Obama, Popularity, the Voters, and Excuses

Voters blindfolded themselves to Obama's faults.

Time to come up with excuses why Obama’s expectations/promises/popularity/message of change/etc. is not reflected by polling data.  I’m always interested in hearing the latest excuses because it simply paints a big arrow to the “problem” and how out-of-touch the excuse maker really is.  So what’s today’s excuse (there will be plenty of them coming as Obama drops further in the polls)?

A piece by Steve Chapman at RealClearPolitics.com has some zingers:

Barack Obama came into office championing change, and he apparently assumed that if Americans voted for him, it was because they wanted the future to be different from what went before.

If voters had wanted a sharp ideological shift, they could have voted for Democratic candidates more identified with Great Society-style government — Hillary Clinton, John Edwards or even Dennis Kucinich. [...]  His promise of change was eloquent enough to motivate the left wing of his party but vague enough to make him acceptable to people in the middle.

After the election, then-chairman of the Republican National Committee Mike Duncan noted that the Democratic nominee supported offshore oil drilling, merit pay for teachers, a tax cut for 95 percent of Americans, more troops in Afghanistan and an end to wasteful federal earmarks. “Put simply,” he said, “Barack Obama just ran the most successful moderate Republican presidential campaign since Dwight Eisenhower.”

But the 44th president apparently thought he had a mandate for the expansion of federal power and responsibility, which he has used on everything from bailing out automakers to showering the economy with stimulus dollars to trying to overhaul health insurance. He and his allies have therefore been surprised to face a surge of angry opposition, including some based on wild flights of paranoia.

Mr. Chapman is correct on the surface but he lets voters off too easily.  One only needed to pay attention to Obama’s very limited Senate record (or his numerous “Present” votes), his attendance with the Rev. Wright, or some of his associations with people like Bill Ayers to know that the man was not being honest with the public.  In fact, even Obama let the cat out of the bag sometimes with elitist statements like the people of Pennsylvania being bitter and “clinging to guns and religion.”  That statement alone sums up the man’s worldview and contempt for ordinary Americans.  Obama was always more geared to the Amstel Light/sushi set than Miller Light/hamburger crowd.

Shouldn't be a surprise.

But voters didn’t want to listen.  Many news organizations were successful in trying to discredit stories on “Faux News” linking Obama to radicals and what this might mean as far as how he would govern.  Even Hillary Clinton was shut down which is why she even bothered to appear on the O’Reilly Factor for an interview (in which I think she did an excellent job and altered my opinion of her).  The press, and many people, wanted to fall for the “fairy tale” of Barack Obama.  The man is a wonderful speaker as long as he’s just reading prepared speeches.

In another article, also on RealClearPolitics.com we see what I would call a more honest analysis of the reason behind Obama’s failures which Liberals would say is preaching “hate” and all that stuff like the truth:

Analysts and pollsters will give suggestions on rhetoric or strategy, but Obama’s dilemma is a philosophical one. He’s shown himself to be a far-Left liberal, and the country doesn’t like it. He can keep at it and try to muscle through the top agenda items on the liberal wish list, putting at risk his congressional majority and his own popularity (what remains of it). Or he can swing back to the center, start over on health care, put aside cap-and-trade, come up with a tax-reform and tax-relief plan, and get serious about spending control. That would require a heartfelt realization that his agenda is too radical and will, over time, erode his standing and potentially render him a one-term president.

It’s not for me to say what Obama’s convictions truly are.  Every time he’s put his proposals out there and they have been trounced he quickly backs away and suggests that he’s smart enough to keep an open mind and work with people.  This is simply untrue as why put out such Lefty ideas time and time again if that was not what he wanted?

Obama's botching things as Clinton did.

Obama had Left wing parents, grew up with many Left wingers, sat in a Left winger’s church, and counted Left wingers among his advisors until the heat got too much and ditched them.  If that’s not someone who uses people for political gain I don’t know what is.  But what does he truly believe?

The only thing I know for sure about Obama is that he views family as being very important (except his half-brother) and has called for more responsibility in the black community as far as being there for the children, for which he is to be commended.  While he may be a wonderful husband and a loving father, he’s there to run the country.

We cannot let the American people off the hook regarding whom they elected president or why.  Let’s face it, Obama isn’t George W. Bush and that may have been his saving grace.  That and having a great campaign plan that allowed him to skunk Hillary Clinton even though she won all the largest primaries.

Bill Clinton pressed hard on healthcare “reform” and Cap and Trade (then known as the BTU Tax) and pushed gays in the military and NAFTA and saw his numbers drop like a rock and his party lost control of the House in the 1994 mid-term elections.  Barack Obama looks to be on the same course as Clinton was.  A few  things in Clinton’s favor were, overall, a solid economy and a good guy in the Treasury as well as the belief in free trade.

Despite Clinton’s many flaws (al Qaeda, keeping his zipper up) he did move to the center and did some good things like sign NAFTA into law and help get welfare reform on the books.  Will Obama be more like the good parts of Clinton’s last 6 years or more like Carter’s entire term?

Only time will tell.

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Related posts:

1. Why Democrats are Turncoats to Many of Their Voters
2. Slip Slidin' Away (Obama's Popularity)