Thread: Obama Support Crumbling By: Dick Morris

Obama Support Crumbling

Wednesday, 17 Feb 2010 07:45 AM
By: Dick Morris

One of my favorite quotes about politics comes from Henry Kissinger in his book "Years of Upheaval," his memoir of the Ford presidency: "A statesman's duty is to bridge the gap between his vision and his nation's experience.

"If his vision gets too far out ahead of his nation's experience, he will lose his mandate. But if he hews too close to the conventional, he will lose control over events."

Now, at once, we see both happening to President Obama.

His healthcare proposals obviously ran afoul of the first of Kissinger's warnings. By pushing for changes that conflicted with America's values, common sense, and experience, he lost his mandate.

In that disastrous push for an elusive goal, he ruined his own presidency and his party. It may take decades for the Democratic Party to recover from his folly. Indeed, his push for health legislation, in the face of rapidly eroding public support, ranks with the war in Vietnam, Watergate, and, of course, Clinton's healthcare initiatives as the most costly to their respective political parties.

But now, as he faces threats from Iran, domestic terrorism, continually high unemployment, and the swollen deficit, he also is violating the second half of Kissinger's warning: His politics are too passive and too conventional and, as a result, losing control over events.

In the phase of presidential dithering in the aftermath of the Scott Brown victory in Massachusetts, there is no clear presidential message, no coherent strategy and, even, no identifiable program.

His budget cuts are far too tepid. His tax program nothing new. Obama's stimulus Part II package seems like the same old, same old.

His short-lived bounce from the State of the Union speech is indicative of how limited a vision he has these days. It lasted a week and was never more than three points at its apogee.

And, as Kissinger would have predicted, he is losing control over events. Sen. Evan Bayh's retirement, with its implied blast at Obama's policies, the increasing recklessness of Iran, and the seemingly intractable unemployment, all provide evidence that President Obama is no longer dictating the national agenda.

As a result, the negatives he incurred by moving too far out ahead of the nation's experience are combining with those he is getting for being too conventional. He is experiencing both ends of the Kissinger prediction.

Republicans and independents are still in shock from his headlong rush into socialism while Democrats are increasingly restive and disillusioned by his failure to lead.

And the entire country is worried at his passivity in the face of domestic terror threats and the rapidly growing Iranian momentum toward the acquisition of nuclear weapons.

Although his job rating has remained relatively steady in recent months, hovering just below 50 percent of likely voters, his ratings in specific areas — such as holding down spending, cutting the deficit, creating jobs, and managing the economy — are all eroding, presaging further drops in his overall ratings.

Seemingly paralyzed by adversity, President Obama and his advisers are showing a lack of resilience in the face of reversals that is perhaps the inevitable outcome of his smooth rise to the top in 2008.

Never tried by bad outcomes (as Hillary has doubtless been), he and they seem unable to regain momentum and appear to be just flailing without strategic or even tactical direction.

All this might be what happens when you elect a state senator whose U.S. Senate career was consumed with his presidential campaign as president.

http://newsmax.com/Morris/barackobama-h ... /id/350064

As a result, the negatives he incurred by moving too far out ahead of the nation's experience are combining with those he is getting for being too conventional. He is experiencing both ends of the Kissinger prediction.

I disagree with the usage of the term "mandate", as well has the intimation that Obama's vision was too far out ahead of the nation's experience. He never had a mandate, and his vision is myopic, not telescopic. It is not as if he sees the promised land even tho we can't. It as if he sees the grand canyon at a distance. and because of his lack of perspective, mistakes it for a small ditch to leap across.