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January 26, 2010

Re: Obama's Dilemma

Topics: Political News and commentaries

Roger Pilon, writing at Cato@Liberty, responds to Politico Arena's question, "State of the Union: What Should Obama Say?"

Pilon's summation is spot on, and indeed, cuts "right to the heart of the matter":

[...] Obama's in a difficult spot: His head tells him to tack right, but his heart's not in it -- and he's not the first Democrat to be in that spot.

[...] In short, moving right has its costs, Zelizer claims. Many liberals are "deeply unhappy with the president, believing that he has already drifted too far away from the promises that animated his supporters in 2008." He'll need those liberals in 2010 and 2012.

[...] ... the deeper problem the left is facing is that self-identified conservatives in America outnumber liberals by better than two to one. Cambridge may have voted against Scott Brown by 84 to 14, but that just shows how out of touch Harvard is with the rest of Massachusetts -- to say nothing of the rest of the country. Obama won not because the country was enthralled with his vague message, but because his opposition, like Clinton's in 1996, was so uninspiring. In sum, the left's problem -- and Obama's -- is that the country isn't buying the message, now that it's clearer. And that's the heart of the matter.

Read it all ...

Charles Krauthammer has said essentially the same thing as Pilon, saying that Obama's poll numbers are falling because he's just too far left:

[...] It's not about style; it's about substance. About which Obama has been admirably candid. This out-of-nowhere, least-known of presidents dropped the veil most dramatically in the single most important political event of 2009, his Feb. 24 first address to Congress. With remarkable political honesty and courage, Obama unveiled the most radical (in American terms) ideological agenda since the New Deal: the fundamental restructuring of three pillars of American society - health care, education and energy.

[...] Ideas matter. Legislative proposals matter. Slick campaigns and dazzling speeches can work for a while, but the magic always wears off.
It's inherently risky for any charismatic politician to legislate. To act is to choose and to choose is to disappoint the expectations of many who had poured their hopes into the empty vessel - of which candidate Obama was the greatest representative in recent American political history.
Obama did not just act, however. He acted ideologically.

Go left and loose the rest of the country or stick with his leftist agenda and keep his base. Which way will he go? My guess is that we'll see a head fake to the center on the debt, but it will be of little to no substantive value and have little to no effect. On the rest of his agenda, especially health care, look to see him continue with his obsession based on his illusion that he knows better than the majority of the country. However, regardless of what Barack Obama says Wednesday, the majority of the American public is more likely to see through his rhetoric, than not. And the more they see, the more reason they have to reject his message.

Related: LA Times: Obama's first State of the Union speech a dud? Two days before he reads it

Posted by Richard at January 26, 2010 2:06 PM

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• Re: Obama's Dilemma - Jan 26, 2010