, and to convince their donors that it’s not a waste of money to fund the Democrats in competitive races. I suppose it could be papered over today by Gibbs. He could say, “We intend to win every competitive race and the president will be out there vigorously campaigning, and the speaker is right — she knows her races better than I do.” Then it’ll start to go away.
Still, neither side shows much willingness to give in enough. Today we see Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, saying that there is no way the Republicans will take over the House. That is unbelievable and cheap spin. But I understand what he’s doing.
In the lead up to the mid-terms in 2006 — while we knew we’d lose some seats, there was a path we could see (on rare sunny days with a light breeze and a temperate 76 degrees) where we would keep the majority. Finding the right balance is tricky — being realistic and credible while also being optimistic and upbeat in order to drive voter enthusiasm. Democrats know they’ll lose seats in November — I think what surprised people is that their internal polling at the White House must be such that they really think they could be dealing with a Republican House majority for the next two years.
Published for The Arena on Politico.com, July 14th, 2010:
Part of the reason is the old adage that good policy makes good politics. If they had results to point to that people believed, they wouldn’t be having this spat. They’d be riding high on their accomplishments, proud of what they’d achieved, and able to let the good news flow from the facts. Instead, the strategy of blaming the previous administration for everything has worn thin and leaves them looking like bitter, angry and ineffective leaders. While the squabble is fun to watch, it underlies deeper problems that with only about 100+ days to go aren’t going to get that much better. And remember, we’re heading in August – the month when everyone wants to take a vacation and something big always happens…and nobody knows what it is yet.
Published for Politico’s The Arena, July 9th, 2010:
POLITICO reports that the White House has launched acoordinated campaign to push back against the perception taking hold in corporate America and on Wall Street that President Barack Obama is promoting an anti-business agenda. Obama’s pro-business case (which includes the fact that corporate profits are up 34 percent on his watch) has gotten a boost from big market jumps in recent days with the Dow up 452.51 over three sessions.
Does the White House have a strong case to make about its pro-business leanings? Will voters agree in November? Or will voter concerns be driven by what critics portray as the administration’s regulatory stranglehold over business?
