A Failed Presidency

Sure, President Obama inherited a gerrymandered House of Representatives that pledged to oppose every major policy he embraced. That was the result of the last two elections, but the Dems controlled the Congress before that. They managed to pass a seminal piece of healthcare legislation, flawed as all such seminal laws have been (Social Security and Medicare went through a massive series of amendments before they worked right). Sure, the President was denied that most basic necessity of a “Congressional repair job” accorded to every piece of comparable past legislation in modern history getting instead a House hell-bent on “repeal or nothing.” 50 failed attempts to repeal the law with nothing significant to fix its obvious failings.

But it was Barack Obama who continued the Bush administration’s WMD-driven war in Iraq, adding to the massive deficit created by his immediate predecessors, and continued to be misled into thinking that our support of one of the most corrupt regimes on earth (that we installed) would permanently stabilize that war-torn nation and extinguish the Taliban in that country. Wrong! Obama, like Bush, seems to have failed to read his history books, repeating the same mistakes made by global powers across time.

Thinking that he could build bridges to a right wing GOP literally elected to oppose everything he held dear, Obama looked pathetic trying to reach across an aisle with no GOP hands to respond. He looked weak and frustrated. But when he has recently been equally unresponsive to his own party, letting them fend almost entirely for themselves, he has simply written off the entire Congress. He looks weaker and isolated even from his own party. Democratic candidates cannot run far enough to get out from under his shadow.

The President’s greatest failure has been his rather complete inability to generate grassroots support that could have obviated a lot of his frustration. The nation was looking for leadership and to understand what they were facing. The great orator never really explained Obamacare to his constituency, misstating its impact several times, and completely failed to supervise its implementation. The NSA debacle happened on his watch. People were looking to explanations of what and why we needed the much-touted immigration reform, but the President never completely explained his position with the kind of passion a great leader needs to instill confidence. Audiences increasingly expected less, so when he did speak with force, the audience was already tuned out.

And the blanket statements of what the United States would and wouldn’t do in connection with the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), the failure to build a coalition with European and regional allies that could have struck earlier, made the President look ultra-weak and indecisive. Sooner or later, the American people will accept the necessity of a harder strike, perhaps even our boots on the ground as part of a multi-national force in which we are but one player. But as Congress, now becoming a willing supporter of greater action, and the people cried for a decision, the President couched his words and seems befuddled by the complexity. As Congress and the people cried for decisive leadership, none was forthcoming. Ukraine? Russia is laughing.

Obama’s lackluster accomplishments will take their toll on Democratic chances in the midterm elections, make no mistake. But his “popular support” report card today is abominable: “A majority of Americans and even many Democrats consider President Obama's tenure to be a ‘failure,’ according to a new poll from the Washington Post and ABC News… The poll shows Americans say 52-42 that Obama has been more of a failure than a success. Among registered voters, the gap is even bigger -- at 55-39 -- with four in 10 (41 percent) saying they ‘strongly’ believe Obama has been a failure.

“Those saying Obama has been a failure include one in four Democrats (25 percent), nearly three in 10 liberals (29 percent) and the vast, vast majority of conservative Republicans (92 percent). Nearly one in five liberals (18 percent) say they feel ‘strongly’ that Obama has been a failure… Interestingly, there is also some crossover on the other side. About one in five conservatives (22 percent) say Obama has been a success (note: this is a different group from ‘conservative Republicans’), as do 48 percent of moderates. In fact, self-described moderates are more likely to rate Obama a success (48 percent) than as a failure (44 percent).” Washington Post, September 9^th.

Leadership requires decisive and logical action. It demands constant, clear and thorough communication. There are times to take positions that may seem against popular sentiments, but that’s what leadership is all about. It’s not about looking at polls and deciding. It is based on intelligent boldness, clear direction and unwavering passion based on a thorough understanding of the issues and their historical context. The President will work out his remaining years impaired by his lack of leadership in the past. May the next President learn this lesson well.

I’m Peter Dekom, and there has never been a more important time for leadership and not poll-checking.